Governor Budget Veto Overridden; Key Bills Pass June 17, 2011
Greetings!
The Governor vetoed the budget on Sunday, June 12, and the House of Representatives and Senate overrode her veto later in the week. This puts into place a budget for the 2011-2013 biennium that is overall a bad budget for children, with significant cuts to public education, early education, juvenile justice, social services, Medicaid and mental health.
Line-by-line comparisons of the House budget vs. the draft Senate budget vs. the final budget are below.
End of Session -- and Beginning of New Session? The House and Senate plan to adjourn tomorrow from the official 2011 legislative session. However, there are plans to reconvene as early as July 13th for a "special session" on redistricting, constitutional amendments, local education bills, community colleges, charter schools, election laws and perhaps more. The fun continues.
Friday Conference Calls Today was our last Friday conference call, since session should end tomorrow. We will let you know if we decide that calls are needed during the special session mentioned above, in July. In the meantime, if you have participated in any of the conference calls, please take a minute to "reply" to this email and give us your feedback. We would love to hear what you liked about the calls, but most importantly, we would like to know how we can tailor them better to fit your needs. What would you have us do differently next year? We want this to be a resource that is useful, so let us know your thoughts! 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. Early next week, once the session is officially over, we will send out an update dividing the bills into those that passed this session and those that did not. Many of the bills that did not pass this session, however, may be viable to continue moving forward in 2012 -- the second year of the biennium. Any bill that has a monetary implication or that passed one chamber or the other during 2011 is viable in 2012.
Click here for Action for Children's End of Session summary to find out how our legislative agenda for 2011 turned out! Here are a couple of highlights:
Raise the Age Lives to Fight Again in 2012! A compromise was reached that makes Raise the Age viable in 2012, and we have a commitment that the bill will be heard in the Judiciary A committee early next session. The vehicle is SB 434. We will be working closely with legislative allies and other stakeholders over the interim to shore up support for the bill and address any concerns of parties potentially affected by the legislation. Given the legislative situation the bill was facing, this is a good outcome, and we are excited to continue moving Raise the Age forward next year! On a related note, SB 397 to expunge the first nonviolent offense from the records of 16- and 17-year-olds passed the House with flying colors this week, which means it will be made law. This is an improvement to the way we treat minors in the criminal justice system, and paves the way for Raise the Age -- full system reform -- to pass next year! Corporal Punishment Parental Opt-Out Passes! SB 498 to give parents the ability to opt their children out of receiving corporal punishment in the 17 school districts that still allow the practice passed this week and will be made law! This is a major victory that has been too long in coming. Most school districts in the state have already banned corporal punishment, and parents of disabled children received the right to opt their children out last session, thanks to Action for Children's work. Now that option has been extended to all parents in the 17 remaining districts that still allow the practice. Passage of this law may also encourage more school districts -- particularly those that don't use corporal punishment often -- to ban the practice as well. Finally, here are the highlights of bills that moved this week: Safety HB 49: LAURA'S LAW passed. Would increase punishment for repeat DWI offenders. HB 650: AMEND VARIOUS GUN LAWS/CASTLE DOCTRINE passed. 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. We are hearing that the Governor does not intend to veto this bill. SB 135: ALLOW JUVENILE RECORD/RISK DETERMINATION/BOND passed the House and will likely be concurred with in the Senate. Would allow juvenile records back to age 13 to be considered when determining risk for purposes of setting bond. SB 397: EXPUNGE NONVIOLENT OFFENSE BY MINOR passed! Would expunge the first nonviolent offense by a 16- or 17-year old once a 4-year waiting period was met. This is a major step and will many youth get their lives back on track. It also sets the stage for Raise the Age -- full system reform -- to pass next year. SB 636: MODIFY GRADUATED LICENSING REQUIREMENTS passed the Senate and House and will be voted on for concurrence in the Senate tonight. Would place more restrictions on younger drivers, including a log of hours driven with a parent in the car and the threat of losing one's license for a month if charged with a driving violation. The changes are not evidenced-based and make the law more complicated, increasing fears that parents and youth will not follow the restrictions.
Education HB 736: AMEND LAW RE. SCHOOL DISCIPLINE passed. Would improve school policies around suspensions and expulsions.
HB 744: SAFE STUDENTS ACT passed. Fortunately, a compromise was reached, and the bill no longer requires parents to confirm their children's immigration status when enrolling them in school.
HB 822: DROPOUT RECOVERY PILOT PROGRAM passed. The bill would implement a program to bring dropouts back into the school system. It is interesting that this bill should move while the House-Senate budget eliminates all funding for drop-out prevention.
SB 8: NO CAP ON NUMBER OF CHARTER SCHOOLS passed. A compromise was reached that will lift the cap on charter schools in the state but that will not create a separate Board to oversee the charters.
SB 498: MODIFY LAW RE. CORPORAL PUNISHMENT passed! This bill require school districts that still allow corporal punishment to send a notice to every parent, giving them the option of opting their child(ren) out of corporal punishment in school. Advocates are hoping that the increased requirements on school districts will encourage more of them to ban the practice. Only 17 districts still allow corporal punishment.
Economic Security HB 344: TAX CREDITS FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES passed. Would provide a small tax credit to families who move their disabled children to private schools. Credit is not high enough to allow children from low-income families to benefit, and the refundability clause was struck from the final version of the bill. SB 675: REQUIRE COMMUNITY SERVICE/WORK FIRST PROGRAM passed the Senate but did not pass the House, which means it won't be law yet but is viable next session (2012). Would require participants in the Work First program to perform community service and would limit vehicle exemption (when considering assets for the purpose of eligibility) to only one vehicle. Puts still more hurdles in the path of low-income families. Health HB 115: STATE HEALTH BENEFIT EXCHANGE. We are hearing that this bill to give the health insurance industry seats on the Exchange Board is dead for this session. More when we hear more!
HB 218: LEGISLATIVE TASK FORCE ON CHILDHOOD OBESITY was pulled off the Senate floor and sent back to Rules, so it seems that the Task Force will NOT be renewed for this biennium.
SB 415: ELIMINATE COST OF REDUCED PRICE SCHOOL MEALS was heard on the House floor today and likely passed.
Study Bill Every session, an omnibus bill of legislative studies is passed by both chambers near the end of session. This year's study bill is HB 773. Here are some highlights: - Section 2.9: Consolidation of Domestic Violence Commission/Council for Women - may be an attempt to weaken the Domestic Violence Commission.
- Section 3.2: Tanning Beds and Adolescents - health impacts of tanning beds on adolescents. Was SB 471.
- Section 3.3: In-Home and Community-Based Mental Health Services for Youth
- Section 5.2: Education Reform in NC - long section directing studies on many aspects of education, including teacher tenure, class size, course offerings and much more.
- Section 8.6: Criminal Record Expunctions - doesn't specifically deal with youth, but youth could be affected.
- Section 11.6: Consolidation of Administrative Functions among County Departments of Social Services
- Section 13.2: Nonprofit Corporations - studies the advisability of requiring that 35% of funding for nonprofits getting state funds must be private and other issues. Was HB 100.
- Section 39: Children of Incarcerated Parents - study the issues surrounding this vulnerable population
- Section 54: Federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) Compliance - could impact juveniles accused of sex offenses.
- Section 58: Preserve the Culture and Customs of Indian Children
Sincerely, Action for Children North Carolina | 
