H 562

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
  SESSION 2025
  SESSION LAW 2026-58
  HOUSE BILL 562
AN ACT TO MAKE FURTHER ADJUSTMENTS TO THE 2026 CURRENT OPERATIONS
  APPROPRIATIONS ACT AND TO MAKE OTHER CHANGES.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
  SECTION 1. If House Bill 268, 2025 Regular Session, becomes law, then:
  (1)      Subsection (c) of Section 7.16 of that act is repealed.
  (2)      The funds reappropriated in Section 7.2(c) of that act shall be nonrecurring
  funds instead of recurring funds.
  (3)      The Budget Code referenced in Section 7.15 of that act is corrected to Budget
  Code: 13900.
  SECTION 2.(a) If House Bill 268, 2025 Regular Session, becomes law, then Section
4.4 of that act is repealed and, notwithstanding any provision of S.L. 2026-41 or the Committee
Report referenced in Section 45.2 of that act, the following shall occur:
  (1)      The Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Mental Health,
  Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Use Services, shall provide the
  sum of one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) in
  nonrecurring funds for the 2026-2027 fiscal year for a directed grant to HBOT
  4 Heroes, a nonprofit corporation, for the provision of hyperbaric oxygen
  therapy treatment for veterans with a diagnosis of traumatic brain injury or
  posttraumatic stress disorder.
  (2)      Funds provided as a directed grant to The Community Foundation of NC East,
  Inc., on page C67, Item 151, of that Committee Report shall be decreased by
  the sum of one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) in
  nonrecurring funds for the 2026-2027 fiscal year.
  SECTION 2.(b) If House Bill 268, 2025 Regular Session, does not become law,
then, notwithstanding any provision of S.L. 2026-41 or the Committee Report referenced in
Section 45.2 of that act, the following shall occur:
  (1)      The Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Mental Health,
  Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Use Services, shall provide the
  sum of one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) in
  nonrecurring funds for the 2026-2027 fiscal year for a directed grant to HBOT
  4 Heroes, a nonprofit corporation, for the provision of hyperbaric oxygen
  therapy treatment for veterans with a diagnosis of traumatic brain injury or
  posttraumatic stress disorder.
  (2)      Funds provided as a directed grant to The Community Foundation of NC East,
  Inc., on page C67, Item 151, of that Committee Report shall be decreased by
  the sum of one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) in
  nonrecurring funds for the 2026-2027 fiscal year.
  SECTION 3. Notwithstanding any provision of S.L. 2026-41 or the Committee
Report referenced in Section 45.2 of that act to the contrary, the funds appropriated in that act to
the Office of State Budget and Management – Special Appropriations for the 2026-2027 fiscal
  *H562-v-4*
year to be used for directed grants to Carolina Lakes Property Owners Association, Inc., (Page
F40, Items 182 and 183) shall instead be used for a directed grant to Harnett County for any
public purpose.
  SECTION 4. Notwithstanding any provision of S.L. 2026-41 or the Committee
Report referenced in Section 45.2 of that act to the contrary, the funds appropriated in that act to
the Office of State Budget and Management – Special Appropriations for the 2026-2027 fiscal
year to be used for a directed grant to Anson County for water and wastewater infrastructure
(Page F35, Item 127) shall be used by Anson County to provide a directed grant to Anson
Economic Development Corporation, a nonprofit corporation, for sewer system expansion.
  SECTION 5.(a) Section 31 of S.L. 2026-46 is repealed.
  SECTION 5.(b) G.S. 20-63 reads as rewritten:
"§ 20-63. Registration plates furnished by Division; requirements; replacement of regular
  plates with First in Flight plates, First in Freedom plates, or National/State
  Mottos Mottos, or America's Semiquincentennial plates; surrender and
  reissuance; displaying; preservation and cleaning; alteration or concealment of
  numbers; commission contracts for issuance.
    …
    (b)      Every license plate must display the registration number assigned to the vehicle for
which it is issued, the name of the State of North Carolina, which may be abbreviated, and the
year number for which it is issued or the date of expiration. A plate issued for a commercial
vehicle, as defined in G.S. 20-4.2(1), and weighing 26,001 pounds or more, must bear the word
"commercial," unless the plate is a special registration plate authorized in G.S. 20-79.4 or the
commercial vehicle is a trailer or is licensed for 6,000 pounds or less. The plate issued for vehicles
licensed for 7,000 pounds through 26,000 pounds must bear the word "weighted," unless the
plate is a special registration plate authorized in G.S. 20-79.4.
    A registration plate issued by the Division for a private passenger vehicle or for a private
hauler vehicle licensed for 6,000 pounds or less shall be, at the option of the owner, either (i) a
"First in Flight" plate, (ii) a "First in Freedom" plate, or (iii) a "National/State Mottos" plate.
plate, or (iv) an "America's Semiquincentennial" plate. A "First in Flight" plate shall have the
words "First in Flight" printed at the top of the plate above all other letters and numerals. The
background of the "First in Flight" plate shall depict the Wright Brothers biplane flying over
Kitty Hawk Beach, with the plane flying slightly upward and to the right. A "First in Freedom"
plate shall have the words "First in Freedom" printed at the top of the plate above all other letters
and numerals. The background of the "First in Freedom" plate may include an image chosen by
the Division that is representative of the Mecklenburg Declaration of 1775 or the Halifax
Resolves of 1776. A "National/State Mottos" plate shall have in words the motto of the United
States "In God We Trust" printed at the top of the plate above all other letters and numerals and
have in words the State motto "To Be Rather Than To Seem". The background of the
"National/State Mottos" plate shall include an image chosen by the Division that is representative
of the American Flag. An "America's Semiquincentennial" plate shall have the words "America
250" at the top of the plate above all other letters and numerals. The background of the "America's
Semiquincentennial" plate shall depict on the plate the mountains to the coast, with the cardinal,
dogwood flowers, Blue Ridge Mountains, North Carolina State Capitol, Wright Brothers' plane,
and the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.
