A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to amend the north carolina constitution to establish the operating budget growth factor for the general fund.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Article V of the North Carolina Constitution is amended by adding a new section to read:
"Sec. 15. General Fund operating budget size limited.
(1)	Definitions. The following definitions apply in this section:
(a)	Capital improvements include land acquisition, new construction, rehabilitation of existing facilities, and repairs and renovations.
(b)	Operating growth factor for a fiscal year is a percentage calculated as the average of annual percentage changes in North Carolina personal income over the previous 10 calendar years.
(2)	General Fund operating budget size limitation. The General Fund operating budget each fiscal year shall be limited to an amount not greater than the General Fund operating budget authorized by the General Assembly for the prior fiscal year increased by the operating budget growth factor defined in subsection (1) of this section.  For purposes of this section, the General Fund operating budget does not include appropriations for capital improvements or one-time expenditures due to natural disasters.
(3)	Two-thirds vote required to exceed limitation. The General Assembly shall not appropriate funds that exceed the General Fund operating budget size limitation established in subsection (2) of this section, except by an act adopted by a vote of at least two-thirds of all the members of each house."
SECTION 2.  The amendment set out in Section 1 of this act shall be submitted to the qualified voters of the State at the next general election, which election shall be conducted under the laws then governing elections in the State. Ballots, voting systems, or both may be used in accordance with Chapter 163 of the General Statutes.  The question to be used in the voting systems and ballots shall be:
"[ ] FOR	[ ] AGAINST
Constitutional amendment to limit the General Fund operating budget to an amount not greater than the General Fund operating budget authorized by the General Assembly for the prior fiscal year increased by the operating budget growth factor."
SECTION 3.  If a majority of the votes cast on the question is in favor of the amendment set out in Section 1 of this act, the State Board of Elections shall certify the amendment to the Secretary of State.  The amendment becomes effective upon this certification.  The Secretary of State shall enroll the amendment so certified among the permanent records of that office.
SECTION 4.  G.S. 143‑15.4 is repealed.
SECTION 5.  G.S. 143‑15.1(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	The General Assembly shall enact the Current Operations Appropriations Act by June 15 of odd‑numbered years and by June 30 of even‑numbered years in which a Current Operations Appropriations Act is enacted. The Current Operations Appropriations Act shall state the amount of General Fund appropriations availability upon which the General Fund budget is based. The statement of availability shall list separately the beginning General Fund credit balance, General Fund revenues, and any other components of the availability amount.
"SECTION 6.  Sections 4 and 5 of this act become effective only if the constitutional amendment set out in Section 1 of this act is approved by the qualified voters of the State, as provided in Section 2 of this act.
SECTION 7.  This act is effective when it becomes law.