AN ACT to restore longevity payments for educators.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.(a)  Section 9.1(d) of S.L. 2014‑100 is repealed.

SECTION 1.(b)  For the 2024‑2025 fiscal year, annual longevity payments for teachers and instructional support personnel shall be at the rate of one and one‑half percent (1.5%) of base salary for 10 to 14 years of State service, two and twenty‑five hundredths percent (2.25%) of base salary for 15 to 19 years of State service, three and twenty‑five hundredths percent (3.25%) of base salary for 20 to 24 years of State service, and four and one‑half percent (4.5%) of base salary for 25 or more years of State service. The longevity payment shall be paid in a lump sum once per year.

SECTION 1.(c)  For the 2024‑2025 fiscal year, longevity payments for principals and assistant principals shall be as provided for State employees under the North Carolina Human Resources Act.

SECTION 2.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Instruction for the 2024‑2025 fiscal year the sum of one hundred forty million three hundred thousand dollars ($140,300,000) in recurring funds to restore longevity payments for educators pursuant to this act.

SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2024.