Bill > H930

This bill establishes a comprehensive bonus program for first responders and teachers in North Carolina for the 2025-2027 fiscal biennium. The bill defines "first responders" broadly to include law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical services personnel, public safety telecommunicators, and nurses employed by public hospitals and government healthcare facilities. For first responders, the bill appropriates $130 million to provide a one-time, non-base salary bonus of $1,500 to each eligible employee who is employed on the first day of October in each fiscal year. Part-time employees will receive a prorated bonus based on their full-time equivalent hours. The Department of Public Safety will distribute funds to employing authorities, who must then distribute the bonuses to eligible employees by December 31 of each fiscal year. The bonus payments are exempt from retirement deductions but subject to standard federal and state tax withholdings. An identical structure is established for teachers, with $165 million appropriated to provide $1,500 bonuses to eligible classroom teachers, instructional support personnel, principals, and assistant principals working in local school administrative units, charter schools, and regional schools. Both programs require employing authorities to certify employee numbers and verify bonus distributions, with any unspent funds reverting to the General Fund. The act becomes effective on July 1, 2025.

Budget and Finance

https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2025/H930