A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to allow flexibility in the event of noncompliance with a JMAC agreement, to amend ABC laws to expand use of alternating proprietorships, and to amend megasites and selectsites readiness programs.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 143B‑437.012 reads as rewritten:
"§ 143B‑437.012.  Job Maintenance and Capital Development Fund.
…
(d)	Eligibility. – A business is eligible for consideration for a grant under this section if it satisfies the conditions of subdivision (1), (1a), (2), (2a), or (2b) of this subsection and satisfies subdivision (4) of this subsection:
(1)	The business is a major employer. A business is a major employer if the business meets the following requirements:
a.	The Department certifies that the business has invested or intends to invest at least two hundred million dollars ($200,000,000) of private funds in improvements to real property and additions to tangible personal property in the project within a six‑year period beginning with the time the investment commences.
b.	The business employs at least 2,000 full‑time employees or equivalent full‑time contract employees at the project that is the subject of the grant at the time the application is made, and the business agrees to maintain at least 2,000 full‑time employees or equivalent full‑time contract employees at the project for the full term of the grant agreement.
c.	The project is located in a development tier one area at the time the business applies for a grant.
(1a)	The business previously received a grant as a major employer under this section and meets the following requirements:
a.	The Department certifies that the business has invested or intends to invest at least one hundred fifty million dollars ($150,000,000) of private funds in improvements to real property and additions to tangible personal property in the project within a six‑year period beginning with the time the investment commences. Amounts certified as invested under sub‑subdivision a. of subdivision (1) of this subsection shall not be included in the amount required by this sub‑subdivision.
b.	The business employs at least 2,000 full‑time employees or equivalent full‑time contract employees at the project that is the subject of the grant at the time the application is made and the business agrees to maintain at least 2,000 full‑time employees or equivalent full‑time contract employees at the project for the full term of the grant agreement.
c.	The project is at the same location as that for which a grant was previously awarded under subdivision (1) of this subsection.
(2)	The business is a large manufacturing employer. A business is a large manufacturing employer if the business meets the following requirements:
a.	The business is in manufacturing, as defined in G.S. 105‑129.81, and is converting its manufacturing process to change the product it manufactures or is investing in its manufacturing process by enhancing pollution controls or transitioning the manufacturing process from using coal to using natural gas for the purpose of becoming more energy efficient or reducing emissions.
b.	The Department certifies that the business has invested or intends to invest at least fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) of private funds in improvements to real property and additions to tangible personal property in the project within a five‑year period beginning with the time the investment commences.
c.	The business meets one of the following employment requirements:
1.	If in a development tier one area, the business employs at least 320 full‑time employees at the project that is the subject of the grant at the time the application is made, and the business agrees to maintain at least 320 full‑time employees at the project for the full term of the grant.
2.	If in a development tier two area with a population of less than 60,000 as of July 1, 2013, the business employs at least 800 full‑time employees or equivalent full‑time contract employees at the project that is the subject of the grant at the time the application is made, and the business agrees to maintain at least 800 full‑time employees or equivalent full‑time contract employees at the project for the full term of the grant.
(2a)	The business is a heritage manufacturing employer. A business is a heritage manufacturing employer if the business meets the following requirements:
a.	The business is in manufacturing, as defined in G.S. 143B‑437.01, and has been operating in this State for over 100 years.
b.	The Department certifies that the business has invested or intends to invest at least three hundred twenty‑five million dollars ($325,000,000) of private funds in improvements to real property and additions to tangible personal property in the project within a four‑year period beginning with the time the investment commences.
c.	The business employs at least 1,050 full‑time employees or equivalent full‑time contract employees in the State at the time the application is made and the business agrees to (i) maintain at least 1,050 full‑time employees or equivalent full‑time contract employees in the State for the full term of the grant and (ii) retrain and relocate to a development tier two area at least 400 of those full‑time employees or equivalent full‑time contract employees upon the commencement of commercial production at its tier two area facility.
d.	The business is operating in a development tier three area at the time the business applies for a grant and the business is relocating to a development tier two area with an estimated population of less than 63,000, according to the 2017 Certified County Population Estimates published by the State Demographer's Office.
e.	An agreement with a business under this subdivision may provide that the grant paid out over the term of the agreement be in unequal annual payments and in amounts deviating from the factors listed in subsection (l) of this section for any individual annual payment, provided the factors are considered in the aggregate award to be paid to the business over the entire term of the agreement.
