AN ACT requiring the department of commerce and the department of transportation to consult with the joint legislative commission on governmental operations before beginning the design or construction of new welcome center or visitor center buildings and clarifying that the department of transportation may proceed with the construction of visitor center buildings underway in randolph and Wilkes counties.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  The Department of Commerce and the Department of Transportation shall consult with the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations and the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Natural and Economic Resources before beginning the design or construction of any new welcome center or visitor center buildings.
SECTION 2.  The Department of Commerce and the Department of Transportation shall immediately cease the planning, design, or construction of any new welcome center buildings in Randolph County and shall not resume the planning, design, or construction of any new welcome center buildings in that county before consulting with the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations and the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Natural and Economic Resources.
SECTION 3.  Nothing in this act shall be interpreted to prohibit or restrict the Department of Transportation from constructing visitor center buildings in Randolph County and Wilkes County that were in the planning, design, or construction phase prior to the effective date of this act.  The Department of Commerce shall operate the Randolph County visitor center with funding sources consistent with the existing nine welcome centers, excluding use of funds from the Special Registration Plate Account and the Highway Fund.
SECTION 4.  This act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 23rd day of July, 2007.

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		 Marc Basnight
	 President Pro Tempore of the Senate

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		 Joe Hackney
	 Speaker of the House of Representatives

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		 Michael F. Easley
	 Governor

Approved __________.m. this ______________ day of ___________________, 2007