Rick Glazier | Final Budget Report

July 22, 2008 - Final Budget Report

BUDGET REPORT
Last week, the General Assembly gave final approval to the state budget, which was signed into law by Governor Easley this week as the Assembly finished all of its work and adjourned for the year. The budget is a conservative one focused on the most important needs of the state. It sustains the state's commitment to globally competitive educational opportunities K-16 for all students, improves access to and the quality of health care for our most vulnerable citizens, including beginning critical efforts to repair the state's mental health system, provides vital new resources to the justice, safety and security systems of the state, and continues initiatives to expand job opportunities and economic development in hard-hit areas of the state.

We also invested in meeting the needs of our military families and our protecting and preserving the state's environment, focusing on water quality and access. It's a budget that does a lot to help people make ends meet without raising any taxes in these challenging economic times. I've included some details of the plan below. You can also view the entire documents by visiting www.ncleg.net.

Another newsletter will follow this one and it will discuss the last pieces of non-budget legislation we considered this session.

In the meantime, if you have any questions about the work of the General Assembly or if I can help in any way, please feel free to contact me.

Thank you, as always, for taking the time to read this newsletter and best wishes to everyone for a great remainder of the summer.

EDUCATION

$11.4 billion - not including salary increases - to education.
3 percent salary increase for teachers for a total of 8 percent increase in this biennium
$30 million to expand More at Four preschool program
$15 million in grants to help schools and groups working on dropout prevention and Cumberland County will have 2 representatives on the 15 member Board to choose these grant projects
$10 million to improve instructional technology in the schools
$6.2 million more for children with disabilities
$6 million more for the Disadvantaged Student Supplemental Fund, which assists our neediest students and schools
$3.2 million more for academically gifted students
$3 million to establish a mentoring program for first- and second-year teachers and for first-year instructional support personnel
$2.9 million for supplemental funding to low-wealth counties, which includes Cumberland County
$1.5 million more for pilot programs at eight high schools where each student and teacher will get a computer.
$23.8 million to fully fund enrollment growth in the community colleges and an additional $2.5 million for an enrollment growth reserve fund
$5 million more for instructional equipment at community colleges
$4 million more to support critical and expensive allied health programs at community colleges
$985,000 million for minority male mentoring at community colleges. The money will allow the program to expand to 17 more colleges
$34.6 million for enrollment growth in the UNC system, including FSU
$15 million for campus safety recommendations from the UNC Campus Safety Task Force, with extensive funding to FSU, which by the way is ranked as one of the safest campuses by every criteria in the UNC system
$6 million to help develop the North Carolina Research Campus at Kannapolis
$1.75 million for tuition grants for half-time students at private colleges and universities
$400,000 to FTCC for an extraordinary international partnership on an innovative 3-D security technology; and $400,000 to FSU for combining with the City of Fayetteville and FTCC to build a new Fire Sciences Training Tower for the university system's only fire safety program
Additional funds for the arts and public libraries across the state-important educational and economic investments in our children and communities

ECONOMY

$10 million to the Rural Center to provide grants and investments in severely distressed rural areas
$5 million more for the One North Carolina Fund to stimulate job growth
$5 million for the One North Carolina Small Business fund to provide incentive grants
$5 million to the Biofuels Center of North Carolina to help continue to develop alternative fuels
$3 million to expand the Home Protection Program. The program offers counseling as well as short-term and long-term loans
$7 million for the North Carolina Housing Trust Fund to finance apartments for people with disabilities
$2 million more to the North Carolina Housing Trust fund to provide decent, safe and affordable housing for people with low to moderate incomes. The trust fund is now $10 million a year and developers in Fayetteville and the County have used this money well and wisely for our citizens
$1 million for the Green Business Fund to encourage the growth of a green economy by providing grants to small businesses
$500,000 in additional money for the Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development, a growing economic engine in parts of this state

TAXES

Expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit to 5 percent beginning with the 2009 taxable year - the EITC first went into effect in the 2008 taxable year due to action by the General Assembly in 2007
$8.5 million to extend a tax credit for small businesses that provide health benefits to their employees
Creation of a disabled veterans' property tax homestead exclusion to give disabled veterans and their surviving spouses a break on their property taxes
$1.4 million for a three-day sales tax holiday on energy-efficient appliances
$1 million to extend a tax credit for the use of the state ports
$1 million to extend an tax credit for investment in research and development
Extension of the tax credits for investment in low-income housing and investment in rehabilitating historic mill properties
$500,000 to allow for a sales tax exemption for items purchased by disaster victims with disaster assistance payments
Conformity to provisions in the federal tax code to make compliance with the tax laws easier
Repeal of the state gift tax in 2009
$2.2 million for clarifications to reduce the amount of the State estate tax
$1.9 million for sales tax breaks for artisan bakeries, interior designers, and equipment refurbishers
$100,000 to expand and extend the tax credit for qualified film and television productions
$100,000 to expand the tax credit for donations of renewable energy equipment
Extension of refunds of sales and use taxes paid by certain airline carriers and motorsports racing teams.
Expansion of the tax credit for investment in a qualified business venture
Creation of a deduction for certain taxpayers that sell a mobile home community to the community's residents in order to prevent those residents from losing their homes
Clarification of the sales and use tax refunds for which a nonprofit organization is eligible