(2b)	The business is a supply‑chain‑impact manufacturing employer. A business is a supply‑chain‑impact manufacturing employer if the business meets the following requirements:
a.	The business is in manufacturing, as defined in G.S. 105‑129.81, manufactures a product used primarily and significantly in the construction of residential and commercial buildings, and is investing in its manufacturing process to transition away from utilizing coal‑based energy byproducts to other alternatives.
b.	The Department certifies that the business has invested or intends to invest at least one hundred ten million dollars ($110,000,000) of private funds in improvements to real property and additions to tangible personal property in the project within a five‑year period beginning with the time the investment commences.
c.	The business and its affiliated companies (i) employ at least 420 full‑time employees or equivalent full‑time contract employees in the State at the time the application is made and (ii) agree to maintain at least 420 full‑time employees or equivalent full‑time contract employees in the State for the full term of the grant.
d.	The business has operations in a development tier two area at the time the business applies for a grant, and the business agrees to maintain or increase the development tier two area operations for the term of the agreement.
…
(j)	Agreement. – Unless the Secretary of Commerce determines that the project is no longer eligible or appropriate for a grant under this section, the Department shall enter into an agreement to provide a grant or grants for a project recommended by the Committee. Each grant agreement (i) is binding and constitutes a continuing contractual obligation of the State and the business, (ii) shall include the performance criteria, remedies, and other safeguards recommended by the Committee or required by the Department, and (iii) shall contain the following provisions:

(1)	A provision prohibiting a business from receiving a payment or other benefit under the agreement at any time when the business has received a notice of an overdue tax debt and the overdue tax debt has not been satisfied or otherwise resolved.
(2)	A provision requiring the business to maintain an employment level. For the purposes of this subsection, the employment level includes full‑time employees and equivalent full‑time contract employees. The applicable employment level is as follows:
a.	If the grant agreement is for a business that has qualified as a major employer under subsection (d) of this section, a provision requiring the business to maintain the employment level at the project that is the subject of the agreement that is the lesser of the level it had at the time it applied for a grant under this section or that it had at the time that the investment required under subsection (d) of this section began. The provision shall further require, in the event the business fails to maintain the required level of employment by more than 100 employees, a one percent (1%) reduction of the grant for every one employee below that threshold.
b.	If the grant agreement is for a business that has not qualified as a major employer under subsection (d) of this section, a provision requiring the business to maintain the employment level required under that subdivision at the project that is the subject of the grant. The provision shall further specify that the business is not eligible for a grant in any year in which the business fails to maintain the employment level.
A grant agreement may obligate the State to make a series of grant payments over a period of up to 10 years. Nothing in this section constitutes or authorizes a guarantee or assumption by the State of any debt of any business or authorizes the taxing power or the full faith and credit of the State to be pledged.
The Department shall cooperate with the Attorney General's office in preparing the documentation for the grant agreement. The Attorney General shall review the terms of all proposed agreements to be entered into under this section. To be effective against the State, an agreement entered into under this section shall be signed personally by the Attorney General.
(k)	Safeguards. – To ensure that public funds are used only to carry out the public purposes provided in this section, the Department shall require that each business that receives a grant under this section shall agree to meet performance criteria to protect the State's investment and ensure that the projected benefits of the project are secured. The performance criteria to be required shall include specified levels of compensation for required levels of employment, maintenance of health insurance for all full‑time employees, investment of a specified amount over the term of the agreement, and any other criteria the Department considers appropriate. The agreement shall require the business to repay or reimburse an appropriate portion of the grant based on the extent of any failure by the business to meet the performance criteria. The agreement shall require the business to repay all amounts received under the agreement and to forfeit any future grant payments if the business fails to satisfy the investment eligibility requirement of this section. The use of contract employees shall not be used to reduce compensation at the project that is the subject of the agreement.
…."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 18B‑903 reads as rewritten:
"§ 18B‑903.  Duration of permit; renewal and transfer.
