Greetings from Raleigh!
Let’s hope that we are finally into spring! We have had some unusual weather in the last few weeks, to say the least.
House Moving Toward Passage of Budget Bill, May 4, 2007
The House and Senate alternate from session to session with regard to the chamber responsible for the initial passage of a budget bill after the Governor has submitted his budget proposals. This session, the House goes first and has set May 4, 2007, as the date that they intend to adopt a budget bill and send it to the Senate for consideration.
I serve as Co-Chairman of the Senate’s Subcommittee on Health and Human Services. We held a number of joint meetings with our House counterpart. The House and Senate Subcommittees on Health and Human Services Appropriations made a joint preliminary recommendation with regard to this portion of the budget. Governor Easley proposed an additional 256 positions, for an annual cost of $13 million over the next two years. The state simply does not have the financial resources to fund all of these positions. Because Secretary Carmen Hooker-Odom, of the Department of Health and Human Services, was neither willing to prioritize the Governor’s expansion recommendations nor was she willing to present proposed cuts in the continuation budget if we required a 1-to-3 percent cut, we chose not to propose funding any new positions until we received greater cooperation from her office. The House Subcommittee on Health and Human Services is now meeting separately from the Senate Subcommittee as they work toward developing a final House budgetary proposal for the Full Appropriations Chairpersons.
The Governor has proposed spending an additional $59,983,435 on the Health and Human Services Budget for fiscal year 2006-2007 and $55,631,025 for fiscal year 2007-2008. The Governor’s continuation budget also includes an additional $100,000,000 to cover inflationary increases in the cost of healthcare services paid under the Medicaid program.
The Senate and House Appropriations Chairs assigned our subcommittee a target to limit any expansion of the healthcare budget to $34,177,102 for fiscal year 2006-2007 and $27,050,415 for fiscal year 2007-2008. These targets are based upon a proposed plan to allow the sales tax and income tax increases that were used to balance the budget during the early part of the decade to expire. The Governor’s budget proposal assumes that we will not allow these taxes to expire. These taxes total over $300,000,000.
Key areas where we initially agreed with the Governor’s budgetary proposal are as follows:
Fiscal Year 06-07
$4,716,878
Fiscal Year 07-08
$7,006,061
Program
Kids Care Expansion of Health Insurance for Children
Fiscal Year 06-07
$8,400,000
Fiscal Year 07-08
$8,400,000
Program
Remove 2,000 Children from the Childcare Subsidies Waiting List
Key areas where we have initially proposed increased funding for programs not recommended for expansion by the Governor are as follows: (Note the Governor only recommended an additional $3.5 million for community based programs for the mentally ill, the mentally handicapped, and persons with substance abuse problems.)
Fiscal Year 06-07
$5,000,000
Fiscal Year 07-08
$5,000,000
Program
Aid to Free Clinics, Community Health Centers, and School-Based Health Clinics
Fiscal Year 06-07
$44,500,000
Fiscal Year 07-08
$46,000,000
Program
Community Support Funds for Mentally Ill, Developmentally Disabled, and those with Substance Abuse Problems
North Carolina has significant health and human services needs. Health insurance coverage and mental health are at the top of those needs. I am working to help fashion a budget that reaches these goals:
1. Prioritize needs against the need to balance the State’s budget.
2. Ensure tax dollars are spent efficiently and effectively.
3. Provide increased funds for public mental health care and increase funds to expand health insurance coverage to the uninsured.
4. Keep the promise to North Carolina citizens to phase out sales taxes that were increased to balance the State’s budget.
As you can see, there are challenging days ahead as we work on the budget as well as consider the many other proposals coming before the North Carolina General Assembly. I hope that you will share your thoughts and ideas on these issues and other concerns that you may have. As I have told you before, I do consider it a privilege to represent you in the North Carolina Senate, and I try to do the best job possible in representing you.
Sincerely,
Doug Berger