A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to make changes to laws related to emergency management, as recommended by the department of public safety.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

PART I. FLEXIBILITY FOR NORTH CAROLINA OFFICE OF RECOVERY AND RESILIENCY (NCORR) HOUSING FUNDING TO BE USED FOR MULTIFAMILY HOUSING
SECTION 1.1.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law or a provision of the Committee Report described in Section 6.1 of S.L. 2018‑136, funds allocated to the Department of Public Safety, Office of Recovery and Resiliency, the Homeowner Repair and Rehabilitation Fund, may be used for the development of affordable rental and owner‑occupied single and multifamily housing.

part ii. Expand use of Hurricane Matthew Disaster Relief Act (DRA) funds to subsequent disasters and allow those funds to be used before a survivor is found to be INELIGIBLE for other resources
SECTION 2.1.  Section 2 of S.L. 2017‑119 reads as rewritten:
"SECTION 2.  Applicability. – (a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, this act applies in the North Carolina counties that were any of the following:
(1)	Declared a major disaster by the President of the United States under the Stafford Act (P.L. 93‑288) as a result of Hurricane Matthew, wildfires in the western part of the State, Tropical Storm Julia, Tropical Storm Hermine, or any subsequent storm.
(2)	Part of the emergency area set forth in any of the following gubernatorial executive orders: Executive Order No. 97 (September 1, 2016), Executive Order No. 103 (September 22, 2016), Executive Order No. 107 (October 3, 2016), Executive Order No. 115 (November 16, 2016), or Executive Order No. 116."
SECTION 2.2.  Section 4 of S.L. 2017‑119 reads as rewritten:
"SECTION 4.  Limitation. – The Governor may not use the funds described in this act to make budget adjustments under G.S. 143C‑6‑4 or to make reallocations under G.S. 166A‑19.40(c). Nothing in this act shall be construed to prohibit the Governor from exercising the Governor's authority under these statutes with respect to funds other than those described in this act.
The Governor shall also ensure that funds allocated in this act are expended in a manner that does not duplicate federal disaster benefits already provided to a person or entity as a result of Hurricane Matthew, the western North Carolina wildfires, or Tropical Storms Julia and Hermine, or any subsequent storm."

PART III. provide FLEXIBILITY FOR Hurricane Matthew and hurricane Florence DRA funds TO BE USED AT ALL INCOME LEVELS
SECTION 3.1.  Section 1 of S.L. 2017‑119 reads as rewritten:
"SECTION 1.  If Senate Bill 257 of the 2017 Regular Session becomes law, one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) reserved as Supplemental Disaster Recovery Funds in that act shall be allocated as follows:
(1)	Housing. – Twenty‑five million dollars ($25,000,000) to be allocated to the following agencies and entities for housing‑related matters:
a.	Twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) to the Department of Public Safety, Division of Emergency Management, for the following:
1.	For repair of owner‑occupied housing not covered by Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Program funding.
2.	For repair of rental housing not covered by Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Program funding.
3.	To be used for housing elevation, acquisition, and mitigation reconstruction for homes not covered by Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.
4.	To provide State Acquisition Relocation funds, which enable homeowners to purchase homes.
5.	To provide flood insurance subsidies.
6.	To provide temporary housing for storm victims.
7.	To hire Community Development Specialists to administer programs authorized under this act and under S.L. 2016‑124.
8.	To provide repairs to public housing in Princeville and Lumberton."
SECTION 3.2.  Section 5.6(b) of S.L. 2018‑5 reads as rewritten:
"(5)	Housing. – Twenty‑five million fourteen thousand seven hundred seventy‑six dollars ($25,014,776) to the Department of Public Safety, Division of Emergency Management, for the following housing‑related matters:
a.	To be used for housing elevation, acquisition, and mitigation reconstruction for homes not covered by Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.
b.	To provide State Acquisition Relocation funds, which enable homeowners to purchase homes.
c.	To provide flood insurance subsidies."

part Iv. authorize local governments to utilize the state pool of prequalified construction contractors for rebuilding efforts where the local government is carrying out this task.
SECTION 4.1.  G.S. 166A‑19.15(f)(1) reads as rewritten:
"(1)	To appropriate and expend funds, make contracts, obtain and distribute equipment, materials, and supplies for emergency management purposes and to provide for the health and safety of persons and property, including emergency assistance, consistent with this Article. This authority includes awarding contracts for the repair, rehabilitation, or construction of private residential structures funded by State or federal funds following a disaster declared by the Governor under G.S. 166A‑19.21 covering the political subdivision. Notwithstanding Article 8 of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes, a political subdivision is authorized to contract directly with contractors prequalified by the Division pursuant to 166A‑19.12(23) on the basis of price, qualification, capacity, and any other objective criteria established by the political subdivision."
SECTION 4.2.  G.S. 143‑129(e) reads as rewritten:
"(e)	Exceptions. – The requirements of this Article do not apply to:
…
(13)	Contracts for disaster recovery private residential construction or repair awarded pursuant to G.S. 166A‑19.12(23) and 166A‑19.15(f)(1)."

part v. revise the disaster recovery act of 2016 to accurately reflect how funding and reimbursement works in the community development block grant for disaster recovery program
SECTION 5.1.  Section 5.11.(a) of S.L. 2016‑124 reads as rewritten:
"SECTION 5.11.(a)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery awards received by the State in response to the declarations and executive orders described in Section 3.1 of this act, or in subsequent federally declared disasters, shall be administered by the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency of the Department of Public Safety, including circumstances where the designated grantee is an agency other than the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency."

part vi. type IIi disaster declaration extended
SECTION 6.1.  Pursuant to G.S. 166A‑19.21(c)(3), the Type III disaster declaration as defined by G.S. 166A‑19.21(b)(3) and issued by Executive Order 120, dated December 9, 2016, is extended for an additional 24 months.

Part vii. effective date
SECTION 7.1.  This act is effective when it becomes law.