Senate Bill 556 Summary

• Primary Purpose: Updates North Carolina statutes to replace outdated terminology "mental retardation" with "intellectual disability" or "intellectual or other developmental disability" throughout the General Statutes, implementing "people first language" standards.

• Scope of Changes: Amends Chapter 122C (Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services) and multiple other chapters across state law to reflect the updated terminology in definitions, provisions, and facility descriptions.

• General Statutes Commission Membership: Reduces commission membership from 14 to 13 members by eliminating the appointing authority of the Charlotte School of Law (which has closed), and changes commission member term start dates from June 1 to September 1.

• Savings Provision: Protects existing coverage, eligibility, rights, and provision of State or federal services for individuals previously diagnosed with mental retardation whose diagnosis has not been changed.

• Effective Date: Parts I and II become effective October 1, 2019, for proceedings and services rendered on or after that date; remaining provisions effective when the bill becomes law.