Enacted May 5, 2026·technical

SL 2026-3 — School-nurses vehicle gutted into SFRF cleanup

An act directing OSBM and NCPRO to reclassify and reallocate unexpended State Fiscal Recovery Fund balances and extending the sunset of the NC Pandemic Recovery Office.

Primary bill · HB 433

A bill that started life as 'Registered Nurses in Schools' and was engrossed by the Senate into SFRF/NCPRO administrative cleanup. As enacted it has very low lobbying density — the visible lobbying was on the original school-nurses content, which is no longer in the bill.

SL 2026-3 (HB 433) has a strange legislative history that's worth flagging up front, because it shapes the lobbying analysis. The bill was filed in March 2025 as "Registered Nurses in Schools" — a substantive policy change about who could be hired as a certified school nurse and how they'd be paid. It passed the House 100-11 on that subject in May 2025, then sat in Senate Rules for nearly a year. On May 5, 2026, the Senate engrossed it with a complete content swap: the school-nurse language was stripped out entirely, and the bill was replaced with technical administrative cleanup language for the State Fiscal Recovery Fund (SFRF) and NC Pandemic Recovery Office (NCPRO).

The SFRF/NCPRO language that replaced the bill text is substantively the same as Section 6.9 of SL 2025-97 (SB 449) — it's a tidying-up exercise to let OSBM reclassify unexpended SFRF balances under U.S. Treasury's "revenue replacement" category (31 C.F.R. Part 35) before the federal obligation deadlines hit, and to extend NCPRO's sunset date so the office can continue managing close-out. This is essentially a federal-funds compliance and bookkeeping bill in its final form.

That history matters for the lobbying chart because the lobbying that existed around HB 433 was almost entirely on the original school-nurses content, which is no longer in the bill. The current SL 2026-3 has very low lobbying density — it's an inside-baseball OSBM/NCPRO procedural bill.

Section-by-section chart

Section	Subject	Lobbying center of gravity	Secondary players
§1 — Directs OSBM to reclassify unexpended SFRF balances as "revenue replacement" under 31 C.F.R. Part 35	Lets the State capture unexpended SFRF dollars as government-services support before the federal period of performance expires (federal SFRF obligation deadline was Dec 31, 2024; expenditure deadline is Dec 31, 2026)	Internal to state government — this is OSBM and NCPRO doing federal-funds housekeeping. No clear private-sector lobbying principal.	Lobbying center of gravity Internal to state government — this is OSBM and NCPRO doing federal-funds housekeeping. No clear private-sector lobbying principal. Secondary players Any of the 24 SFRF Administering Agencies (DHHS, DPI, DEQ, DOT, Commerce, etc.) with unexpended balances could have informally signaled preferences, but they aren't lobbying principals. Federal grants compliance consultants — Guidehouse, PCG, Deloitte, Accenture — quietly track this kind of language because their clients (states, subrecipients) hire them to manage SFRF compliance
§2 — Authorizes NCPRO to reallocate SFRF funds among projects	Same logic — internal flexibility for NCPRO to move dollars between approved projects to maximize draw-down before federal deadlines	Internal — NCPRO itself. Same as §1.	Lobbying center of gravity Internal — NCPRO itself. Same as §1. Secondary players SFRF subrecipients with unspent balances have stake but no organized lobby. The major SFRF dollar buckets (broadband expansion, water/sewer, mental health, housing, education) each have associated trade groups: NC Broadband Association; NC Water Quality Association (F. Paul Calamita); NC Rural Water Association; NC Council of Community Programs (mental health); NC Housing Coalition; NCHA (hospital SFRF allocations)
§3 — Directs OSBM to use interest earned on various funds for pandemic relief operations	Lets OSBM/NCPRO fund their own operating costs from interest income rather than direct appropriation	Internal — OSBM operating-cost flexibility. No external lobbying principal.	Lobbying center of gravity Internal — OSBM operating-cost flexibility. No external lobbying principal. Secondary players None obvious
§4 — Extends the date NCPRO will cease to operate	Keeps NCPRO open longer to handle close-out reporting; NCPRO was originally set to wind down in 2026	Internal — NCPRO itself, which obviously wants to remain operational. Career staff continuity.	Lobbying center of gravity Internal — NCPRO itself, which obviously wants to remain operational. Career staff continuity. Secondary players NC State Employees Association (SEANC) has general interest in any agency-existence question. Federal compliance consultants benefit indirectly from the office staying open as a coordinating point

§1 — Directs OSBM to reclassify unexpended SFRF balances as "revenue replacement" under 31 C.F.R. Part 35

Subject

Lets the State capture unexpended SFRF dollars as government-services support before the federal period of performance expires (federal SFRF obligation deadline was Dec 31, 2024; expenditure deadline is Dec 31, 2026)

Lobbying center of gravity

Internal to state government — this is OSBM and NCPRO doing federal-funds housekeeping. No clear private-sector lobbying principal.

Secondary players

Any of the 24 SFRF Administering Agencies (DHHS, DPI, DEQ, DOT, Commerce, etc.) with unexpended balances could have informally signaled preferences, but they aren't lobbying principals. Federal grants compliance consultants — Guidehouse, PCG, Deloitte, Accenture — quietly track this kind of language because their clients (states, subrecipients) hire them to manage SFRF compliance

§2 — Authorizes NCPRO to reallocate SFRF funds among projects

Subject

Same logic — internal flexibility for NCPRO to move dollars between approved projects to maximize draw-down before federal deadlines

Lobbying center of gravity

Internal — NCPRO itself. Same as §1.

Secondary players

SFRF subrecipients with unspent balances have stake but no organized lobby. The major SFRF dollar buckets (broadband expansion, water/sewer, mental health, housing, education) each have associated trade groups: NC Broadband Association; NC Water Quality Association (F. Paul Calamita); NC Rural Water Association; NC Council of Community Programs (mental health); NC Housing Coalition; NCHA (hospital SFRF allocations)

§3 — Directs OSBM to use interest earned on various funds for pandemic relief operations

Subject

Lets OSBM/NCPRO fund their own operating costs from interest income rather than direct appropriation

Lobbying center of gravity

Internal — OSBM operating-cost flexibility. No external lobbying principal.

Secondary players

None obvious

§4 — Extends the date NCPRO will cease to operate

Subject

Keeps NCPRO open longer to handle close-out reporting; NCPRO was originally set to wind down in 2026

Lobbying center of gravity

Internal — NCPRO itself, which obviously wants to remain operational. Career staff continuity.

Secondary players

NC State Employees Association (SEANC) has general interest in any agency-existence question. Federal compliance consultants benefit indirectly from the office staying open as a coordinating point

Methodology

The industries and principals in this chart are Lapel’s editorial readings of who is likely lobbying which provisions, drawn from NC Secretary of State lobbyist-principal registration data and the public bill history of the underlying legislation. These are not direct attestations from the principals named, and the chart does not claim that every party listed worked the section.