2023 NASW-NC Legislative Session Update: Week 1

The North Carolina state legislature convened Wednesday, January 11 to gavel in the 2023 session. They are back on a break and will return to session the week of January 23.

Time to contact your legislators!

There are many new House and Senate members who need to know more about the social work profession and how important our work is. Call them. Email them. Introduce yourself, tell them you are a social worker and concisely tell them exactly what you do and the importance of supporting the social work workforce. Thank them for working for the people of your district. You can call or email your legislator here: https://www.ncleg.gov/FindYourLegislators

North Carolina Social Work Advocacy Day!

NASW-NC released the 2023 Legislative Agenda and is gearing up for a busy Legislative Long Session. We need your voice!

Join us for the 2023 North Carolina Social Work Advocacy Day which will be IN PERSON on Wednesday, March 1, 2023 at the North Carolina Museum of History and North Carolina General Assembly. REGISTRATION COMING SOON!

The goal of this event is to further social workers’ knowledge about policy issues in substantive areas of social work practice, teach participants about legislative advocacy, and provide an opportunity for social workers to educate their legislators about the social work profession and important client issues. More information here: https://www.naswnc.org/page/292

In preparation for Social Work Advocacy Day, NASW-NC will host a free Social Work Advocacy 101/NASW-NC Legislative Agenda webinar on Wednesday, February 15, 2023 at noon. REGISTRATION COMING SOON!

North Carolina General Assembly Composition

While the state Senate won a comfortable supermajority in 2022’s general election, House Republicans missed the threshold to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes by one vote.

In the Senate, Republicans have exactly the votes needed for a supermajority, which is three-fifths of the chamber and allows the GOP to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes without Democratic votes. The House is just one vote short of a Republican supermajority.

Source: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article271062337.html

New Veto Override Rule in the House

In a party-line vote Wednesday, Republican state House members passed rules for their chamber allowing the speaker to call a vote on Cooper’s vetoes without notice. Under House rules approved for the previous legislative session, members couldn’t vote to override a gubernatorial veto “until the second legislative day following notice of its placement on the calendar.”

In the November elections, Republicans gained seats in the House and came one seat shy of gaining a supermajority in that chamber. So Democrats hold enough votes in the House to protect Cooper’s veto. But with the new rules in place, Democrats fear Republicans will call surprise votes to override Cooper if a couple of their members are absent.

Gov. Roy Cooper praised the Senate rules while criticizing the House. “Not letting the public know when veto override votes will occur slaps democracy in the face and deceives citizen legislators who have overlapping work, family and constituent responsibilities they could change if they have proper notice,” Cooper said in a statement sent to reporters. “Critical issues like women’s health, gun safety and voting rights are on the line, and Republican House leaders need to keep things above board and offer at least 24 hours notice before veto override votes as Senator Berger has done in the Senate,” Cooper said. “It’s a shame that House Republican leaders believe they can only override a veto through deception, surprise and trickery.”

Source: https://www.wral.com/nc-house-republicans-scrap-rule-on-veto-override-votes/20667372/

Support for Medicaid Expansion

“I support expanding Medicaid in North Carolina,” Senate Majority Leader Phil Berger told a capacity crowd in the Senate chamber. Berger spent a decade opposed to the measure, only but he changed his stance in 2022. He shepherded his bill through the Senate last year, only to have it hit a dead end in the House of Representatives. In a media press gathering after the swearing-in ceremony, Berger reiterated his position.

“In order to get …, kind of, the broad bipartisan support that we had for the Medicaid expansion bill that we had before, there have got to be some measures that address the supply side,” he told reporters. “If you’re going to give 500,000, 600,000 people an insurance card that says they have a right to have their medical care paid for, then we need to do something to hopefully open up more access to more primary care providers, more facilities where they can be treated.”

Source: https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2023/01/12/lawmakers-in-raleigh-health-policy-issues/

Support for Mental Health

Both Republicans and Democrats noted the importance of addressing mental health needs across the state. Rep. Donny Lambeth, R–Forsyth said he recently attended a forum on mental health best practices with other representatives Carla Cunningham, D-Mecklenburg, a nurse, and Wayne Sasser, R-Stanly, a pharmacist. Lambeth said they were interested in implementing some of the things other states are doing.

“We’ve seen suicide rates grow exponentially in the last several years, and COVID did not help anything,” said Sen. Sydney Batch, D-Wake, who outside of the legislature is a social worker and family law attorney. She’s been appointed to the Senate Health Care Committee. Batch filed a bill in the last session that would have given mental health providers treatment spaces in schools, prioritizing children who lack health insurance or a regular care provider.

Source: https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2023/01/12/lawmakers-in-raleigh-health-policy-issues/

School Social Work

On January 5, the North Carolina Board of Education voted, without opposition, to include $100 million to fund more school social workers and nurses in their 2024-2025 Budget Priorities.

They also added $10 million for pay increases for master’s level social workers since they are still paid on the bachelor’s degree level but perform specialized services around the mental health needs of North Carolina’s students.

This is a big deal as NASW-NC pursues the restoration of master's level pay for school social workers during the 2023 Legislative Session.

Source: https://www.wral.com/state-board-of-education-floats-100m-for-school-social-workers-nurses/20658659/

Abortion Ban

The legislature is poised to pass new restrictions on abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated all constitutional protections, leaving the issue to the states. Abortions after 20 weeks are now limited in the state, and legislative leaders have said they will work to enact more limits this year. After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade, House Speaker Tim Moore issued a press statement saying abortion legislation would be a top priority this session.

Senate leader Phil Berger told the Associated Press last summer that he would prefer restricting abortions after the first trimester of pregnancy. Moore personally prefers abortion bans after ultrasounds detect fetal heart activity, which is usually around six weeks of pregnancy, the AP reported.  

Source: https://ncpolicywatch.com/2023/01/10/gop-election-gains-in-north-carolina-make-for-a-more-conservative-legislature-with-a-long-agenda

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