Last
week the House passed its version of the budget. This is the earliest
a budget has passed either house in 20 years. Not to be outdone by
the House, the Senate is now intending to pass their budget by the
end of next week. First votes should be taken on Monday.
Senators have been told to cut the same amounts as cut by the House
in Education, Justice and Public Safety and Health and Human Services.
The House budget cut $927m in programs, services and staff, $91m more
in cuts than in the Governors budget. There has been no public discussion
about whether or how to raise more money. Without new revenue the
Senate must cut the same amount as cut by the House. Whether they
cut the same items or others, the cuts will be devastating if made
at these levels. Some of these cuts are in addition to three years
of cuts already made to these same or related a programs. SEE BELOW
FOR MORE DETAILS.
NOW
IS THE TIME TO CONTACT KEY SENATORS
ABOUT THE BUDGET AND THE NEED TO RAISE MORE REVENUE. |
| LET
SENATORS KNOW: |
| • |
THE
CUTS UNDER CONSIDERATION ARE UNACCEPTABLE AND WILL INJURE MANY
VULNERABLE NORTH CAROLINIANS; |
| • |
THE
CUTS WILL COST THE STATE MORE IN THE LONG RUN; |
| • |
SENATORS
MUST SAVE SERVICES by RAISING REVENUE |
| CALL
OR EMAIL THE FOLLOWING KEY SENATORS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! |
| Appropriations
Committee on Health and Human Services: |
| |
Sen.
William Purcell, Co-Chair |
Billp@ncleg.net |
919-715-0690 |
| |
Sen.
Eric Reeves, Co-Chair |
Ericr@ncleg.net |
919-715-6400 |
| |
Sen.
John Kerr |
Johnk@ncleg.net
|
919-733-5621 |
| Senate
President Pro Tempore |
| |
Marc
Basnight |
marcb@ncleg.net
|
(919)
733-6854 |
| Full
Appropriations/Base Budget Committee |
| |
Co-Chairman
Sen. Linda Garrou |
lindag@ncleg.net
|
(919)
733-5620 |
| |
Co-Chairman
Sen. Walter H. Dalton |
walterd@ncleg.net
|
(919)
715-3038 |
| xxx |
Co-Chairman
Sen. Kay R. Hagan |
kayh@ncleg.net
|
(919)
733-5856 |
OR
CYBERLOBBY: YOU CAN
ALSO CONTACT SENATORS THROUGH THE COVENANT WITH NORTH CAROLINA’S
CHILDREN’S CYBERLOBBYING SITE
GO TO:
http://capwiz.com/cwncc/issues/alert/?alertid=1847371&type=ST
Simply
enter your zip-code in the “Take Action Now”
box and press “GO.” You can
write your letter yourself, or use some or all of the language provided.
ADDITIONAL
EXPLANATION
SENATE
VOTING ON BUDGET ON MONDAY
The Senate,
working from the House plan, is now preparing their version of the
budget. Not to be outdone by the House, they intend to pass a Senate
budget by the end of next week. There has been little public discussion
about which cuts the Senate intends to take. At 10:30am on Monday
(April 28), the budget is to be released to the Appropriations subcommittees
in the morning and to full Appropriations in the afternoon for approval.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, they plan to pass the budget on the Senate
floor.
THERE
HAVE BEEN NO PUBLIC DISCUSSIONS IN THE SENATE ABOUT REVENUE
Similar
to the House process, Senate appropriations leaders are writing the
budget based on a set level of revenue but there have been no public
discussions about from where they will get the money. The state is
still facing a budget deficit of over 1 billion dollars. To maintain
current programs and balance their budget, the House found, froze
or raised $769m and cut $927m. Rumors are that the Senate will raise/find
at least as much money, but similar levels of cuts will be necessary.
Except for increases in fees, no new revenue increases have been publicly
considered. (The House discussed, but did not vote on, an increase
in the cigarette tax.) If the Senate does not raise more revenue then
they must make the same level of cuts as made in the House budget.
SENATE
BUDGET MUST CHANGE CUTS OR THEY ARE FINAL
If a
cut is made in both the House and Senate budgets, then it is final.
This is because the rules limit discussion between the House and Senate
when they are negotiating one final state budget. Under the rules,
only those items that are not the same in both budgets may be changed
during final budget negotiations. This means that if the Senate does
not restore some of the devastating cuts made in the House budget,
then those cuts become final.
|
CUTS
UNDER CONSIDERATION |
| • |
ELIMINATE Medicaid Coverage of 19 and 20 year olds |
| • |
ELIMINATE Medicaid Coverage for Some Pregnant Women and Infants
Under One |
| • |
ELIMINATE
Transitional Medicaid for Families Working Their Way Off Welfare
|
| • |
FREEZE
Health Choice Health insurance for children |
| • |
REDUCE
per pupil Funding for Students with Limited English Proficiency |
| • |
CUT
Smart Start Local Partnerships for Children and the State Partnership
for Children |
| • |
ELIMINATE
Intensive Home Visitation |
| • |
REDUCE
per pupil spending for Students at Risk of Failing Public School |
| • |
CUT
funding to local Public School Systems |
| • |
Also
under consideration are cuts in Mental Health funding. |
| THERE
ARE OTHER OPTIONS TO RAISE REVENUE |
| • |
Delaying
the child credit and the marriage penalty fix |
- $54m |
| • |
Increase
tax on cigarettes by 50 cents (to national median)
(For more information contact Pam Seamans, Executive Director
of the NC Alliance for Health at 919-403-9204 or
pamseamans@nc.rr.com
) |
-
$308m |
| • |
Close
Machinery Tax Loophole |
- $178.5m |
| • |
4%
Corporate and Personal Income Tax Surcharge |
-
$350m |
