Merit Institute Merit

The North Carolina Government Transparency & Performance Act (NC-GT&P)

North Carolina state companion to GT&P. Extends the State Human Resources Act (Ch. 126), NC Public Records Law (Ch. 132), and the North Carolina False Claims Act (N.C. Gen. Stat. Ch. 1 Art. 51).

THE NORTH CAROLINA GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY & PERFORMANCE ACT (NC-GT&P)

Vehicle: State passage. North Carolina General Assembly, regular session. Primary referral to House / Senate State Government / Appropriations.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE

This Act may be cited as the “North Carolina Government Transparency & Performance Act (NC-GT&P).”

SECTION 2. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT

The General Assembly finds that the State Human Resources Act operates under N.C. Gen. Stat. Ch. 126; that the NC Public Records Law operates under N.C. Gen. Stat. Ch. 132; that the Office of State Budget and Management operates under N.C. Gen. Stat. Ch. 143C; that the Fiscal Research Division provides fiscal analysis under N.C. Gen. Stat. Ch. 120; and that North Carolina enacted the False Claims Act under N.C. Gen. Stat. Sec. 1-605 et seq. (S.L. 2009-554). This Act extends these frameworks.

TITLE I — DEFINITIONS & COORDINATION WITH NORTH CAROLINA LAW

Sec. 101. Definitions

  1. (a) “OSBM” means the Office of State Budget and Management.
  2. (b) “Publicly visible outcome” means a metric published under Sec. 201.
  3. (c) “NC-FCA” means N.C. Gen. Stat. Sec. 1-605 et seq.

Sec. 102. Coordination with Existing North Carolina Law

  1. (a) Consistent with:
  • N.C. Gen. Stat. Ch. 126 (State Human Resources).
  • N.C. Gen. Stat. Ch. 132 (Public Records).
  • N.C. Gen. Stat. Ch. 143C (OSBM).
  • N.C. Gen. Stat. Sec. 1-605 et seq. (FCA).

TITLE II — OUTCOME-BASED BUDGETING

Sec. 201. Outcome Metrics for Covered Programs

  1. (a) Each covered program in the State Budget shall publish at least three outcome metrics.
  2. (b) OSBM shall publish the NC Outcome Dashboard in machine-readable form.

Sec. 202. Fiscal-Note Outcome Integration

  1. (a) Fiscal Research Division fiscal notes shall identify outcome metrics from Sec. 201.

TITLE III — CIVIL-SERVICE MERIT PROTECTIONS

Sec. 301. Codification of Performance-Standards Protections

  1. (a) N.C. Gen. Stat. Ch. 126 is amended so that nothing precludes policy-making-position classifications with publicly posted performance standards.
  2. (b) Consistent with N.C. Gen. Stat. Sec. 126-5 (exempt positions).

TITLE IV — NORTH CAROLINA FALSE CLAIMS ACT AMENDMENT

Sec. 401. Credentialing and Outcome-Data Fraud

  1. (a) N.C. Gen. Stat. Sec. 1-605 et seq. is amended to clarify that a person presenting a materially false or fraudulent claim involving NCRMC, Federal FRAC, or NC-OBSA outcome data is liable to the State for a civil penalty and treble damages.

Sec. 402. Whistleblower Award

  1. (a) A whistleblower whose information leads to recovery shall receive between 15 and 30 percent of the State recovery under N.C. Gen. Stat. Sec. 1-610, as determined by the Attorney General.

TITLE V — IMPLEMENTATION & GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 501. Severability

If any provision is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect the remainder.

Sec. 502. Effective Date

This Act shall take effect July 1 of the year following enactment.

Canonical federal version: GT&P. Other North Carolina bills: NC-ACSA, NC-MEWRA, NC-AI-Workforce.