Action for Children Finds Success in a Difficult Legislative Session! June 20, 2011
Dear Friend of Children:
The House and Senate have adjourned, marking the official end of the 2011 legislative session. We just sent out a final update to our network (click here for all the details), but we wanted to send a short note out to you highlighting the outcome of Action for Children's legislative agenda for this session.
Click here for a PDF version of the End of Session summary
 First, the celebrations! These items get a "green light" !!
Health Insurance Coverage for Children Advances! The final budget incorporates Action for Children's goals of increasing health insurance coverage for children and improving their health outcomes. The funding level for Health Choice should mean that no enrollment caps will have to be put in place during the year. The budget also extends Community Care of North Carolina coverage to children enrolled in Health Choice. We have seen that having access to CCNC has improved children's health outcomes who are enrolled in Medicaid, and we expect to see the same improvements in the Health Choice population. This is an unmitigated success!
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. 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.  Two items received a "yellow light" because there was some good news and some bad news:
Raise the Age Lives to Fight Again in 2012! Though the Raise the Age bill was held back in committee this session, a compromise was reached that makes Raise the Age viable in 2012, and we have a commitment that the bill will be heard in a different House Judiciary 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! Expunction: 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! Action for Children has been working on this issue since at least 2004. Juvenile Justice Funding Cut but JCPCs Spared Funding for the Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention was cut significantly (10% - about the same as the Department of Health and Human Services). However, the community-based Juvenile Crime Prevention Councils funding was not cut, so that is good news. 
Finally, the only "red light" item on our agenda: Cuts to Children's Programs Significant The decision to take a cuts-only approach to the budget - rather than maintaining or raising revenue - meant that all areas of the state budget were cut, including children's programs. Most children's departments saw around a 10% cut, with K-12 education spared somewhat with a 5% cut. These cuts to our public infrastructure will likely be long-lasting and impact our children going forward. It was a disappointing budget for children. Overall, this was a good session for Action for Children. Faced with a recession and a change of leadership that meant making new relationships and forging new allies, we successfully advocated on most of our key issues. Thank you for your interest and support. 2012, here we come! Sincerely, Barb Bradley, President & CEO Action for Children North Carolina | 
