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H649 • 2025

County Tier Designation Study Bill.

County Tier Designation Study Bill.

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Johnson, Reives, Ager, Baker, Belk, K. Brown, Cervania, Dahle, Goodwin, Harrison, Helfrich, F. Jackson, Jeffers, Liu, Logan, Lopez, Moss, Penny, Pickett, G. Pierce, Price, Quick, Rubin, Carson Smith, Tyson, Ward, Winslow
Last action
2025-04-30
Official status
Ref To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate
Effective date
2025-07-01

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

County Tier Designation Study Bill.

H649-SMCW-28(e1)-v-4 (2025-04-15): County Tier Designation Study Bill.

What This Bill Does

  • H649-SMCW-28(e1)-v-4 (2025-04-15): County Tier Designation Study Bill.
  • H649-SMCW-34(e1)-v-2 (2025-04-28): County Tier Designation Study Bill.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

Filed

Plain English: 2025-2026 General Assembly HOUSE BILL 649: County Tier Designation Study Bill.

  • 2025-2026 General Assembly HOUSE BILL 649: County Tier Designation Study Bill.
  • Committee: House State and Local Government.
  • If favorable, re -refer to Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House Date: April 15, 2025 Introduced by: Reps.
  • Johnson, Reives Prepared by: Michael Whitfield Committee Co-Counsel Analysis of: First Edition Kara McCraw Director *H649-SMCW-28(e1)-v-4* Legislative Analysis Division 919-733-2578 This bill analysis was prepared by the nonpartisan legislative staff for the use of legislators in their deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.
Filed

Plain English: 2025-2026 General Assembly HOUSE BILL 649: County Tier Designation Study Bill.

  • 2025-2026 General Assembly HOUSE BILL 649: County Tier Designation Study Bill.
  • Committee: House Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House Date: April 28, 2025 Introduced by: Reps.
  • Johnson, Reives Prepared by: Michael Whitfield Staff Attorney Analysis of: First Edition Kara McCraw Director *H649-SMCW-34(e1)-v-2* Legislative Analysis Division 919-733-2578 This bill analysis was prepared by the nonpartisan legislative staff for the use of legislators in their deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.
  • OVERVIEW: House Bill 649 would direct the North Carolina Collaboratory to study the effects of three proposed changes to the county tier designation system.

Bill History

  1. 2025-04-30 Senate

    Ref To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate

  2. 2025-04-30 Senate

    Passed 1st Reading

  3. 2025-04-30 Senate

    Regular Message Received From House

  4. 2025-04-30 House

    Regular Message Sent To Senate

  5. 2025-04-29 House

    Passed 3rd Reading

  6. 2025-04-29 House

    Passed 2nd Reading

  7. 2025-04-28 House

    Placed On Cal For 04/29/2025

  8. 2025-04-28 House

    Cal Pursuant Rule 36(b)

  9. 2025-04-28 House

    Reptd Fav

  10. 2025-04-15 House

    Re-ref Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

  11. 2025-04-15 House

    Reptd Fav

  12. 2025-04-02 House

    Ref to the Com on State and Local Government, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

  13. 2025-04-02 House

    Passed 1st Reading

  14. 2025-04-01 House

    Filed

Official Summary Text

H649-SMCW-28(e1)-v-4
(2025-04-15): County Tier Designation Study Bill.
H649-SMCW-34(e1)-v-2
(2025-04-28): County Tier Designation Study Bill.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 1
HOUSE BILL 649

Short Title: County Tier Designation Study Bill. (Public)
Sponsors: Representatives Johnson and Reives (Primary Sponsors).
For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to: State and Local Government, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the
House
April 2, 2025
*H649-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO DIRECT THE NORTH CAROLINA COLL ABORATORY TO STUDY T HE 2
EFFECTS OF VARIOUS P ROPOSED CHANGES TO T HE COUNTY TIER 3
DESIGNATION SYSTEM. 4
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 5
SECTION 1.(a) The North Carolina Collaboratory at the University of North 6
Carolina at Chapel Hill (Collaboratory) shall study the potential effects of the changes outlined 7
in this act on the county tier designation system under G.S. 143B-437.08. 8
SECTION 1.(b) The study shall focus on the following proposed changes to the 9
county tier designation system under G.S. 143B-437.08: 10
(1) Changing the criteria used to rank counties. 11
(2) Changing the way in which tier designations are assigned. 12
(3) Changing the time frame in which counties are ranked. 13
SECTION 1.(c) The study shall evaluate the impact of the proposed changes listed 14
in subsection (b) of this section on the following: 15
(1) The rankings of all 100 counties. 16
(2) Programs that use the tier designation system for their administration. 17
(3) The ease of doing business in the State. 18
SECTION 1.(d) The Collaboratory shall consult with the following agencies to 19
conduct the study required by this act: 20
(1) The Department of Commerce. 21
(2) The Department of Health and Human Services. 22
(3) The Department of Public Instruction. 23
SECTION 1.(e) The study shall evaluate whether the proposed changes listed in 24
subsection (b) of this section: 25
(1) Align with the State's economic development goals. 26
(2) Use current, reliable, timely, and high-quality data. 27
(3) Implement a methodology that is easy to understand. 28
(4) Accurately identify areas of distress. 29
SECTION 2. No later than December 31, 2025, the Collaboratory shall submit a 30
preliminary report of the results of the study required by this act to the Joint Legislative Economic 31
Development and Global Engagement Oversight Committee (EDGE) and the Fiscal Research 32
Division (FRD). No later than December 1, 2026, the Collaboratory shall submit a final report of 33
the results of the study required by this act to EDGE and FRD. 34
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 649-First Edition
SECTION 3. This act becomes effective July 1, 2025. 1