Senate Budget Targets Released: Deeper Cuts to HHS and Public Education May 13, 2011
Greetings!
The Senate Appropriations committees met this week and released targets for the Senate budget. Cuts to K-12 public education and Health and Human Services would be deeper than the cuts proposed in the House budget. No details have yet been provided on exactly where these cuts would come from.
- K-12 Education would be cut an additional $106 million in the first year and $130 million in the second year. Much of that funding would be funneled to the university system instead. This increases the public education percentage cut to 10%, vs. 8.8% in the House budget proposal.
- Health and Human Services would be cut an additional $60 million.
- Justice and Public Safety. We are hearing that JPS may be cut an additional $10-$18 million. It is hard to say how that would affect Juvenile Justice, since there are so many departments under the Justice and Public Safety committee's purview.
Family Tax Credits (EITC, etc) Threatened We are hearing that the Senate is considering elimination of the state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), the Child Credit, the Child and Dependent Care Credit and the Long-Term Care Credit as they consider the tax package. These tax credits typically have strong bi-partisan support and have been proven successful at pulling families out of poverty. We will keep you updated as we get more information. Get ready to call your Senators! House Budget Documents
Line-by-line comparisons of the final House budget vs. the Governor's budget are below. Amendments passed on the House floor are highlighted in yellow.
Budget documents of the final House budget from the Legislature are below. If you have difficulty opening these, please visit www.ncleg.net and look under "News and Information" for "2011 Budget Information" and click on the items: - Money Report: Lists the dollar amounts cut or added to each line-item
- Special Provisions: Changes in statute that go along with the dollar amount changes.
Visualization of House Budget To help explain the cuts in the House budget, Action for Children has created a visualization of the various child-focused areas of the budget. The infographic displays the funding levels of the agencies, in proportion to each other, and uses shading to show the various percent cuts in the House budget. Click here to see the great interactive graphic. Bill Update Tracking lists of bills in each of Action for Children's four areas of interest are maintained on the website and updated weekly. Please visit our Policy Action page for full lists. Here are the bill highlights from this week: Safety HB145: PHOEBE'S LAW will be heard in Judiciary A next Wednesday, May 18. The bill would authorize the use of electronic speed-measuring systems to detect speed violations in work and school zones.
HB737: STRENGTHEN CHILD SAFETY LAWS/CARE FACILITIES passed the House and was referred to Senate Judiciary II committee. The bill would increase criminal background checks for child care providers, prevent those convicted of child abuse/neglect from being providers, forbid home care providers to house anyone convicted of child abuse/neglect, and allow the Division of Child Development to prevent someone from being a provider who the department determines abuses alcohol or drugs or is mentally ill.
HB407: MODIFY ATV HELMET USE REQUIREMENTS became law without the Governor's signature. The bill would allow adults to ride ATVs without helmets on private property. Protections for youth are still in place.
SB135: ALLOW JUVENILE RECORD/RISK DETERMINATION/BOND passed the Senate and was referred to House Judiciary B. The bill would all a juvenile record to be considered when making a risk determination for setting bond.
Education HB736/SB648: AMEND LAW RE. SCHOOL DISCIPLINE. The Senate bill passed the full Senate unanimously! There is also a House bill that has passed the House, so the two bills now need to be reconciled.
SB498 (HB579): MODIFY LAW RE. CORPORAL PUNISHMENT passed the full Senate unanimously! Referred to the House Education committee, but no hearing date has yet been set. SB724: ACT TO IMPROVE PUBLIC EDUCATION passed the Senate and was referred to House Education committee. The bill would strengthen teacher education, enhance the use of performance evaluations (EVAAS system), establish a goal for pre-K for all at-risk children, provide transition teams for at-risk preschoolers, and lengthen the school day and year at the schools with the highest drop-out rates. Health HB115: NC HEALTH BENEFIT EXCHANGE passed the Insurance and Appropriations Committees in the House and will be heard on the House floor next Tuesday, May 17. The bill would establish the health insurance industry as a voting presence on the Board that regulates the state health exchange, to be implemented in 2014. Click here for more information on the issue.
Economic Security
HB188: TAXPAYER BILL OF RIGHTS has been referred to the Judiciary A committee in the House after languishing since February. This bill would prevent the state budget from growing any faster than inflation plus population change. The one state that tried TABOR for a short while - Colorado - very quickly found its public investments defunded.
SB247: ELIMINATE MEANS TEST FROM 529 DEDUCTION passed the Senate and was referred to House Finance. The bill would allow all families to deduct contributions to 529 education savings plans from their income taxes, rather than just middle- and low-income families. The current cut-offs are $100K for married couple, $60K for single; the bill would eliminate the income cap.
ACTION ITEM - Tell Your Senators to Prioritize Children in the Senate Budget: Quick Click Sends an Email!
Keep sending those emails! Even if you've already sent one, do it again today! We must let the Senate know that these proposed cuts are even worse for children than the detrimental House budget that would take NC back 100 years!
TAKE ACTION! Click here to send a quick and easy email to your Senators, urging them to prioritize children in the Senate budget.
Even our children know this budget takes NC back in time! Contact your Senators today!
Sincerely, Action for Children North Carolina |
