NASW-NC Legislative Update: Bill Hearings and Bills of Interest

Monday, April 19, 2021

North Carolina legislators are back from their Spring Break and working to pass bills ahead of the May 13th Crossover deadline. "Crossover" is the date set by legislators at the beginning of the legislative session for bills to pass either the House or the Senate to be considered for the remainder of the session. If a bill does not make Crossover, it cannot move forward. 

Last week, legislators had hearings on two bills of interest to social workers. Both bills were for discussion only and thus no vote was taken on either.

On Tuesday, the House Health Committee discussed House Bill 395 which extends the requirement for providers who receive state funding to connect to the state’s Health Information Exchange Authority by one year. Currently, many social workers will need to connect by October 1, 2021 . Ahead of the meeting, NASW-NC advocated to committee members and bill sponsors that we support the one-year delay as provided in the bill but do not support a penalty as included in two other House and Senate bills filed earlier in the legislative session. Our voices were heard! Committee members debated the idea of combining this extension bill with House Bill 179, which fines providers for not connecting and submitting data. Committee members discussed the harm a penalty would cause small providers. The bill will be heard in committee again this week and will likely be voted on. Committee chairs have said they will prioritize extending the deadline and not including penalties on providers. NASW-NC will continue to lobby for this.

On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee discussed HB 358 Save Our Women’s Supports Act which bars transgender individuals from participating in women’s supports. The NASW-NC Legislative Committee connected with legislators ahead of the hearing to voice our opposition. Public comments were provided from those that support and oppose the legislation. No further discussion was provided on if or when the bill might be up for a vote. We will send out an action alert if the bill is scheduled for a vote.

Bills of interest to social workers:

• HB 581 Drivers License Designation/Autism : This legislation directs the Department of Motor Vehicles to develop a designation for drivers’ licenses that can be granted upon request to a person with autism spectrum disorder.
• HB 542 Fix Our Democracy : This legislation establishes minimum criteria for legislative and congressional redistricting following the 2020 census. This bill would make provisions for an independent redistricting process for North Carolina by establishing the North Carolina Citizens Redistricting Commission. The bill makes various other changes to current redistricting laws.
• HB 568 Youth Mentoring Services Act : This bipartisan legislation establishes a Youth Mentoring Grant Program and a Youth Mentoring Services Council. The legislation has identified that youth mentoring programs have played a critical role in the holistic well-being of children and adolescents. The bill outlines the infrastructure of the Youth Mentoring Programs which will be housed under the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. This legislation was filed by NASW-NC member Graig Meyer!
• HB 573 NC Medicaid & SNAP Program Integrity Reform : This legislation addresses Medicaid eligibility determination and monitoring and establishes standards for hospitals to “presume” eligibility by requiring applicants to cooperate with child support services for eligibility.