GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1993

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 1404

Short Title:  NC Equity Funds.	(Public)
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Sponsors: Representatives Baddour, Easterling (Co-sponsors); Luebke and Judy Hunt.
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Referred to:  Appropriations.
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May 17, 1993

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS FOR A WOMEN'S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CLEARINGHOUSE AT NC EQUITY.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  (a)	There is appropriated from the General Fund to NC Equity the sum of two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) for the 1993-94 fiscal year and the sum of two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) for the 1994-95 fiscal year, to establish and support a Women's Economic Development Clearinghouse.
(b)	The Women's Economic Development Clearinghouse shall:
(1)	Collect and disseminate information about economic options and opportunities for North Carolina women with emphasis on self-employment, small business, and nontraditional occupations;
(2)	Serve as a resource and referral center to inform and connect women with available education and training programs, financing and credit sources, and support and mentoring services;
(3)	Create a database of the above information by county and region of the State;
(4)	Assess and disseminate information about model public and private programs from around the country that promote women's economic development;
(5)	Collaborate with existing entities, such as the Rural Economic Development Center, the Self-Help Credit Union, the Small Business Administration, small business centers, community colleges, State and local economic development agencies, chambers of commerce, women's centers, YWCAs, and community development corporations, to ensure that these entities assist women in accessing resources and improving their economic circumstances; and 
(6)	Produce an annual report on key economic indicators relating to North Carolina women's economic activities and circumstances and conduct surveys and research projects on specific topics germane to women's economic development.
(c)	Establishment of this Women's Economic Development Clearinghouse at NC Equity shall:
(1)	Directly address and improve the depressed economic state of most North Carolina women who remain at the bottom rungs of the economic ladder;
(2)	Provide North Carolina women with resources to improve not only their own economic circumstances, but those of their children, as fifty-eight percent (58%) of households below the poverty line are headed by women, and two-thirds of minimum wage workers are women;
(3)	Fulfill Governor Hunt's commitment to target resources to those populations who are not sharing equitably in North Carolina's economy; and 
(4)	Forge closer ties with the nonprofit sector by modeling a public-private partnership with a private, nonprofit organization and leverage additional dollars from foundations and other nongovernmental sources.
Sec. 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 1993.