A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT providing that children of wartime veterans receiving a class i‑a, i‑b, or IV scholarship may use those funds to cover the cost of short‑term workforce training courses leading to industry credentials and PUBLIC SAFETY ANSWERING POINT MODIFICATIONS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.(a)  G.S. 143B‑1225(a)(1) reads as rewritten:
"(1)	With respect to State educational institutions, unless expressly limited elsewhere in this Part, a scholarship shall consist of:
a.	Tuition at the State educational institution.
b.	A standard board allowance.
c.	A standard room allowance.
d.	Matriculation and other institutional fees required to be paid as a condition to remaining in the institution and pursuing the course of study selected.
e.	For Class I‑A, I‑B, and IV scholarships, as defined by G.S. 143B‑1226(b), the cost of short‑term workforce training courses leading to industry credentials."
SECTION 1.(b)  G.S. 143B‑1226(b)(2) reads as rewritten:
"(2)	Class I‑B: Under this class a limited scholarship providing only those benefits set forth in G.S. 143B‑1225(a)(1)a., d., and e., and G.S. 143B‑1225(a)(2) shall be awarded to any child whose veteran parent, at the time the benefits pursuant to this Part are sought to be availed of, is or was at the time of his death receiving compensation for a wartime service‑connected disability of one hundred percent (100%) as rated by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. Provided, that if the veteran parent of a recipient under this class should die of his wartime service‑connected condition before the recipient shall have utilized all of his scholarship eligibility time, then the North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs shall amend the recipient's award from Class I‑B to Class I‑A for the remainder of the recipient's eligibility time. The effective date of such an amended award shall be determined by the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs but, in no event shall it predate the date of the veteran parent's death."
SECTION 2.(a)  G.S. 143B‑1406(d) reads as rewritten:
"(d)	Use of Funds. – A PSAP that receives a distribution from the 911 Fund may not use the amount received to pay for the lease or purchase of real estate, cosmetic remodeling of emergency dispatch centers, hiring or compensating telecommunicators, or the purchase of mobile communications vehicles, ambulances, fire engines, or other emergency vehicles. Distributions received by a PSAP may be used only to pay for the following:
(1)	The lease, purchase, or maintenance of:
a.	Emergency telephone equipment, including necessary computer hardware, software, and database provisioning.
b.	Addressing.
c.	Telecommunicator furniture.
d.	Dispatch equipment located exclusively within a building where a PSAP or back‑up PSAP is located, excluding the costs of base station transmitters, towers, microwave links, and antennae used to dispatch emergency call information from the PSAP or back‑up PSAP.
(1a)	The costs of contracting for communication services incurred by a city or county that operates a PSAP if all of the following apply:
a.	The city or county, or both, have a written agreement with a major military installation as defined in G.S. 143‑215.115 that operates a PSAP.
b.	The written agreement requires the parties to mutually serve as a back‑up PSAP or military secondary PSAP for each other.
c.	The contract for communication services is necessary to ensure the PSAP operated by the city or county establishes and maintains the maximum amount of next generation 911 system compatibility with the PSAP operated by the major military installation.
(2)	The nonrecurring costs of establishing a 911 system.
(3)	Expenditures for in‑State training of 911 personnel regarding the maintenance and operation of the 911 system. Allowable training expenses include the cost of transportation, lodging, instructors, certifications, improvement programs, quality assurance training, training associated with call taking, and emergency medical, fire, or law enforcement procedures, and training specific to managing a PSAP or supervising PSAP staff. Training outside the State is not an eligible expenditure unless the training is unavailable in the State or the PSAP documents that the training costs are less if received out‑of‑state. Training specific to the receipt of 911 calls is allowed only for intake and related call taking quality assurance and improvement. Instructor certification costs and course required prerequisites, including physicals, psychological exams, and drug testing, are not allowable expenditures.
(4)	Charges associated with the service supplier's 911 service and other service supplier recurring charges. The PSAP providing 911 service is responsible to the communications service provider for all 911 installation, service, equipment, operation, and maintenance charges owed to the communications service provider. A PSAP may contract with a communications service provider on terms agreed to by the PSAP and the provider."
SECTION 2.(b)  G.S. 143B‑1400 is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:
"(19a)	Military secondary PSAP. – A military PSAP that is able to receive the voice and data of a 911 call and to complete the call taking process dispatching law enforcement, medical, fire, or other responders in coordination with the primary PSAP."
SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law. Sections 1(a) and 1(b) apply to scholarships awarded beginning with the 2019‑2020 academic year. Sections 2(a) and 2(b) apply to distributions for the 2019‑2020 fiscal year and subsequent fiscal years.