NAMI North Carolina's
Heard in the Halls
May 26, 2011

Urgent Alert!!! 
May 26, 2011
Edition 23
  

 
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NAMI North Carolina was invited to participate in a special press conference to raise awareness about the devastating cuts proposed in the House and Senate versions of the budget. 

 

It is so important to reach out to your state legislators and let them know that this budget will move North Carolina backwards and cause huge cut in Medicaid and overall health care.

 

Please see below for more information - now more than ever, it is important to share your stories and concerns with your legislators.  Don't worry about getting all the facts in place (they know the budget) - just share your personal stories about why additional cuts to the budget that affect mental health will be devastating to an already vulnerable population.

 

Sincerely,

 

Susan King Cope

Development Director

NAMI North Carolina
 
This is just a brief overview (provided by Together NC and the Governor's office) of the pending compromise state budget proposal in the legislature. From what I understand, the joint House and Senate budget would abandon North Carolina's traditional commitment to education, economic growth and innovation in favor of an inflexible and ideological approach to managing our state's resources.

 
While legislative leaders have reportedly restored some funding to K-12 education the budget as proposed will still cost thousands of public school personnel their jobs.
  • 2,175 teachers
  • 65 principals
  • 505 assistant principals
  • 14,753 teacher assistants 
  • 658 instructional support personnel
  • 265 CTE teachers
  • 208 directors
  • 571 clerical
  • 1,158 custodian/other
Moreover, the legislative budget still:
 Dismantles our system of early childhood education that is copied around the nation;
 Cuts billions out of essential health care programs such as Medicaid and mental health services
  • $2 billion will be cut from the NC economy in Medicaid cuts.  Provider rates will be cut and services will be lost.
  • The more than $700 million in state cuts equates to $2 billion with the federal match
  • Studies have shown in other states, such cuts means 10s of thousands of jobs lost
  • These cuts will force provider cuts and severe cuts in services
  • The federal review process for making rate changes or service cuts takes weeks or months - each delay makes it harder to manage funds 
 Hampers the progress made towards reducing obesity and smoking by the Health & Wellness Trust Fund;
 Dramatically reduces the affordability and quality of our stellar public universities and community colleges that are the envy of states around us and essential to ensuring that we are globally competitive;
 Slashes millions out of our public safety institutions and restricts access to the courts through regressive fees;
 Threatens our basic infrastructure such as roads, rail, water, and sewer by nearly eliminating the Clean Water Management Trust Fund and prohibiting new rail and road projects in the future.
  
What's most frustrating is that all of these cuts would be mitigated, if not completely restored, if legislators chose the simple solution: maintaining our current tax rates.