2025 NASW-NC Legislative Session Update: Social Work Compact passes Senate Health Care

In this week's update:

• Social Work Compact passes Senate Health Care Committee
• NC House budget calls for delayed tax cuts, 2.5% raise for state workers
• US House passes "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" : What social workers need to know 
• NC House Announces Over $450 Million in Additional Helene Disaster Relief
• NASW – New Practice Tool
• Tell Lawmakers to Vote "No"! 
• NASW-NC Bill Tracker
• NASW-NC Clinical Supervision Certificate Training

Social Work Compact passes Senate Health Care Committee

On Wednesday, May 21st, HB 231 -Social Work Interstate Licensure Compact unanimously passed the NC Senate Health Care Committee. NASW-NC’s Executive Director, Valerie Arendt and Director of Advocacy and Policy, Lauren Zingraff, along with NC Social Work Certification and Licensure Board Executive Director Elizabeth Pope were present at the NC General Assembly for the vote. 

HB 231 has been favorably referred to the NC Senate Finance Committee next.  After it passes the Finance Committee, it will be referred to the Senate Rules Committee. Senate Rules is the final committee before a full vote on the NC Senate Floor.  If it passes the Senate, as it did the NC House, it will go to Governor Stein’s desk for his signature. 

The NC General Assembly is on a break during the week of May 26-30th.  We anticipate the Senate Finance Committee to meet again in June when they return. 

The Social Work Licensure Compact has been enacted in at least seven states and has reached activation status; however, multistate licenses are NOT yet being issued.  The implementation process for the compact will take 12 to 24 months before multistate licenses are to be issued. You can learn more details about the Social Work Licensure Compact and the Compact Commission by going to its website here. 

NASW-NC is the ONLY organization lobbying and advocating for the entire Social Work Profession at the North Carolina Legislature. The NASW-NC lobbying team would not exist without the incredible support of NASW-NC membership. If you are already a member of NASW-NC, THANK YOU. Our members are the only reason that we have been able to do this work! 

NASW-NC is not federally funded; we are not state-funded. We are funded by the members of NASW and will not exist to advocate for you and the social work profession without YOU!  We are able to do more if we have a large voice and robust membership. If you are not yet a member, please join NASW and join us in our advocacy efforts.    
 

You can watch HB 231 pass the Senate Health Care Committee HERE. 
Follow updates on the Social Work Compact in the NC General Assembly here. 

NC House budget calls for delayed tax cuts, 2.5% raise for state workers

The state House’s budget bill would delay scheduled income tax cuts while giving state employees and teachers larger raises than the Senate is proposing.

Gov. Josh Stein has been calling on lawmakers to pause personal and corporate income tax cuts to avoid hitting a fiscal cliff where state revenues decline. The Senate's budget doubles down on the cuts, but the House budget would change the revenue targets that trigger lower taxes. That means the state would have to see bigger revenue growth before the tax rates would drop.

House leaders say that change is needed to address inflation. But they’re proposing other tax changes aimed at reducing costs for lower- and middle-income families, including an increase in the standard deduction, a tax exemption for some tipped wages and a back-to-school sales tax holiday that the state eliminated in 2014.

The House budget also calls for state employees to get a 2.5% raise starting in July, but no raise the following year. By contrast, the Senate’s budget calls for a 1.25% raise starting in July, along with bonuses totaling $3,000 over two years.

Most teachers would see bigger raises, with starting salaries increasing by $7,000 to $48,000 this year and to $50,000 the following year. The goal is to give North Carolina the highest starting pay in the Southeast.

The budget would also cut thousands of vacant positions across state government. A handful of positions that aren’t vacant would be cut as well, primarily in programs that Republicans view as examples of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Those include the Office of Health Equity and environmental justice and education programs and total about $10 million in state spending.

The House budget would also eliminate thousands of vacant state government jobs by requiring state agencies to cut 20% of positions that are currently unfilled.

The House will vote on the plan later this week before starting negotiations with the Senate on a final budget, which legislative leaders hope to wrap up before the end of June.

