Legislative Updates from The Covenant with North Carolina's Children

Provided by Stacey Massengill, NCSPA Legislative and Public Policy Committee Member

The Covenant with North Carolina’s Children is a coalition of over 60 civic groups, professional associations, advocacy organizations and service providers who have formed a covenant by promising together to advance public policy to benefit children in North Carolina and to put children and youth first in our public and private lives. NCSPA is a part of this coalition and the Legislative Committee would like to share with you some of the updates provided to us by this organization.


Legislative Update - 6/8/09

BUDGET UPDATE

The House still hasn't included a revenue package in their budget, but momentum is moving in the right direction. It's fair to say that the Covenant and our allies have had a good bit to do with this change of course. Last Thursday, at the Durham Together NC Town Hall meeting, State Rep. Paul Luebke had this to say:

"Let me say first of all that because of events like this and events that have been happening around the state, and generally just a barrage of emails that have been coming in to members of the General Assembly, there is a growing consensus now that revenue must be raised. This was really not the case even 10 days ago."

If a revenue package is approved, we expect it to include a small increase in the tobacco tax, an increase in the liquor tax, a temporary increase in the sales tax, and an additional top income tax bracket. The package would raise about $1 billion, which will mitigate some of the worst cuts, but this budget will still be painful. It's also unclear as to whether or not the House will approve a revenue package before they pass the crazy, draconian budget proposal currently on the table.

Your legislators still need to hear from you! They are going to be flooded with emails telling them not to raise revenue, so we need to keep up the pressure. Click on the link below to tell your House member to take a balanced solution to the state budget:

http://capwiz.com/cwncc/issues/alert/?alertid=13453506

BUDGET CUTS

Action for Children has put together three extremely helpful documents that show the Governor's, Senate's, and House's proposed budget cuts side-by-side. To take a look, follow the links below:

HHS
http://www.ncchild.org/action/images/stories/PDFs/Budget/Long%20Session%202009-10%20HHS%206_5_09.pdf

EDUCATION
http://www.ncchild.org/action/images/stories/PDFs/Budget/Long%20Session%202009-10%20Public%20Education_6_5_09.pdf

JUVENILE JUSTICE
http://www.ncchild.org/action/images/stories/PDFs/Budget/Long%20Session%202009-10%20Juvenile%20Justice%206_5_09.pdf

ON THE MOVE

H88 - Healthy Youth Act (Sex-ed)

A group of Senators have come up with a piece of compromise legislation that limits parental choice and diminishes the comprehensive program. Bad. Please encourage your Senator to move a sound, comprehensive sexual education bill - http://eqfed.org/campaign/hya3(action alert courtesy of Equality NC).

H1414 - Youth Accountability Act

This bill would raise the age of juvenile court jurisdiction from 16 to 18, so that the state doesn't automatically prosecute 16 and 17 year-olds as adults (we're the only state in the country that still does this).

This bill will be heard in the full Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, June 10 - we expect a close vote.

H442 - Parental Involvement in School Discipline (corporal punishment)

The full House passed this bill by a whopping 91-24 vote. The Senate Education Committee should here the bill on Tuesday, 6/10.

S526 / H548 - School Violence Prevention Act (Bullying Bill)

The House Education Committee approved the Bullying Bill last week with no harmful amendments. We expect that Judiciary I will take up the bill this week with a possible floor vote by Thursday.

OTHER COVENANT AGENDA BILLS

H177, Healthy Families and Healthy Workplaces Act (Paid sick-days) didn't pass the House, but we think we might be able to get a study commission on the issue.

UPDATED - H539 - Merge Smart Start / More at Four (NOTE - this is not a Covenant agenda bill, but it is extremely important to the future of early childhood care in the state). It doesn't look like this will happen on the House side in the budget process. While they've proposed a large cut to More at Four, they don't seem intent on merging the programs. However, we don't know what will happen when the House and Senate start on their budget negotiations.

H656 / S666 - MH Proceedings / No Restraint - This bill would prevent the shackling of youth during MH hearings. It's been referred to the House Judiciary II Committee and the Senate Judiciary I Committee.

H783 - Study Comm. / Youth Aging Out of Foster Care (Adams, M. Alexander, Earle, Wiley). This bill passed out of the Juvenile Justice Committee last week and will move the House Rules Committee.

H804, an Act to Amend the Personal Education Plan Statute, passed the House the week before last. In short, this legislation would facilitate greater parental involvement in the education of their children. Thanks to Angella Dunston at the NC Justice Center for her work getting this bill passed.

PASSED BILLS

Senate Passes Due Process / Suspension Bill

H218 / S737 - Parental and Student Educational Involvement Act (Due process for long-term suspensions and expulsions).

Yea! The bill has now passed both chambers and is headed to the Governor's desk. Kudos to the ACLU and others for their great work on this bill.

Financial Literacy Bill Passes Both Chambers

H817 / S1019, Establish NC Financial Literacy Council, have passed their respective chambers and seem likely to become law very soon. Kudos to Action for Children for its leadership on this issue.

Anti-Smoking Bill Wins Final Passage

The House voted to approve the Senate's version of the secondhand smoking bill, which would ban smoking in all restaurants and bars across the state. This is a great victory for the health of children and families in North Carolina. The Governor is expected to sign the bill into law on Tuesday morning. Cheers to the NC Alliance for Health, the American Cancer Society, and the American Heart Association for the hard (and smart) work on this bill.


Legislative Update - 6/10/09

The House Finance Committee just passed merged the revenue proposal and the appropriations bill. So, we now have a budget bill that is ready for a House floor vote tomorrow.

Follow the link below to see the legislation:

http://www.ncleg.net/sessions/2009/budget/2009/S202-ASVxf-21.pdf

Go to page 25 to see what cuts were restored as a result of the tax package, which totaled around $900 million.

To be clear, this debate is not over. HOUSE MEMBERS NEED TO KNOW THAT THEY MUST RAISE REVENUE. PLEASE TAKE ACTION NOW! http://capwiz.com/cwncc/issues/alert/?alertid=13453506