Here are some highlights from the N.C. General Assembly’s 2014-15 legislative session.
The state budget
HB-97: 2016 Appropriations Act
Total spending
FY 2015-16: $21.735 billion
FY 2016-17: $21.921 billion
Education
- K-12 funding increased 5 percent ($410 million) from base budget.
- Fully funds teaching assistants to secure better educational support and student outcomes.
- Fully funds driver education to help North Carolina train responsible drivers.
- Invests $1.5 million over biennium for transforming principal preparation to support innovative programs to dramatically improve the rigor of principal preparation in North Carolina.
- Increased funding for textbooks and digital learning resources.
- Invest in school connectivity initiative to bring broadband access to all K-12 schools.
- Increases opportunity scholarship by 129 percent to award more scholarships to children of low-income and working-class families to attend a private school of their choice.
- $7.5 million to 58 community colleges across the state for state-of-the-art equipment to keep up with the changing needs of employers and train future workforce.
- Year-round funding for community college classes.
- Increase capacity of training for medical residents, with a focus on primary care and general surgery.
Health and human services
Increased support for community mental health services, examples include:
• 7 percent increase for three-way psychiatric beds in community hospitals.
• Addition of 66 mental health beds at central prison.
• Establishes mental health treatment units at eight custody prisons.
• Traumatic brain injury waiver to provide victims better support as they work to achieve independence.
• Training for paramedics for behavior health diversion.
- Foster care: Raises age to 21 years, provides funds for youth villages, increases funding by $12 million for increased foster care caseload.
- Increases market rates for child care subsidy and includes “grandparent” fix.
- No changes to CON laws.
- Does not eliminate CCNC.
- Home and Community Care Block Grant: restores cut to services for seniors.
- Provides funds to improve state medical examiner system.
Transportation
- Eliminates the transfer from the highway fund to the general fund.
- $440 million in additional road funding.
- $70 million in for port modernization.
- Increased funding for contract resurfacing and the bridge program, and pavement preservation fund.
- Increased funding for capital construction projects through STI.
- Continued funding for modernization of North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles.
- Increased funding for state aid to municipalities.
- Reduce taxpayer dollars used for Board of Transportation travel expenses.
- Increases funding for airport development and the UAS program.
- Eliminates 50 Raleigh-based, non-field positions.
Salary and benefits
- All teachers and state employees will receive a $750 bonus by the end of FY 2015.
• Legislators do not receive this bonus.
- Teachers will still receive step increase raises based on experience.
- Starting teachers (0-4 years) will see a salary increase from $33,000/yr to $35,000/yr.
- All sworn members of the Highway Patrol will receive a 3 percent salary increase.
- Starting Highway Patrol salary increase from $35,000/yr to $36,050/yr.
- Allocates $38 million to award pay raises for correctional officers.
- No reductions in the state retirement benefits.
- Funds Governor McCrory’s plan to award targeted raises in hard-to-recruit areas.
- Increases funding for national guard pension fund.
Statewide reserves
- $600 million to savings reserve and R&R
- $186 million to a Medicaid contingency reserve.
• This reserve is to address any budgetary shortfalls within the Medicaid budget.
- $225 million over the biennium for a Medicaid transformation reserve.
- Will be used for when the state transitions to fee-for-service to capitation under Medicaid reform.
Agriculture and natural resources
- Support for dredging of the coastal inlets to keep our waterways open for business and recreation.
- $1 million for military buffers through farmland preservation.
• $1 million through clean water management trust fund
- Additional funding to support oyster industry
- $1 million FY1 and $2 million FY2 for tourism funding
- Funds expansion of AgWRAP (well-drilling initiative for Ag).
- Eliminates $1.5 million for state-wide branding initiative.
- $1.3 million department-wide DENR administrative cut.
- $5 million in FY1 for water and infrastructure grants to help local communities repair and renovate lines that are essential for economic growth.
Justice and public safety
- Grants for body-worn video camera for law enforcement agencies to protect our sworn officers.
• Optional – does not force departments to comply.
- Provides remaining funds for cameras in Highway Patrol vehicles to keep our troopers safe.
- $1.6 million for HERO Grants to combat sex crimes against children.
- Clerks and magistrates will still receive step increase raises based on experience.
- Additional funds for court modernization.
- Funds for managed cell access system to deter the illegal smuggling and use of cell phones by inmates.
General government
- New Dept. of Military and Veterans Affairs to maximize efficiency for our service members.
- New Dept. of Information Technology to reduce duplicate spending.
- New Dept. of Natural and Cultural Resources to consolidate management of all state attractions.
- Additional funds for VIVA in FY 2015-16 to execute voter outreach.
- $12.5 million for workforce housing loan program, develop low-income housing.
- Align agency budgets to actual expenditures to track the use of taxpayer dollars.
- Governmental budgetary transparency / expenditures online to ensure an open, transparent, responsible state government.
Other economic development
- $8 million in FY 2016-2017 for historic tax credit
- $3 million for OneNC small business fund
- $2.5 million annually for rural economic development grants
- $30 million for film grants
- JMAC funded on recurring basis: $6.9 million in FY 2015-2016 and $7.5 million in FY 2016-2017
Tax package
- Cuts personal income tax rate by 0.26 percent to 5.499 percent
- Increases standard deduction in 2016 from $15,000 to $15,500, for married filing jointly.
- Unlimited deduction for both medical and charitable.
- Maintains corporate income tax rate reduction trigger (the current forecast has us hitting the trigger in 2016 dropping rate to 3 percent)
- Phases in single sales factor over three years starting next year (study market based sourcing)
Rep. Mark Brody represents Anson and Union counties in state House District 55. Reach him at 919-715-3029, 704-575-5906 and mark.brody@ncleg.net.