House Democratic Leader Robert Reives, D-Chatham, said in a news release that the House plan is an improvement over the Senate's budget.

"The House budget proposal gets us closer to what Governor Stein proposed on teacher pay and addressing our state’s fiscal cliff," Reives said. "Unfortunately, there are cuts to public safety, public services, and negative impacts on clean air and water efforts. Additionally, taxpayer funded private school vouchers continue to divert funds from public schools to send wealthy children to private schools."

Separately, Stein unveiled a Helene recovery budget request on Monday, asking lawmakers to approve an additional $891 million for western North Carolina. The House is planning to advance its own Helene funding bill later this week.

Other highlights of the House’s main budget were released last week. Outside of the spending cuts, the budget would add more childcare subsidies by increasing reimbursement rates, an effort to deal with funding shortfalls at childcare facilities.

It would also open three new DMV offices to reduce wait times, including locations in Fuquay-Varina, Cabarrus County and Brunswick County.

Another notable contrast with the Senate’s budget plan is that while the Senate wants to significantly increase taxes on sports betting operators, the House would keep the current rates unchanged.

Follow the 2025 Appropriations Act Here. 

Read the NC House Committee Budget Report Here.

(Source: WUNC.org)

US House passes "One Big Beautiful Bill Act": What social workers need to know

On Thursday, May 22, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" (the bill's current name) by a vote of 215-214.  The bill now moves to the U.S. Senate, who are expected to pass it by July 4th.  It will then be signed into law by President Trump.

NASW-NC staff and other advocacy organizations have not had an opportunity to dissect all 1,100 pages of the legislation.  However, it will cut trillions of dollars from Medicaid, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, and Snap benefits.  It will harm millions of seniors and people living with disabilities who live on fixed incomes and will lose the essential care and support they rely on every day.  

This legislation would require every state to implement Medicaid work requirements for adults up to age 65, and it directly cuts Medicare, taking coverage from immigrants who have worked and paid into the system for decades, while also cutting access to Medicaid’s financial assistance that makes Medicare affordable and accessible for millions of low-income people.

While catastrophic cuts in the billions are coming to hurt children, working families, seniors, and the disabled community,the budget adds $350 Billion in new spending, including $150 Billion to the Pentagon for Trump's Military Golden Dome Defense Shield, and the rest for continued mass deportations and border security. 

NASW-NC will keep you updated with more U.S. Congress Federal budget information and its harmful impacts on the communities we serve over the coming weeks.  As social workers, a budget is not only appropriations, it is also social justice policy. 

What can you do? Contact NC Senators Ted Tillis (R) and Ted Budd (R) and ask them to Vote NO on the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" and share your lived experiences as a NC social worker on the terrible consequences for people's lives if it is passed. Thank you! 

Find your senator HERE. 

NC House Announces Over $450 Million in Additional Helene Disaster Relief

Today, the North Carolina House of Representatives introduced a fifth round of Helene relief funding. The Disaster Recovery Act of 2025 Part II allocates more than $450 million to support ongoing recovery efforts in Western North Carolina, including critical infrastructure and building repairs, as well as relief for small businesses. 

 Key funding provisions include:        

• $70M in additional state funds to match critical federal recovery programs. 
• $60M in Small Business Disaster Grants, up to $100k per small business with eligibility based on a 20% loss threshold. 
• $50M for local governments to fulfill unmet and unreimbursed capital needs. 
• $30M in additional funds to support reconstruction of private roads and bridges. 
• $30M for agricultural and general debris removal. 
• $25M to support reconstruction of destroyed schools. 
• $25M to improve airport infrastructure in WNC to expand emergency response capacity and repair Helene damage. 
• $25M toward rebuilding damaged and destroyed farm infrastructure such as fences, barns, greenhouses, and farm roads. 
• $20M for flood mitigation grants to rebuild at-risk infrastructure. 
• $20M to support our volunteer organizations directly supporting recovery efforts. 
• $18M to provide $50,000 grants to fire stations and EMS units across WNC. 
• $15M in firefighting equipment and contract personnel to the NC Forest Service to enhance wildfire preparedness. 
• $8M for damaged schools.     