…
(c1)	Construction of Change in Ownership. – Nothing in subsection (c) of this section shall be construed to limit alternating proprietorships in which the holder of a permit under G.S. 18B‑1101, 18B‑1102, 18B‑1103, 18B‑1104, or 18B‑1105 leases or otherwise makes available its facility to another holder of a permit under G.S. 18B‑1101, 18B‑1102, 18B‑1103, 18B‑1104, or 18B‑1105. For purposes of this section, if authorized by federal law, the host facility may also hold, at the same facility, brewery, unfortified winery, fortified winery, and distillery permits pursuant to G.S. 18B‑1101, 18B‑1102, 18B‑1104, and 18B‑1105. In this arrangement, the tenant producer shall maintain title to the beverages at all states of the process and shall be responsible for all aspects associated with manufacturing the product, including maintaining appropriate records, obtaining label approval in its own name, and remitting the appropriate taxes. Alternating brewery proprietorships are authorized between affiliated breweries, but shall not be used as a means to allocate production quantities between affiliated breweries to obtain a malt beverage wholesaler permit pursuant to G.S. 18B‑1104(a)(8) where either brewery would not otherwise qualify for a permit, and the Commission shall have no authority to grant an exemption to this requirement pursuant to G.S. 18B‑1116(b).
…."
SECTION 3.  Section 11.11 of S.L. 2022‑74, as amended by Section 11.11 of S.L. 2023‑134, reads as rewritten:
"SECTION 11.11.(a)  Purpose. – It is in the best economic and developmental interests of the State to support the development of megasites to ensure the State's ongoing competitiveness for major manufacturing opportunities, including, but not limited to, the aerospace, automotive, clean energy, food processing, semiconductor, and life science industries. The purpose of this section is to establish a competitive grant program serving to do the following:
(1)	Identify and evaluate up to seven megasites for preferred development and marketing.
(2)	Assist local governments or a partnership of local governments in the acquisition of a newly identified or existing megasite.
(3)	Support local governments or a partnership of local governments to analyze, plan, install, or upgrade infrastructure, including water, gas, and sewer systems, transportation infrastructure, and the electric infrastructure necessary to meet the needs of prospective employers for megasites.
(4)	Support local governments or a partnership of local governments to fund on‑site preparation, including clearing, grading, or other related expenses for megasites.
(4a)	Support local governments or a partnership of local governments in conducting due diligence, including, but not limited to, the following: site characteristics, preliminary engineering reports for water and wastewater provision to the site, assessments related to road and highway infrastructure to serve the site, and other assessments as needed.
(5)	Facilitate coordination between the economic development entities, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, and the North Carolina Department of Transportation to expedite needs related to timely site development.
…
"SECTION 11.11.(c)  Definitions. – The following definitions apply in this section:
…
(4)	Government partnership. – Either (i) a North Carolina nonprofit entity that is tax exempt under section 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(12) of the Internal Revenue Code in partnership with one or more local governments or (ii) a group of local governments.
…
"SECTION 11.11.(d)  Allocation. – EDPNC shall allocate monies in the Fund on the following basis:
…
(2)	All other funds appropriated to the Fund for local government grants for the purposes described in subsection (a) of this section. A grant for the acquisition of a megasite is limited to eighty‑five percent (85%) of the lesser of the property's purchase price or tax value. The percentage actually provided in the grant shall be determined by EDPNC based on total development needs for the megasite, prior investment in the megasite by one or more local governments, the ability of one or more local governments to invest in the megasite, and the ability and level of participation promised by the local government in exchange for a grant from the Fund. Monies may only be granted for, and used to acquire, a megasite for which (i) one or more local governments have a binding option or offer to purchase and (ii) all basic due diligence must be complete, including, but not limited to, boundary surveys, title searches, State Historic Preservation Office reviews, and wetlands delineation.
…
"SECTION 11.11.(f)  Agreements Required. – Monies shall be disbursed from the Fund to EDPNC on a quarterly basis in four equal installments per year. EDPNC may use funds only in accordance with agreements entered into between EDPNC and a local government or a government partnership. The agreement must include all of the performance criteria, remedies, and other safeguards required to secure the assistance provided to ready the megasite for a major employer and must require EDPNC to recapture a proportionate amount of assistance provided under this section for failure by a local government or government partnership to meet and maintain the megasite for availability for the purposes for which the assistance was provided.
…."
