Compromise Budget Likely to go to Governor Tomorrow June 3, 2011
Greetings!
The compromise budget struck between the House and Senate was approved by the Senate this week. The House votes today (Friday) and tomorrow (Saturday) morning, with the aim of sending the budget to the Governor tomorrow. Although House leadership says they have a veto-proof majority, all indications are that Governor Perdue will veto the budget. It remains to be seen whether the five Democrats who have been voting for the budget (and who provide the veto-proof majority) will vote to override their Governor's veto.
As detailed in an update earlier this week, the compromise budget does make more investments in Public Education and in Health and Human Services, but the budget overall is still a bad budget for children. The depth of the cuts would not be necessary if current revenues were maintained, as proposed in the Governor's budget. See Action Alert, below. Budget Documents
Line-by-line comparisons of the House budget vs. the first draft Senate budget vs. the House-Senate Compromise are below.
Budget documents of the House-Senate budget compromise from the Legislature are below. - 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.
Click here for a detailed run-through of the changes in the compromise budget.
Note on Youth Advocacy and Involvement Office: The House-Senate Compromise budget eliminates the advocacy function of the office. All three Advocate positions were cut. YAIO lost 5 positions in total - 3 Advocates, the Assistant Director and the Intern Coordinator.
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. Safety HB 650: AMEND VARIOUS GUN LAWS passed House Judiciary C committee and calendared on the House floor. Would protect people from liability if they shoot someone in self-defense in their home, car or workplace and would remove the current requirement to try to retreat before shooting. Would also allow guns to be held in locked vehicles at schools, businesses, state buildings and courthouses. Would restrict liability for carrying a gun on school property only to those who are knowingly carrying a gun.
Education HB 855: PERSONAL LEARNING PLAN FOR EACH CHILD passed the House and referred to Senate Education/Higher Education committee. HB 467: IMPROVE SCHOOL DISCIPLINE was withdrawn from the House Education committee and referred to House Rules. Would allow school officials to use "reasonable force" in disciplinary matters and provide them with immunity from prosecution. Hopefully the move to Rules means that this bill will not advance further this session.
HB 503: NUTRITION STDS/ALL FOODS SOLD AT SCHOOL passed the House.
Economic Security HB 810: CONSUMER FINANCE ACT AMENDMENTS passed the House. Would allow consumer finance companies to raise rates and fees on small loans, which would hurt small borrowers. Overall annual percentage rates for some loans could top 50% of the loan value. The bill was opposed by the Pentagon, AARP, NAACP and many other consumer groups. Health HB 115: NC HEALTH BENEFIT EXCHANGE passed the House last week and was this week referred to Senate Rules. We're not sure if this means the bill is slowing down or if the referral to Rules will be only a momentary obstacle. The bill would in effect allow the insurance industry to regulate itself -- establishing the industry as a voting presence on the Board that regulates the state health exchange, to be implemented in 2014.
SB 415: ELIMINATE COST OF REDUCED PRICE SCHOOL MEALS was referred to Senate Education/Higher Education.
ACTION ITEM - Contact Swing Legislators to Urge Them Not to Support Compromise Budget As mentioned above, despite some improvements in Education and Health and Human Services, the House-Senate Compromise budget is still a bad budget for children. Particularly in the areas of Medicaid and early education, the budget represents a rollback of our long time state investments in children and families. This severe of a rollback would not be necessary if current revenues were maintained.
Please contact the following five Representatives and encourage them to vote against the House-Senate Compromise budget.
Rep. William Brisson - 919-733-5772 Rep. Jim Crawford - 919-733-5824 Rep. Dewey Hill - 919-733-5830 Rep. Bill Owens - 919-733-0010 Rep. Tim Spear - 919-715-3029
ACTION ITEM - Raise the Age Bill Running out of Time! Call Judiciary B committee to get the bill heard
A bill to Raise the Age of juvenile court jurisdiction from 16 to 18 for youth accused of minor crimes is ready to be heard in the House Judiciary B committee. We have the votes, but the co-chairs would rather not bring the bill up for debate and a vote, and we're running out of time! We need to convince the co-chairs of the committee to bring the bill forward for a vote as soon as possible. TAKE ACTION: - Ask Representatives Stam (represents Wake county) and Stevens (represents Alleghany and Surry counties) to schedule Juvenile Age to 18 (HB 632) for a committee hearing as soon as possible.
- Contact members of the Judiciary B committee. Message: Join 48 other states: Raise the age to improve public safety and save the state money! Vote yes: House bill 632!
- Send this alert to your family and friends
Sincerely, Action for Children North Carolina | 