HEALTH

$9.4 million to expand NC Health Choice insurance program by about 7,300 children, for a total of 129,700 enrollees
$5 million to increase dental reimbursement rates
$4.8 million in aid to local health departments, including Cumberland County
$4 million for grants to rural health centers, health departments, free clinics and others providing preventive care
$3.75 million to pay for networks that coordinate free health care for low-income and uninsured patients
$2.1 million for mental health screening and assessments in adult care homes
$2 million for obesity prevention efforts
$2 million to help operations at rural hospitals
$2 million for Home and Community Care block grants, which help pay for in-home and community based services for seniors
$2 million for substance abuse programs
$1.5 million for the state's food banks, including our community's food bank at Second Harvest
$1 million more for grants to programs working to prevent chronic illnesses in minority populations, bringing the total to $3 million

MENTAL HEALTH

$8.1 million for expanded local psychiatric inpatient services
$7.3 million for 107 new positions at the state's psychiatric hospitals. These include 63 at Broughton Hospital, 24 at Central Regional Hospital and 20 at Cherry Hospital.
$6.1 million for walk-in crisis and immediate psychiatric aftercare
$5.75 million for 30 mobile crisis intervention teams. Includes startup money for 11 new teams in addition to the 19 existing ones
$5.2 million to keep the Dorothea Dix Overflow Unit open after the opening of the new Central Regional Hospital.
$1.85 million to provide clinical and operational improvements at state facilities. These improvements include better training and supervision of direct care staff, better pharmacy management and the addition of information technology and accounting jobs.

TRANSPORTATION

Reduce transfer from the Highway Trust Fund by $25 million this fiscal year and increasing amounts in subsequent years. That money will be used for "gap funding" of toll roads. $25 million annually for the Triangle Expressway beginning in 2008-09; $24 million annually for the Monroe Bypass beginning in 2009-10; $15 million annually for the Mid-Currituck Bridge beginning in 2009-10; and $35 million annually for the Garden Parkway (in Gaston) beginning in 2010-11.
Reduce DOT central administration budget by $12 million
$24.5 million for highway maintenance that extends the life of infrastructure, such as pavement, bridges and traffic signals
$1.8 million more for secondary road construction
$1.8 million for aid to municipalities
$1 million in grants to support short-line railroads

MILITARY

$1.5 million for the Defense and Security Technology Accelerator in Fayetteville, which develops businesses related to homeland security and national defense.
$1 million for grants to provide community support and quality of life programs at military installations, including most prominently at Ft. Bragg
$1 million for traumatic brain injury services, with veterans getting special attention
$326,500 for scholarships and related educational materials for children of veterans killed or disabled during wartime.
$15 million for completion of North Carolina's Veteran's Park in downtown Fayetteville
Continued funding for the North Carolina Military Business Center, primarily located in Fayetteville with 10 offices statewide-an exceptional investment for the state

PUBLIC SAFETY

$10 million for gang prevention, suppression and intervention grants
$2.5 million for a reserve fund to address critical staffing and resource needs in Probation and Parole field offices
$1.1 million for the Rape Victim Assistance Program to pay for forensic rape kits
$1 million in recurring funding for sexual assault and rape crisis services
$650,000 for domestic violence shelters
$600,000 to train sheriff's departments in immigration enforcement
$500,000 increase in funding for Juvenile Crime Prevention Councils, in addition to restoration of $22.6 million in funding following a continuation review
$260,000 to enhance GangNet, an Internet-based database with information about known gang members that is expanding statewide
Additional positions for Juvenile Detention Centers, including the state's largest in Cumberland County

ENVIRONMENT

$50 million to the Rural Center to help local governments address critical water and sewer needs for a total of $150 million this biennium
$50 million for Land for Tomorrow to continue land preservation efforts for a total of $170 million this biennium
$4 million for farmland preservation for a total of $12 million this biennium
$5.5 million for matching money for drinking water system improvements
$2.5 million for matching money for wastewater treatment improvements
$2.46 million for drought relief
$500,000 for green industries education and promotion

ETHICS

$356,000 for the State Ethics Commission to increase staffing, reduce the backlog of work and provide legal materials
$310,000 to hire four additional workers at the State Board of Elections to help with management responsibilities, audit campaign finance reports and educate candidates, committees and the public

SALARIES

$390 million for raises for teachers and state employees
3 percent for teachers for a total of 8 percent over this biennium. Starting teachers would get raises comparable to the minimum of $1,100 for state employees.
Starting pay for a teacher with a bachelor's degree would be about $31,000, excluding local supplements.
Starting pay for a teacher with a master's degree would be about $34,000 $90 million in ABC bonuses for teachers at schools that meet or exceed expectations.
2.75 percent raise, or $1,100, whichever is greater for state employees. The tipping point is at $40,000.

That's enough for now. Thanks for checking in.

Take care -- see you soon!