Session Wrap-Up and Final Bill Lists - What Passed? June 21, 2011
Greetings!
The 2011 Legislative session ended on Saturday, June 18. The General Assembly plans to reconvene on July 13 for a special session on redistricting and election laws. There are tentative plans for other sessions in August/September on constitutional amendments and other issues. We will keep you posted as these special sessions unfold on what they may bring for children.
Session Wrap-Up
Please visit the Policy Action page of Action for Children's website to view and download resources from this session, including:
Action for Children's End of Session Summary: Find out how Action for Children's legislative agenda turned out -- get the latest on Raise the Age, corporal punishment and more. Budget Analysis: Line-by-line comparisons of the House budget vs. the draft Senate budget vs. the final budget are below.
Bills: Final bill lists in our four areas of work are available, updated as of June 20, after session ended.
Also available are lists of What Passed and What Didn't Pass in 2011. Please note, however, that many of the bills that did not pass this session may have been included in the budget instead or 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 will be viable in 2012. NC Child Advocate Friday Conference Calls: Friday conference calls are over for this session. Depending on what the special sessions in July and August look like, we may do some calls then, but otherwise conference calls will recommence next session (May 2012). We will keep you posted! 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! Note on Youth Advocacy and Involvement Office We are disappointed to report that the advocacy function of the Youth Advocacy and Involvement Office was eliminated in the final budget. The YAIO is not able to take any more advocacy calls, effective immediately, and the three advocacy positions are eliminated as of June 30. We do not know where to recommend that organizations send callers who need individual advocacy at this point. The YAIO was the only state-sponsored advocacy office where parents of children and youth having difficulty navigating state systems could go. Action for Children and many other advocacy organizations regularly sent calls to the YAIO for help with anything from child maltreatment to conflicts over Personal Education Plans. Sincerely, Action for Children North Carolina | 
