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Read. Follow. Verify.North Carolina creates Emergency Citizen Pilot Training Program and grants unpaid leave protections
Last action · April 14, 2025: Ref to the Com on Emergency Management and Disaster Recovery, if favorable, Finance, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House (House action)Sponsors: Matthew Winslow and 9 others
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What This Bill Would Do
North Carolina establishes the Emergency Citizen Pilot Training Program within the Division of Emergency Management by January 1, 2027, charging up to $500 per candidate for training and creating a registry of certified citizen pilots. The bill also grants certified emergency citizen pilots the right to take unpaid leave from civilian employment when called into active service after a declared emergency or activation, enforceable by the Commissioner of Labor starting October 1, 2025.
Private aircraft owners and commercial pilots seeking to assist in state disaster recovery face new training requirements and certification fees up to $500, while gaining employment protections that allow them to take unpaid leave without exhausting vacation time when officially requested for emergency service.
- The North Carolina Division of Emergency Management operates within the Department of Public Safety to coordinate state responses to natural disasters and emergencies. context
- The State Emergency Response Team coordinates state agency resources during major disasters under the North Carolina Emergency Operations Plan. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Emergency citizen pilots
Certified pilots become eligible to participate in disaster response registries, take unpaid leave without exhausting vacation time when called to service, and are subject to training and certification fees up to $500.
Civilian employers of emergency citizen pilots
Employers must grant unpaid leave to participating employees upon written request during eligible emergencies, unless the employee is certified as essential to the employer's own ongoing relief activities.
Division of Emergency Management
The Division is tasked with developing, administering, and maintaining the training program, registry, continuing education criteria, and adoption rules.
Key Facts
- Establishes the Emergency Citizen Pilot Training Program within the Division of Emergency Management of the Department of Public Safety.
- Authorizes the Division to charge a reasonable participation fee not to exceed $500.00 per candidate to cover costs.
- Requires the Division to maintain and update an Emergency Citizen Pilot Registry listing all active and inactive certificated pilots.
- Grants certified emergency citizen pilots the right to take unpaid leave from civilian employment when called into service after an emergency declaration or State Emergency Response Team activation at Activation Level 2 or greater.
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- Prohibits employers from forcing members to use or exhaust vacation or accrued leave during active emergency service.
- Requires a written request for services from the Director of the Division or a local emergency management agency head, directed to the pilot's agency chief with a copy to the employer.
- Exempts members whose services have been certified by their employer as essential to the employer's own ongoing emergency relief activities.
- Tasks the Commissioner of Labor with enforcing the leave provisions pursuant to Chapter 95 of the General Statutes.
- Expands the definition of 'emergency management worker' under G.S. 166A-19.60(e) to include active-status emergency citizen pilots.
- Directs the Division of Emergency Management to have the program operational by January 1, 2027.
- Requires the Division to report to the Joint Legislative Emergency Management Oversight Committee on program implementation on or before October 1, 2026, and one year thereafter.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the maximum fee the state can charge for the Emergency Citizen Pilot Training Program?
Can an employer force a participating pilot to use vacation time during emergency service?
When must the Emergency Citizen Pilot Training Program be fully operational?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
3 actions- Apr 14, 2025HouseRef to the Com on Emergency Management and Disaster Recovery, if favorable, Finance, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
- Apr 14, 2025HousePassed 1st Reading
- Apr 10, 2025HouseIntroducedFiled
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Integration of Private Aviation into State Disaster Response
The bill formally integrates private pilots into the North Carolina Emergency Operations Plan by establishing certification, training standards, and an official registry.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.ncleg.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance65How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy15Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz25Current news / social attention level
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