North Carolina SB 986: Workforce Act of 2026.

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
S 1
SENATE BILL 986

Short Title: Workforce Act of 2026. (Public)
Sponsors: Senators Settle, Hise, and Corbin (Primary Sponsors).
Referred to: Rules and Operations of the Senate
May 4, 2026
*S986-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE CONTINUATION AND EXPANSION OF PROGRAMS 2
AND SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE STATE FOR WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT 3
AND TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS FOR THOSE PURPOSES. 4
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 5
6
PART I. TITLE AND INTRODUCTION 7
SECTION 1.(a) Title. – This act shall be known and may be cited as the Workforce 8
Act of 2026. 9
SECTION 1.(b) Introduction. – The appropriations made in this act are for the 10
amounts necessary to modernize education-to-workforce pathways across the State, to improve 11
credit acquisition and transfer for students, strengthen career information sharing among 12
institutions of higher education and employers, and expand employer-recognized credentials to 13
provide faster, clearer routes to credential completion and career success. 14
15
PART II. APPRENTICESHIP NC SUPPORT 16
SECTION 2.(a) Findings. – The General Assembly finds that work-based learning 17
is of value to learners as well as employers; that apprenticeship is a highly effective work-based 18
learning model and provides a significant return on investment; that continued growth of 19
apprenticeship is important to the State's economy; that ApprenticeshipNC is critical to 20
increasing the number of employers participating in apprenticeships as well as the number of 21
registered apprentices in North Carolina; that continued growth of apprenticeship is at risk 22
without adequate support for ApprenticeshipNC; and that additional State support is necessary 23
to sustain apprenticeship growth. 24
SECTION 2.(b) Appropriation. – There is appropriated from the General Fund to 25
the Community Colleges System Office the sum of three million one hundred thousand dollars 26
($3,100,000) in recurring funds beginning with the 2026-2027 fiscal year for the administration 27
of the ApprenticeshipNC program. 28
29
PART III. NC WORKFORCE CREDENTIALS 30
31
NC WORKFORCE CREDENTIALS OPERATIONAL EXPENSES AND STAFFING 32
SECTION 3.1.(a) Findings. – The General Assembly finds that, due to the critical 33
importance to the State of identifying industry-valued credentials, promoting programs of study 34
leading to industry-valued credentials, and aligning industry-valued credentials and programs of 35
study leading to those credentials with federal Workforce Pell Grant implementation, it is 36

General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 Senate Bill 986-First Edition
necessary that the State provide funds to the Department of Commerce (Department) to develop 1
and maintain a list of industry-valued credentials, to continually determine programs of study to 2
meet workforce needs, and to ensure alignment to federal Workforce Pell Grants. 3
SECTION 3.1.(b) Appropriation. – There is appropriated from the General Fund to 4
the Department the sum of three hundred fifty thousand dollars ($350,000) in recurring funds, 5
beginning with the 2026-2027 fiscal year, for operational expenses and staffing to support NC 6
Workforce Credentials in accordance with this section and G.S. 143B-438.10. 7
SECTION 3.1.(c) Data Coordination. – The Department shall engage with 8
employers to provide workforce data and participate in efforts to link data on industry-valued 9
credentials to labor market outcomes, including: 10
(1) Labor market demand. 11
(2) Job placement and Standard Occupational Classification or similar data 12
reflecting employment-in-field. 13
(3) Wage outcomes. 14
(4) Stackability-capacity for credentials to count toward and build into more 15
advanced career credentials. 16
(5) Work location, collected on a voluntary basis and in a manner consistent with 17
applicable State and federal privacy protections, to support aggregated 18
analysis of regional workforce outcomes, talent retention, and analysis of 19
education and career pathways alignment with local labor market demand. 20
SECTION 3.1.(d) Stakeholder Consultation. – As part of its efforts to link data on 21
industry-valued credentials to labor market outcomes, the Department shall consult with the 22
North Carolina Community Colleges System Office, The University of North Carolina System 23
Office, and other relevant stakeholders to ensure alignment with rules and regulations pertaining 24
to federal Workforce Pell Grants and to take steps to institutionalize workforce data sharing 25
across State government. 26
SECTION 3.1.(e) Longitudinal Data. – As part of its efforts to link data on 27
industry-valued credentials to labor market outcomes, the Department shall encourage issuers of 28
those credentials to submit data pertaining to credentials issued to the North Carolina 29
Longitudinal Data System for inclusion in the System's Licenses and Credentials Data 30
Warehouse to en