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LEGISLATIVE ACTION
ALERT
ADOLESCENT PREGNANCY PREVENTION COALITION OF NORTH
CAROLINA
Friday, April 27, 2007
The House of Representatives' work on the budget had been
delayed -- However, your contacts to legislators need to continue.
All appropriations subcommittees were scheduled to have budget
packages complete this week, but that process has been
delayed. Reportedly, leaders of the House
Appropriations Committee halted work on the
budget because legislators do not have a tax package,
which is needed to finance the budget proposal.
Appropriations subcommittee meetings were scheduled for Thursday, April
26, but those meetings were delayed and later canceled until early next
week. The revised plans are for the House of Representatives to vote
on a spending plan late next week or the following week.
The House Appropriations
Subcommittee on Health and Human Services did release a draft money report
on Tuesday, April 24. Among the items included in that draft
report were the following:
$175,000 in recurring funds for the Adolescent Pregnancy
Prevention Coalition of NC
$200,000 in recurring funds for Women's Health
Services
$4,000,000 in recurring funds to increase the number of
school nurses
$5,000,000 in recurring funds to provide Aid to Community
Health Centers (This is a grant program, and language
will be included in a special provision to allow school-based and school-linked
health centers to apply for the
grants.)
Since Tuesday, the HHS
Appropriations Subcommittee co-chairpersons have crafted another money report,
which has not been released. The new report may change some of the
items listed above.
Your assistance is
needed! Please contact members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on
Health and Human Services and ask legislators to support the following
budget requests:
·
$175,000
in recurring funds for the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Coalition of North
Carolina. The funds will
be used to match grants from private sources so that the organization can
continue to work with and provide technical support to groups, communities,
professionals and individuals in organizing and implementing programs to prevent
adolescent pregnancies
·
$375,000
in recurring funds for school-based and school-linked health
centers. There are 52
centers and 28 receive state funds.
Unfortunately, the state funds have been stagnant and the centers have
not received an increase in funding - not even a cost of living increase, but
the centers' caseload has been continuously growing.
(Being allowed to participate in the $5 million
competitive grant program is great, but the centers need funds to support their
base budgets. Ask legislators for funding to support the "bottom line" of
exiting school-based and school-linked
centers.)
·
$1,750,000
from the TANF Block Grant to be allocated for local pregnancy prevention
programs, initiatives, and out-of-wedlock births prevention. It is extremely important
that you let legislators know that the $1.75 million would be in addition to the
$2.5
million that are to be appropriated from the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG)
-- $1.5 of which goes to fund local pregnancy prevention programs, and the
remaining $1 million goes to local health departments for out-of-wedlock birth
prevention. The
$1.75 million is needed to restore funding that was cut in 2001 resulting in the
loss of 12 local programs at that time, to offset pending cut of at least
$450,000 in Medicaid funds, and to restore $600,000 in funding to local health
departments that was cut in 2001.
The $1.5 million in TANF funds and the $2.5 million in SSBG funds will
restore the programs/initiatives to the 2000-2001 level of funding.
A preliminary provision revealing a distribution
listing for the block grants shows that only $2.5 million has been allotted
for teen pregnancy prevention. Appropriating $2.5 million is not
sufficient. The $450,000 pending cut in the Medicaid funds that go to
prevention programs will mean the loss of many current programs. Please ask legislators for an
additional $1.75 million in funds for pregnancy prevention funding. If
block grant funds are not available, then ask that
legislators use one-time state funds to fund these critical
programs.
Start contacting members of
the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services Monday,
April 30 and continue your contacts throughout the week.
Also contact the co-chairpersons of the overall House
Appropriations Committee, but contact the subcommittee members
first.
MEMBERS
OF HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE ON HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
Rep.
