North Carolina Legislators Pass State Budget

North Carolina legislators released their state budget earlier this week. Legislators and Governor Cooper did not come to a consensus on this budget prior to its release, but the Governor indicated he would sign the budget saying that the good outweighs the bad and he will work to fix what it does not cover. The state budget will spend $25.9 billion this current year (which began July 1) and $27 billion in 2022-2023. 

The Senate voted for the budget with a vote of 41-7 and the House voted for the budget with a vote of 104-10. Update: on Thursday, November 18, Governor Cooper signed SB 105 2021 Appropriations Act into law. 

Click here to view the budget. 
Click here to view the committee report.

Most notably, the budget does not expand Medicaid in North Carolina, nor does it restore master’s pay for school social workers. It also does not include eight weeks of paid parental leave nor provisions from HB 149 to expand telehealth. These were a few budget priorities NASW-NC advocated for in the final budget.

Though the budget does not expand Medicaid, it does establish an eighteen-member Joint Legislative Committee on Access to Healthcare and Medicaid Expansion. This committee will meet and submit legislation before the end of the legislative session in 2022.

The budget is very lengthy, and it is difficult to capture everything in the budget. However, here is a list of budget items of interest to social workers:

• Pay Raises: 5% raises for most teachers and state employees over the next two years, which includes school social workers. 
• Bonuses: $1,000 bonuses for state employees with an additional $500 bonus for anyone earning less than $75,000, including staff in the Department of Public Safety, Correction and Juvenile Justice, and 24-hour residential or treatment facilities that are state owned. 
• State Employee Retirees: A one time cost of living bonus of 2% in 2021-2022 and 3% in 2022-2023.
• Extends Medicaid eligibility for 12 months postpartum to birthing parents with incomes equal to or less than 196% of the federal poverty level.
• It allows a parent to retain Medicaid eligibility while their child is temporarily served by the foster care system. 
• Waives the $100 fee paid for by Medicaid Providers to enroll or revalidate enrollment. Providers will continue to be required to submit all other required application and enrollment or revalidation materials.
• Increases Medicaid copays to $4 beginning July 1, 2022. 
• Recovery Courts: $3 million is provided to establish Judicially Managed Accountability and Recovery Courts to provide more therapeutic support for someone who has committed a crime and is living with mental health or substance misuse disorders. A judicial district wishing to establish such a court will be required to set up a committee to develop guidelines. The budget lays out several required members on the committee including treatment providers and a representative from the local community college or other adjacent secondary educational institution with a school of social work. Pilot programs will begin in Cumberland, Harnett, Haywood, Onslow, Pitt, Robeson, and Wayne Counties. 
• Reduced Tuition: Provides funds for Fayetteville State University to be the fourth school in the NC Promise Tuition Plan.
• Electronic Health Records: Allocates $50 million to establish electronic health records for all state-operated health care facilities. 
• Crisis Pregnancy Clinics: Over $15.6 million is provided to fund various crisis pregnancy clinics across the state. These funds would be better spent if given to the Division of Public Health to provide evidence-based services. 
• Home and Community Care Block Grant (HCBS): Provides recurring funds of $4 million in this fiscal year and $6.4 million in 2022-2023. The budget also creates a new HCBS Fund to increase innovations waiver slots, community alternative programs, and more. 
• Broadband Expansion: The budget provides around $1 billion to expand access to broadband.
• Support Team Assisted Response (STAR): Provides $1 million to establish STAR pilot programs in Charlotte, Greensboro, and Greenville. This will provide alternative responses for citizens in a crisis. It will allow for the response of behavioral and medical health personnel in nonviolent situations. 
• Rapid rehousing: $15,000,000 for rapid rehousing services to assist individuals and families at risk of homelessness due to the COVID-19 public health emergency with obtaining safe housing.
• Funding to continue Medicaid Transformation efforts. 
• $1,800,000 in nonrecurring funds for supplemental short-term assistance for group homes.
• Provide funding for an additional 1,000 Innovations waiver slots and directs the study of the state’s ability to add 1,000 more slots in 2023-2025 to ensure adequate health care providers to support the additional slots.
• Provides $3,585,000 nonrecurring funds for nutrition services for older adults and $40 million to six food banks to meet the increased demand caused by COVID-19.
  
  

If you have specific questions about the budget, please feel free to reach out to Kay Paksoy Castillo, Director of Advocacy, Policy, and Legislation at kcastillo.naswnc@socialworkers.org.