From the Desk of Representative Larry D. Hall

My fellow Democrats and I gave final approval this week to a $20.7 billion budget that strengthens education, lifts the Medicaid burden from our counties and improves our health and economy. This budget addresses the needs of our students at all levels, will ensure efficient spending in government and moves North Carolina forward.

I am very proud of the work we have done to reach this budget and am certain that it will better the lives of everyone across the state. The budget was one of the last items we considered during the session. Work was expected to wrap up Thursday after we handled the last of the thousands of bills filed this year. I believe we had a successful session, continuing to address ethics reform, improving the lives of our military families and protecting the environment. We also found a way to offer tax cuts and tax relief to small businesses and thousands of people who earn less than $40,000 a year.

This session was one of the best in recent memory and set a strong foundation for next year's short session.

Thank you for allowing me to share this information with you. Please feel free to contact me if I can be of assistance.

 

Education

We allocated $11.5 billion-56 percent of the total budget-to education. House Democrats ensured that we will provide resources in public schools to those who need it most-poor people and those at risk of dropping out of high school. A panel will distribute $7 million in grants to help schools and groups working on dropout prevention. The Disadvantaged Student Supplemental Fund will be increased by $17.6 million and teachers will receive a 5 percent pay raise. We also increased funding for academically gifted students by $1.75 million, gave an extra $5 million for children with disabilities, and allocated $5.7 million to hire 100 literacy coaches for middle schools.

Our students must be able to compete in today's technological world. To that end, we allocated $12 million to improve instructional technology in our schools and $3 million for pilot programs at eight high schools where each student and teacher will get a computer.

We will increase access to our universities and community colleges by providing $22 million for need-based grants in the University of North Carolina system. Both systems received all the money they requested for enrollment growth. We also allocated $127 million to the Education Access Rewards North Carolina (EARN) Scholars program to give 25,000 community college and UNC system students $4,000 need-based scholarships each year. Community colleges will get $15 million for a facilities and equipment grant program and $10 million for more equipment. Learn & Earn has also been increased by $2.4 million so that more high school students can earn college credits and the online component of the program has increased by $11.5 million.

The General Assembly ratified and Gov. Easley signed into law a bill that will provide additional support to high-need schools. Schools classified as high-need schools will be issued more National Board Certified Teachers to lower the student-teacher ratio and give children more individualized attention. The bill (SB1479) gives these teachers and teachers who have received certain awards the freedom to used research based teaching techniques that go beyond the standard course of study.

Health

We must take measures to keep our people strong and healthy. My colleagues and I agree Medicaid costs - an estimated $500 million this fiscal year- are a huge burden for counties to bear. The state will take over the counties' share of Medicaid costs in a three-year phase out. Counties will have extra money for school construction and other local needs without raising property taxes. This method protects our small counties and rural counties with a large number of people on Medicaid. We are very proud of this Medicaid swap. Every county will end up with at least $500,000 more than they would have had otherwise.

Small businesses that provide health insurance to their employees will receive a tax credit that will both lower employers' costs of providing insurance and increase the number of insured people. We also gave North Carolina's Health Choice (SCHIP) $59 million to provide healthcare to the 264,000 uninsured children in this state and gave the NC Kids' Care program for poor children $7 million. We added $2.7 million to hire 54 more school nurses and allocated $250,000 for pediatric diabetes prevention and education.

We appreciate the hard work of our senior citizens to build a strong foundation for this state and worked to show them our thanks through this budget. We set aside $7 million to provide a tax credit for families that purchase long-term care insurance and $250,000 in grants for community groups that help seniors enrolling in state and federal prescription drug plans. We established a rating system for adult care homes so families will have a better way to judge and compare these facilities. We also allocated $2 million to expand the state Health Care Personnel Registry, which will now include information on unlicensed personnel who work with patients.

This budget includes $4.6 million to improve and expand community-based treatment and support services for those with mental illnesses, developmental disabilities and substance abuse disorders. We appropriated $2 million for HIV prevention programs in local health departments and historically black colleges and universities, $2 million for screenings for breast and cervical cancer, $8.3 million to purchase and store 635,000 doses of flu vaccines, and $500,000 to reduce health disparities among whites and minority groups. The Healthy Carolinians initiative will receive $1 million to help local health departments lower rates of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, obesity, and infant mortality. The University of North Carolina system will receive $25 million for cancer research, growing to $50 million in three years, and $8 million will be used to construct a cancer center at UNC- Chapel Hill.

A bill that provides insurance parity to people who receive mental health services was signed into law this session. The bill (HB973) requires insurance companies to cover bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, anorexia nervosa and bulimia and three other mental illnesses the same way that they treat physical illnesses. All other metal health conditions will be covered for up to 30 inpatient/outpatient days and 30 office visits. Mental health parity has been debated in the North Carolina Legislature for 15 years. 36 other states already offer some form of mental health parity. The bill is expected to save the state money spent by reducing the amount of money spent for public mental health services

The General Assembly ratified a bill (HB265) that would create a high risk insurance pool. The pool will help those who suffer from serious illnesses and are often considered uninsurable have access to health insurance. These people are often forced to pay expensive premiums because of their illness. North Carolina is the 35th state to enact such legislation.