SECTION 4.  Section 11.12 of S.L. 2023‑134 reads as rewritten:
"SECTION 11.12.(a)  Funds appropriated by Section 11.4(d)(1) of S.L. 2022‑74 to the Department of Commerce (Department) and allocated to the nonprofit corporation with which the Department contracts pursuant to G.S. 143B‑431.01(b) that remain unspent as of April 1, 2025, shall be transferred to the North Carolina Selectsite Fund established in subsection (c) of this section to be used for purposes consistent with subdivision (e)(1) of this section. Of the funds appropriated from the Economic Development Project Reserve established in Section 2.2 of this act to the Department to be allocated to the nonprofit corporation with which the Department contracts pursuant to G.S. 143B‑431.01(b), the sum of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) in nonrecurring funds for the 2024‑2025 fiscal year shall be used for the purposes described in subdivisions (b)(2), (b)(3), (b)(4), and (b)(5) of this section.
"SECTION 11.12.(b)  Purpose. – It is in the best economic and developmental interests of the State to support the development of selectsites to ensure the State's ongoing competitiveness for major manufacturing opportunities, including, but not limited to, the aerospace, automotive, clean energy, food processing, semiconductor, and life science industries. The purpose of this section is to establish a competitive grant program serving to do the following:
(1)	Identify and evaluate up to 20 selectsites of less than 1,000 acres for preferred development and marketing.
(2)	Assist local governments or a partnership of local governments in the acquisition of a newly identified or existing selectsite.
(3)	Support local governments or a partnership of local governments to analyze, plan, install, or upgrade infrastructure, including water, gas, and sewer systems; transportation infrastructure; and electric infrastructure necessary to meet the needs of prospective employers for selectsites.
(4)	Support local governments or a partnership of local governments to fund on‑site preparation, including clearing, grading, or other related expenses for selectsites.
(5)	Support local governments or a partnership of local governments in conducting due diligence, including, but not limited to, the following: site characteristics, preliminary engineering reports for water and wastewater provision to the site, assessments related to road and highway infrastructure to serve the site, and other assessments as needed.
(6)	Facilitate coordination between the economic development entities and the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and the North Carolina Department of Transportation to expedite needs related to timely site development.
…
"SECTION 11.12.(e)  Allocation. – EDPNC shall allocate monies in the Fund on the following basis:
(1)	Unspent funds transferred pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall be used for engaging a national site selection firm through a competitive bid process to produce a report identifying and evaluating 15 selectsites for preferred development and marketing, of which seven must be less than 500 acres and of which an additional two must be less than 100 acres. Further unspent funds transferred pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall be used for engaging a national site selection firm through a competitive bid process to produce a supplemental report identifying and evaluating up to five, and no less than three, additional selectsites from the initial disaster declared counties resulting from Tropical Storm Helene.
(2)	Funds appropriated to the Fund for local government grants shall be allocated for the purposes outlined in subdivisions (b)(2), (b)(3), (b)(4), and (b)(5) of this section for selectsites determined pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection. EDPNC shall prioritize local government grants that have the greatest potential to reduce the time for site readiness and reduce the risk of unforeseen conditions that could affect the site viability for advanced manufacturing projects. EDPNC shall base the grant amount on total development needs for the selectsite, prior investment in the selectsite by one or more local governments, the ability of one or more local governments to invest in the selectsite, and the ability and level of participation promised by the local government in exchange for a grant from the Fund. Monies may only be granted for, and used to acquire, a selectsite for which (i) one or more local governments have a binding option or offer to purchase and (ii) all basic due diligence has been completed, including, but not limited to, boundary surveys, title searches, State Historic Preservation Office reviews, and wetlands delineation.
…
"SECTION 11.12.(g)  Agreements Required. – Monies shall be disbursed from the Fund to EDPNC on a quarterly basis in four equal installments per year. EDPNC may use funds only in accordance with agreements entered into between EDPNC and a local government or a government partnership. The agreement must include all of the performance criteria, remedies, and other safeguards required to secure the assistance provided to ready the selectsite for a major employer and must require EDPNC to recapture a proportionate amount of assistance provided under this section for failure by a local government or government partnership to meet and maintain the selectsite for availability for the purposes for which the assistance was provided.
…."
SECTION 5.  This act is effective when it becomes law.