Beverly Earle (D) (Co-chairperson)
Room 634,
Legislative Office Building
Raleigh,
NC 27603-5925
O: (919)
715-2530
O: (704)
333-7180 (Mecklenburg)
Rep. Bob
England (D) (Co-Chairperson)
Room 2219,
LegislativeBuilding
Raleigh,
NC27601-1096
O: (919)
733-5749
O: (828) 245-7626
(Cleveland & Rutherford)
E-mail: Bobe@ncleg.net
Rep. Verla Insko (D)
(Co-Chairperson)
Room 307 B1, Legislative Office
Building
Raleigh, NC
27603-5925
O: (919) 733-7208
H: (919) 929-6115 (Orange)
E-mail: Verlai@ncleg.net
Rep. Jeff Barnhart (R)
(Vice-chairman)
Room 608, Legislative Office Building
Raleigh, NC 27603-5925
O: (919) 715-2009
O: (704-786-2012 (Cabarrus)
E-mail: Jeffba@ncleg.net
Rep. Debbie A. Clary (R)
(Vice-chairman)
Room 303, Legislative
Office Building
Raleigh, NC
27603-5925
O: (919) 715-2002
O: (704) 480-1407 (Cleveland,
Gaston)
E-mail: Debbiec@ncleg.net
Rep. Linda Coleman (D)
(Vice-Chairperson)
Room 301 N, Legislative Office
Building
Raleigh, NC
27603-5925
O: (919) 733-5974
H: (919) 266-9037 (Wake)
E-mail: Lindac@ncleg.net
Rep.
William Brisson (D)
Room 1325,
LegislativeBuilding
Raleigh,
NC
27601-1096
O: (919)
733-5772
O: (910) 862-7007
(Bladen & Cumberland)
E-mail: Williambr@ncleg.net
Rep. Wil Neumann (R)
Room 510, Legislative
Office Building
Raleigh, NC
27603-5925
O: (919) 733-5868
O: (704) 825-4077 (Gaston)
E-mail: Wiln@ncleg.net
Rep. Charles Thomas (R)
Room 418C,
Legislative Office Building
Raleigh, NC
27603-5925
O: (919) 715-3012
O: (828) 681-5516 (Buncombe)
E-mail: Charlest@ncleg.net
CO-CHAIRPERSONS OF THE
OVERALL HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
The following legislators ultimately will be responsible
for what gets into the House's version of the budget
bill.
Rep.
Alma Adams
(D) (Co-Chair)
Room
304, Legislative
Office Building
Raleigh,
NC27603-5925
O:
(919) 733-5902
O:
(336) 517-2312 (Guilford)
E-mail: Almaa@ncleg.net
Rep.
Martha Alexander
(D) (Co-Chair)
Room
2208, LegislativeBuilding
Raleigh,
NC27601-1096
O:
(919) 733-5807
O:
(704) 558-4670 (Mecklenburg)
E-mail: Marthaa@ncleg.net
Rep.
Jim Crawford
(D) (Co-Chair)
Room
2301, LegislativeBuilding
Raleigh,
NC27601-1096
O:
(919) 733-5824
O:
(252) 492-0185 (Granville & Vance)
E-mail: Jimcr@ncleg.net
Rep.
Mickey Michaux
(D) (Co-Chair)
Room
1227, LegislativeBuilding
Raleigh,
NC27601-1096
O:
(919) 715-2528
O:
(919) 596-8181 (Durham)
E-mail: Mickeym@ncleg.net
Rep.
Joe Tolson (D)
(Co-Chair)
Room
305, LegislativeOfficeBuilding
Raleigh,
NC27603-5925
O:
(919) 715-3026
O:
(252) 827-2749 (Edgecombe & Wilson)
E-mail:
Joet@ncleg.net
Rep.
Doug Yongue
(D) (Co-Chair)
Room
1303, LegislativeBuilding
Raleigh,
NC27601-1096
O:
(919) 733-5828
O:
(910) 276-1727 (Hoke, Robeson &
Scotland)
E-mail: Douglasy@ncleg.net
Compiled by
Patricia Yancey
Director of
Public Education
Adolescent
Pregnancy Prevention Coalition of North Carolina |
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