    (b1) The following special registration plates do not have to be a "First in Flight" plate,
"First in Freedom" plate, or "National/State Mottos" plate plate, or "America's
Semiquincentennial" plate, as provided in subsection (b) of this section. The design of the plates
that are not "First in Flight" plates, "First in Freedom" plates, or "National/State Mottos" plate
plates, or "America's Semiquincentennial" plates must be developed in accordance with
G.S. 20-79.4(a3). For special plates authorized in G.S. 20-79.7 on or after July 1, 2013, the
Page 2  Session Law 2026-58  House Bill 562
Division may not issue the plate on a background under this subsection unless it receives the
required number of applications set forth in G.S. 20-79.3A(a).
  …."
  SECTION 5.(c) G.S. 20-79(c) reads as rewritten:
    "(c) Form and Duration. – A dealer license plate is subject to G.S. 20-63, except for the
requirement that the plate display the registration number of a motor vehicle and the requirement
that the plate be a "First in Flight" plate, a "First in Freedom" plate, or a "National/State Mottos"
plate. plate, or an "America's Semiquincentennial" plate. A dealer license plate must have a
distinguishing symbol identifying the plate as a dealer license plate. The symbol may vary
depending upon the classification of dealer license plate issued. The Division must provide
suitably reduced sized license plates for motorcycle dealers and manufacturers.
    …."
  SECTION 5.(d) G.S. 20-79.02(c) reads as rewritten:
    "(c) Form and Duration. – An LD license plate is subject to G.S. 20-63, except for the
requirement that the plate display the registration number of a motor vehicle and the requirement
that the plate be a "First in Flight" plate, "First in Freedom" plate, or a "National/State Mottos"
plate. plate, or an "America's Semiquincentennial" plate. An LD license plate must have a
distinguishing symbol identifying the plate as an LD license plate. Subject to the limitations in
this section, an LD license plate may continue in existence perpetually and may be transferred to
other vehicles in the dealer's loaner fleet when the vehicle on which the LD license plate is
displayed has been sold or leased to a third party or otherwise removed from the dealer's loaner
fleet."
  SECTION 5.(e) G.S. 20-79.2(c) reads as rewritten:
    "(c) Form, Duration, and Transfer. – A transporter plate is subject to G.S. 20-63, except
for the requirement that the plate display the registration number of a motor vehicle and the
requirement that the plate be a "First in Flight" plate, a "First in Freedom" plate, or a
"National/State Mottos" plate. plate, or an "America's Semiquincentennial" plate. A transporter
plate shall have a distinguishing symbol identifying the plate as a transporter plate. The symbol
may vary depending upon the classification of transporter plate issued. A transporter plate is
issued for a period of one year. The Division shall vary the expiration dates of transporter
registration renewals so that an approximately equal number expires at the end of each month,
quarter, or other period consisting of one or more months. When the Division issues a transporter
plate, it may issue a registration that expires at the end of any monthly interval. During the year
for which it is issued, a business or dealer may transfer a transporter plate from one vehicle to
another as long as the vehicle is driven only for a purpose authorized by subsection (a) of this
section. The Division must rescind a transporter plate that is displayed on a motor vehicle driven
for a purpose that is not authorized by subsection (a) of this section."
  SECTION 5.(f) This section is effective retroactively to July 7, 2026, but the
Division is not required to issue plates with an "America's Semiquincentennial" background until
180 days after the Division has finalized the background design in accordance with
G.S. 20-63(b), as amended by subsection (b) of this section.
  SECTION 6. Section 44.5(i) of S.L. 2026-41 is rewritten to read:
    "SECTION 44.5.(i) Except as otherwise provided, this section is effective for taxable years
beginning on or after January 1, 2027, and applies to funds collected for those taxable years.
Except for funds transferred to the State Building Code Regulatory Fund pursuant to Section 13.5
of this act, the Insurance Regulatory Charge collected after January 1, 2027, for taxable years
beginning before that date, shall be placed in the Insurance Regulatory Fund and shall be used
for the purposes listed in subdivisions (1) through (11) of G.S. 58-6-25(d) as that subsection
existed immediately before its amendment by subsection (c) of this section."
  SECTION 7. There is appropriated from the General Fund the following sums in
recurring funds beginning in the 2026-2027 fiscal year, as follows:
House Bill 562  Session Law 2026-58  Page 3
  (1)     Two hundred twenty-five thousand dollars ($225,000) to the Office of the
  State Fire Marshal for positions to facilitate administrative functions.
  (2)     Three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000) to the Department of Labor for
  positions to facilitate the directives of Sections 13.3, 13.4, and 13.5 of S.L.
  2026-41.
  SECTION 8. Except as otherwise provided, this act becomes effective July 1, 2026.
  In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 6th day of August, 2026.
  s/ Rachel Hunt
  President of the Senate
  s/ Mike Schietzelt
  Presiding Officer of the House of Representatives
  s/ Josh Stein
  Governor
Approved 8:02 a.m. this 11th day of August, 2026
Page 4  Session Law 2026-58  House Bill 562