HB 197

Includes whereas clauses. Appropriates $25 million in recurring funds for 2025-26 and for 2026-27 from the General Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, to be allocated to local health departments, with the amount to the local health departments as specified in the act, to: (1) better prepare the State for emerging and re-emerging public health threats and (2) retain and hire additional disease staff, including public health nurses and other public health professionals, and to expand public health programs and services, which are vital not only to maintaining North Carolina's communicable disease response but also to ensuring that the essential public health services are available and accessible to the population served by the local health department. Sets out a timeline for the distribution of the funds. Effective July 1, 2025.