NASW-NC Legislative Session Update: Weeks 1 and 2
Monday, February 8, 2021
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Posted by: Kay Castillo
Legislators kicked off the long legislative session on Wednesday, January 27th. Legislators spent two days mostly filing bills before starting committee meetings this past week.
New this session, the House will stream their floor sessions on YouTube. Most committee meetings will be streamed as well. The Senate will stream committee meetings but likely not their floor sessions. However, you can listen to their floor sessions. You can find links to watch or listen on the
North Carolina General Assembly website.
Legislators have fast tracked their first COVID-19 response bill of the legislative session, Senate Bill 36 2020
COVID Relief Bill Modifications. The bill passed the House and the Senate without opposition. It removes deadlines to spend funding that were previously put in place for the end of 2020 in their last COVID Relief bill. The bill will move the deadline
for the Extra Credit Grant payment program to parents that did not receive money in 2020. Parents will have until May 31st to apply for $335. Further, the bill provides $39 million for the GREAT broadband
grant program, $94.7 million for vaccine distribution, $1.6 billion to help schools, and $546.6 million for emergency rental assistance. More information can be found in this bill summary. Another COVID-19 relief bill is expected in the next few weeks.
Bills filed of interest to social workers
HB 8/SB 15 NC
Adopt Equal Rights Amendment: This legislation seeks to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in the United States Constitution. The ERA was originally passed by Congress in 1972 to affirm that constitutional rights are held equally by all persons
regardless of sex. Twelve states have yet to ratify the ERA. Read more about why that’s important here.
The bill also appropriates $10,000 to educate the public about it.
HB 31 Detect
Heartbeat/Prohibit Abortion: This legislation would prohibit an abortion from being performed after a heartbeat is detected unless there is a medical emergency. NASW-NC is opposed to this legislation as it goes against our 2021 Legislative Agenda.
HB 41/SB 35 Amend
Lawful Age to Marry/18 Years of Age: This legislation would prohibit anyone younger than age 18 from getting married in North Carolina. North Carolina currently has the lowest age for marriage set by statute in the United States (tied with Alaska),
allowing children as young as 14 years old to marry. NASW-NC supports this legislation as it supports our 2021 Legislative Agenda.
North Carolina Social Work Advocacy Week Registration and Helpful Links
NASW-NC is proud to host North Carolina Social Work Advocacy Week, March 1-5, 2021. This virtual event will focus on NASW-NC’s 2021 legislative priorities. There
will be daily LIVE virtual events March 1, 2, and 3 from 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm to raise awareness of advocacy efforts for the social work profession and social justice issues and hear from legislators and social work advocates. On Thursday and Friday,
March 4-5, we encourage you to virtually meet with your legislators to advocate on an issue important to you. Find your North Carolina Senator and Representative and schedule a virtual meeting with them here: www.ncleg.gov.
Register here to
receive a link to the March 1, 2, 3 noon webinars. Sessions will be recorded but live participation is encouraged. 1 hour of CE per session will be available for those who attend the full session for NASW-NC members.
Prepare for Advocacy Week
We will keep the North Carolina Social Work Advocacy Week event page updated as we prepare more materials.
Governor Cooper makes recommendations on COVID-19 Relief Spending
On Thursday, Governor Cooper laid out his priorities for federal COVID-19 relief spending.
Among
his priorities:
- Medicaid Expansion to improve access to quality health care, help prevent the spread of COVID-19, and boost our economy.
- Continue our COVID-19 response with more testing, tracing, and prevention efforts, while also investing in world-class development of vaccines and treatments in North Carolina.
- Bridge the digital learning gap and bring opportunities to rural areas by expanding internet access, improving health care, and investing in rural infrastructure.
- Bonuses for school employees: Provides a one-time $2,500 bonus to teachers, including instructional support personnel, principals and assistant principals.
- $1.6 billion to support schools.
- $30 million to schools for supporting Mental Health and Resilience. This money provides additional funds to DHHS for crisis services to respond to significant increases in mental health stressors due to the pandemic. Additional services may include telehealth services and supports, crisis intervention training for law enforcement, inpatient services for the uninsured, and services and training programs to assist children suffering from pandemic-related trauma.
- $47,465,800 to the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant.
- $41,994,387 to the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant.
- $546,597,070 to the Emergency Rental Assistance Program.
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