A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO REQUIRE THE SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA TO COORDINATE A WORKING GROUP CHARGED WITH DEVELOPING STANDARDS FOR STATE AGENCIES TO USE WHEN DESIGNING AND IMPLEMENTING PILOT PROJECTS MANDATED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, and to require the office of state budget and management to adopt rules implementing the standards.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.(a)  The School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (SOG) shall coordinate a working group charged with developing standards for State agencies to use when designing and implementing pilot projects mandated by the General Assembly.
SECTION 1.(b)  The SOG shall conduct research on existing evaluation standards and identify approaches for designing projects that collect appropriate and adequate data for sound evaluation of pilot projects. The SOG shall submit a preliminary report summarizing the research findings to the Joint Legislative Program Evaluation Oversight Committee, the Director of the Program Evaluation Division, and the Office of State Budget and Management by December 1, 2015. The Joint Legislative Program Evaluation Oversight Committee shall provide feedback to the School on the preliminary report.
SECTION 1.(c)  The SOG shall convene a working group charged with developing proposed standards to guide the evaluation of State agency pilot projects. The working group shall include representatives from State agencies and the constituent institutions of The University of North Carolina. The working group shall submit a report describing the proposed standards to the Joint Legislative Program Evaluation Oversight Committee, the Director of the Program Evaluation Division, and the Office of State Budget and Management by December 1, 2016.
SECTION 1.(d)  The Legislative Services Commission, through the Legislative Services Officer, may allow the working group to hold meetings in the State Legislative Building or the Legislative Office Building.
SECTION 1.(e)  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill the sum of one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) for the 2015‑2016 fiscal year for the purpose of implementing the requirements of this act. These funds shall not revert at the end of the 2015‑2016 fiscal year but shall remain available during the 2016‑2017 fiscal year for expenditure in accordance with this act.
SECTION 2.  Article 10 of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 143‑162.3.  Pilot project standards.
(a)	Pilot Project Standards. – The Office of State Budget and Management shall adopt rules to implement standards proposed by the School of Government to guide evaluation of State agency pilot projects and shall report to the Joint Legislative Program Evaluation Oversight Committee upon adoption of the rules as provided in this subsection. The standards proposed by the School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shall, at a minimum, offer a range of options for designing evaluations of pilot projects that take into consideration the agency's available resources and time.
(b)	Requirement. – Unless specifically exempted by law, all departments, agencies, bureaus, divisions, and institutions of the State shall conduct and complete pilot projects required by law by the General Assembly, in accordance with the rules adopted by the Office of State Budget and Management in subsection (a) of this section.
(c)	Updates. – The School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill may prepare proposed updates to the rules established for pilot projects in subsection (a) of this section as it deems necessary. Proposed updates shall be presented to the Office of State Budget and Management for review and adoption. The Office of State Budget and Management shall report to the Joint Legislative Program Evaluation Oversight Committee on any changes to the rules as provided in this subsection. The School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shall publish proposed updates to the rules on its Web site at least 90 days before the proposed rules are submitted to the Office of State Budget and Management."
SECTION 3.  Section 1(e) of this act becomes effective July 1, 2015. The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law and applies to rules adopted on or after that date. The requirements of G.S. 143‑162.3(b), as enacted by this act, shall apply to pilot projects required by law by the General Assembly on or after June 1, 2017.