The General Assembly has agreed to take over the counties' share of Medicaid expenses-estimated at $520 million this fiscal year -- over the next three years. Rural counties are particularly burdened by the increasing costs of Medicaid. In addition, we decided to give counties more flexibility by allowing them to raise additional taxes for school construction, infrastructure, and other improvements. Counties can decide to raise the sales tax by a quarter of a cent or the land transfer tax to 0.6 percent with local voter approval.

Environment

North Carolina has some of the most beautiful natural habitats in the nation. We have set aside $120 million for the Land for Tomorrow program to protect our forests, parks and greenways, historic areas, wildlife sanctuaries, and land bordering streams. We will spend $8 million more for farmland preservation and $100 million to help municipalities improve their water and sewer systems. We also continue to study better ways to improve the treatment of swine waste and put $2 million toward that this year.

We gave the State Energy Office $2.7 million for operating costs and $5 million to start a reserve fund to pay for energy efficiency programs. The Center for Bioenergy Technologies will receive $1.5 million to develop technologies for efficient and clean use of traditional energy sources, alternative and renewable energy sources, and researching energy technologies and their impact on the environment and North Carolina's economy.

North Carolina's natural resources will be better protected as a result of a bill that was ratified this session. The bill (SB1492) provides strict regulations for the construction of landfills including a statewide disposal tax and assurance of adequate funding to maintain, close, and provide post-closure maintenance for a landfill. Companies were attracted to North Carolina for landfill sites because of the inexpensive land, its location on the east coast, and no surcharge on garbage. The bill will protect the state's ground water supply and plants and animals in surrounding areas.

Economy and Finance

We have managed to make the budget fiscally sound and have set aside $175 million for our reserve fund and $145 million for repair and renovation of state owned buildings. We also gave local governments authorities to enact a quarter-cent sales tax or a land transfer tax of 4/10 of a penny with voter approval. This will help them build new schools to lessen the demands of increasing school populations and to make other infrastructure improvements without raising property taxes.

We know that our citizens work hard to provide for their families and pushed for a 3.5 percent refundable earned income tax credit to help working families, small businesses, and people who earn about $40,000 or less. We also appropriated $3 million to the North Carolina Minority Support Center and $1.5 million to the North Carolina Institute of Minority Economic Development to support businesses owned by minorities and women. We realize that people make mistakes and will give $3 million in tax breaks to help put released inmates back to work and help keep people from returning to prison. To stimulate job growth, we gave the One North Carolina Fund $14 million and appropriated $12.4 million for Job Development Investment Grants. These investments will stimulate our economy, create more jobs, and put more money in North Carolinians' pockets.

Military

In support of our troops, the General Assembly approved business tax credits for employing reservists or National Guardsmen who are called to active duty. We have also set aside $420,000 to run three assistance centers to help families of deployed National Guardsmen. We will use $240,000 to hire four additional school counselors for largely military communities.

We will spend $1 million for morale, recreation, and welfare on our five military bases; $1.25 million for the North Carolina Military Business Center, which develops business in our military bases; and $1.5 million on the Defense and Security Technology Accelerator, which develops businesses related to homeland security and national defense. We have also created a $750,000 grant program to train sheriff's departments in immigration enforcement.

Security

The General Assembly also ratified and Gov. Easley signed into law a bill to protect our children from Internet sexual predators. The bill (HB29) will require recidivist sexually violent predators to enroll in a satellite-based monitoring system for life. We also protected victims of domestic violence with a bill (HB46) that provides secure areas separated from the court room where victims can wait until their trial is heard. Another bill (HB47) makes it a felony to violate a protective order related to a domestic violence case while in possession of a deadly weapon.

Energy

North Carolina will be the first state in the South East to adopt a renewable energy standard if Gov. Easley signs the energy bill into law. The bill (S3) requires North Carolina utility providers to obtain 12.5 percent of retail electricity from renewable energy. It also provides a phaseout of the tax on the sale of energy to farmers and manufacturers. The bill is expected to help cut pollution, greenhouse gas levels, and our dependence on foreign oil.

Ethics

We have continued our efforts to improve ethical standards in government. Under a bill (SB1218) ratified by the General Assembly, Candidates who have been convicted of a felony would have to disclose that information when running for office. Another bill (SB659) forfeits the pensions of elected officials who are convicted of a violation involving public corruption or election law. We also made changes to the State Government Ethics Act (HB 1110 and HB 1111) to make government proceedings more transparent to the public. The Governor signed both Thursday morning.

Larry D. Hall

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