Local Communicable Disease Programs/Funds.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 1
HOUSE BILL 197

Short Title: Local Communicable Disease Programs/Funds. (Public)
Sponsors: Representatives White and Potts (Primary Sponsors).
For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to: Appropriations, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
February 26, 2025
*H197-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT APPROPRIATING FUNDS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN 2
SERVICES, DIVISION O F PUBLIC HEALTH, TO CONTINUE THE STATE'S 3
PROGRESS IN COMMUNICABLE DISEASE RESPONSE. 4
Whereas, there are over 80 reportable communicable diseases in North Carolina that 5
local health departments (LHDs) are responsible for investigating and managing; and 6
Whereas, LHDs must respond to the rise and spread of newly emerging and 7
re-emerging communicable diseases, such as tuberculosis, avian flu, Marburg viru s, and Mpox; 8
and 9
Whereas, North Carolina has currently seen cases of avian flu in commercial poultry 10
flocks, requiring a high level of monitoring and support from LHDs to address the risk of human 11
spread; and 12
Whereas, LHDs in North Carolina remain understa ffed, with an estimated 70% 13
shortage of public health staff at the local level, including communicable disease nurses and other 14
professionals, who are vital to the State's communicable disease response; Now, therefore, 15
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 16
SECTION 1.(a) There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of 17
Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, the sum of twenty -five million dollars 18
($25,000,000) in recurring funds for the 2025-2026 fiscal year and the sum of twenty-five million 19
dollars ($25,000,000) in recurring funds for the 2026 -2027 fiscal year to be allocated to local 20
health departments, as provided in subsection (b) of this section, to do all of the following: 21
(1) To better prepare the State for emerging and re-emerging public health threats. 22
(2) To retain staff, hire additional disease staff, including public health nurses and 23
other public health professionals, and to expand public health programs and 24
services, which are vital not only to maintaini ng North Carolina's 25
communicable disease response but also to ensuring that the essential public 26
health services described in G.S. 130A-1.1 are available and accessible to the 27
population served by each local health department. 28
SECTION 1.(b) In the distrib ution of these funds to local health departments, for 29
each year of the 2025 -2027 fiscal biennium, the Department of Health and Human Services, 30
Division of Public Health, shall do all of the following: 31
(1) Divide twelve million five hundred thousand dollars ($12,500,000) equally 32
among the local health departments based on the number of counties served 33
by each local health department. 34
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 197-First Edition
(2) Distribute the remaining twelve million five hundred thousand dollars 1
($12,500,000) to local health departments based upon the percentage of the 2
State population served by each of the local health departments. 3
(3) Begin distributing the funds allocated under this section no later than (i) 60 4
days after the date the Office of State Budget and Management and the Office 5
of the S tate Controller establish the certified budget for the Department of 6
Health and Human Services for the 2025-2026 fiscal year and (ii) 60 days after 7
the date the Office of State Budget and Management and the Office of the 8
State Controller establish the cert ified budget for the Department of Health 9
and Human Services for the 2026-2027 fiscal year. 10
SECTION 2. This act becomes effective July 1, 2025. 11