Subcommittee Budgets Expected Next Thursday; Raise the Age and Corporal Punishment Bills to be Introduced April 1, 2011
Greetings!
We are hearing that the subcommittee draft budgets are expected out next Thursday. Education has apparently been the most challenging budget to formulate and the appropriations chairs were working behind closed doors on that budget especially this week.
Health and Human Services: The HHS budget committee discussed public health and the department of child development this week, as well as hearing a presentation from Stephanie Fanjul of Smart Start. Justice and Public Safety and Education committees were canceled several days this week, suggesting that the heavy lifting of the budget writing is being done behind closed doors, likely with the big appropriations chairs. The House and Senate leadership are still working together, but the relationship seems a bit tenuous. They hope to all be on the same page when the draft budgets are released next week. Bill Update Tracking lists of bills in each of Action for Children's four areas of interest will be maintained on the website and updated weekly. Please visit our Policy Action page for full lists. Here are highlights of the bills that were introduced or moved this week. Raise the Age and Corporal Punishment bills Bills to raise the age of juvenile court jurisdiction from 16 to 18 for youth accused of minor crimes and to require parental permission for corporal punishment in public schools will be entered early next week! These are two of Action for Children's big agenda items this year. Get geared up to call your legislators!! More next Friday... Safety HB111: HANDGUN PERMIT VALID IN PARKS & RESTAURANTS passed the House. H382: JUVENILE CODE REVISIONS passed House Judiciary C and is calendared on the House floor. SB42: LAY TESTIMONY/CHILD WITNESS REMOTE TESTIMONY passed the Senate and moved to House Judiciary B. Allows courts to rely on remote testimony from child witnesses instead of requiring in-person testimony. SB49: INCREASE FINE FOR SPEEDING/SCHOOL ZONES passed the House. SB241: INCREASE DWI PENALTY/CHILD IN VEHICLE passed Senate Judiciary II. Education HB7: COMM COLLEGES/OPT OUT OF FED'L LOAN PROGRAM. Passed Senate Education/Higher Education and calendared on the Senate floor for Monday. HB466: SPEND 65% OF FUNDS IN THE CLASSROOM introduced and sent to House Education.
HB467: IMPROVE SCHOOL DISCIPLINE introduced and sent to House Education. Would give any school official immunity from civil liability for using "reasonable force...to restrain or correct pupils and maintain order and proper discipline."
HB503: NUTRITION STDS./ALL FOODS SOLD AT SCHOOL introduced and sent to House Education. Would require annual review of school nutrition standards by the State Board of Education.
Health HB115: NC HEALTH BENEFIT EXCHANGE passed House HHS and sent to House Committee on Insurance. Would establish the health insurance industry as a voting presence on the Board that regulates the state health exchange, to be implemented in 2014.
HB218: LEGISLATIVE TASK FORCE ON CHILDHOOD OBESITY passed the House.
HB477: CONSOLIDATE COUNTY DSS ADMIN FUNCTIONS introduced and referred to Rules committee.
HB522: MIDWIFERY LICENSING ACT introduced and sent to House HHS. Would certify and regulate midwives.
TAKE ACTION: Sign Petition to Protect Children in the State and Federal Budgets The petition created for Children's Advocacy Day will remain relevant throughout the budget process. Every time a North Carolinian signs on, a message is sent automatically to his or her state and federal lawmakers.
Click here to sign the petition to protect children in the budget debate.
Over 350 people have signed so far in support of health insurance for children, early education, and community-based services for at-risk youth. We can do better! Please send the link out to your networks and encourage folks to sign on.
Health insurance means access to health care, which means well-child visits instead of costly emergency room visits. Prevention and intervention services for at-risk youth result in less crime and create productive citizens instead of criminals. High quality early education builds children's brains, which means higher graduation rates and lower dropout rates. These days we hear a lot of politicians saying, "Governments need to budget like families do." We couldn't agree more. Families budget by putting the health, safety, and future of their children first. Funds used to protect our children are critical today and also an investment in our state's future. Tell the NC legislature and the US Congress to protect our investments by funding these critical services for all our children. TAKE ACTION: HELP KEEP CHILDREN OUT OF ADULT PRISONS [from our friends at Campaign for Youth Justice] In response to the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) proposed regulations on the implementation of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), the Campaign for Youth Justice is circulating a sign-on letter calling on DOJ to ban the placement of youth (under 18) in adult jails and prisons. The goal is to obtain at least 500 national, state and local organizations and individuals in all 50 states. TODAY, Friday, April 1 IS THE LAST DAY TO SIGN ON. If you and/or your organization would like to sign onto the attached letter, please email jjcampaign@cfyj.org. Background about PREA The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was signed into law by President Bush in 2003 to address sexual violence behind bars. A key component of the law was the creation of the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission (NPREC), a bipartisan federal commission charged with developing national standards addressing prisoner rape and the requirements would apply to all detention facilities, including federal and state prisons, jails, police lock-ups, private facilities, and immigration detention centers. The NPREC held public hearings, had expert committees to draft the standards, and released their final recommendations by issuing a report and set of standards (available online at http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/226680.pdf.) The Administration issued draft rules in 2010, opened them for public comment, and has now issued proposed final rules, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/programs/pdfs/prea_nprm.pdf, and is seeking public comments again. Sincerely, Action for Children North Carolina | 