This legislation is the culmination of several months of work by the NC House Western delegation. The NC House has previously allocated over $1.4 billion in relief before this bill, which would bring the total to $1.85 billion. 
(source:Office of Speaker Destin Hall)

NASW – New Practice Tool

Please find a new Practice Tool, The Crucial Role Medicaid and Social Workers Play in Providing Access to Substance Use Treatment, posted on the Behavioral Health Practice Tools section. Medicaid has played a significant role in access to substance use and mental health treatment. Potential cuts in funding could make it harder to get necessary care. Let’s keep raising awareness about the impact this may have on the workforce and the communities we serve.  

Please share this resource on your website and respective social media platforms. Link: https://www.socialworkers.org/Practice/Tips-and-Tools-for-Social-Workers/The-Crucial-Role-Medicaid-and-Social-Workers-Play-in-Providing-Access-to-Substance-Use-Treatment

Tell NC Lawmakers Vote No! 

As predicted, last week saw a flurry of activity in Raleigh where lawmakers pushed through bills attacking freedom of speech, public education, and workers’ rights, among other concerning issues. While anti-voter, anti-democracy bills are exempt from the crossover deadline, in the future, we may see bills like HB 127 move or parts of it put into a larger election law bill or the budget.

Read on to learn about some of the bills that survived crossover that you can take action on TODAY! And keep an eye on demnc.co/takeaction in the coming weeks.

• TAKE ACTION >> Attacks on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (House Bill 171). Taking a cue from federal executive orders and legislation, this deeply troubling bill would prohibit state agencies, local governments, and schools from maintaining or implementing DEI initiatives or programs, and remove state funds if these initiatives continue. 
• TAKE ACTION >> Anti-picketing (Senate Bill 484). This legislation threatens peaceful assembly and free expression by broadly redefining “workplace violence” to include peaceful activities such as mass picketing and obstruction. If enacted, this could represent a wildly dangerous erosion of constitutional rights.
• TAKE ACTION >> Book banning (Senate Bill 636). This bill would require public schools to narrowly establish criteria for what books are allowed in their libraries and allow residents (parents, nonparents, whoever) to challenge books they deem “unwholesome” and even take legal action against the school for violating this rule — in short, this legalizes book bans. 
• TAKE ACTION >> Undermining the separation of powers (Senate Bill 58). We first told you about this unconstitutional prohibition of the rights of the NC Attorney General in early February. Under this bill, the AG would not be able to take legal action against any executive order issued by the President, undermining the separation of powers. 
• TAKE ACTION >> Criminalizing voter registration (House Bill 127). Unfortunately, as referenced above, HB127 is exempt from crossover due to being an election bill. Please continue to share this petition with your networks and reach out to your lawmakers.

(Source: DemocracyNC)

NASW-NC Bill Tracker

NASW-NC has created a page to keep members up to date with legislative developments regarding the Social Work Interstate Licensure Compact, restoring master’s level pay for school social workers, and other bills related to the social work profession.

NASW-NC is currently keeping an eye on more than 100 bills that, if passed, may impact the social work profession and the populations we serve. You can view all of the bills NASW-NC is tracking at the NC General Assembly HERE. 

2025 NASW-NC Clinical Supervision Certificate Training

Thousands of LCSWAs in North Carolina need quality clinical social work supervision. Now it is your turn to help grow our clinical social work workforce! Earn your NASW-NC Clinical Supervision Certificate and gain 18 Continuing Education Contact Hours! Topics include supervisory styles and techniques, skills to supervise clinical social workers at various stages of clinical development, managing challenging supervisees and situations, evaluating clinician competency, cultural competency, ethics, legal and regulatory issues, and much more! 

June 9-11, 2025
Virtual 
Up to 18 hours of CE

Registration Fees:
Members $150
Not yet a member? $300
Exam fee $50

See full agenda and register here!

Thank you to the members of NASW-NC for supporting the advocacy work we do. We would not be able to advocate for the social work profession or social justice issues in North Carolina without a robust and engaged NASW membership. 

Learn more about NASW-NC membership here.

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