The most important thing any of us can do is try to make life better for our children and the others who come behind us.
That is part of the reason our state and our communities invest so much in education, health care and creating economic opportunity.
Much of that effort helps build a better future for our young people. Those of us in the General Assembly also put a great deal of effort into protecting our children from abuse and neglect while they are young. During my past term, legislators approved a number of new laws intended to keep our children safe. I want to let you know about these changes since I know that you want the best for your children, just as I do.
This is my last weekly report before next week’s election. Thank all of you for your continued attention to our state and the work that is done in Raleigh. I hope to be back in touch with you soon. In the meantime, please contact me if I can be of any service.
Child Abuse
The Jessica Lunsford Act (HB 933) strengthened laws for crimes against children, made it unlawful for registered sex offenders to be on or near certain premises, and made changes to the sex offender registry. Rape or sexual offense of a child less than 13 years old is now punishable by a minimum of up to 25 years in prison and up to a life sentence. After release from prison, the parolee will be subject to lifetime monitoring. The law also increases the penalties for sexual exploitation or prostitution of a child. It is now a felony for a registered sex offender to be on premises primarily intended for the use, care, or supervision of minors.
Revised reporting requirements now require hospital physicians, administrators or others involved in the health care of a child to tell law enforcement officials about any cases involving recurrent illness or serious injury that appear to have been caused by “non-accidental” trauma. The law (HB 2338) applies only to people 18 and younger. The law already requires physicians to report such cases to the director of the county department of social services.
Health Care
The legislature allowed up to 6 percent enrollment growth in the state’s insurance plan for children as we try to expand health care coverage to more young people. The budget provision (HB 2436) also directs the Department of Health and Human Services to report: the number of children enrolled in the program during the first week of January 2009; the projected enrollment and program costs, by month, for the remainder of the 2008-09 fiscal year; and the status of current expenditures and availability of state and federal funds for the remainder of the fiscal year. A separate provision in the budget strengthens the coverage by adding benefits for over-the-counter medicines and setting the maximum annual cost-sharing limit at 5 percent of family income.
Studies
The General Assembly has created the Poverty Reduction and Economic Recovery Legislative Study Commission to study a coordinated and integrated approach to reducing poverty. The commission will have 20 members and its final report will be due by the start of the 2010 session.
The Legislative Research Commission has been directed to study the possibility of prohibiting smoking in foster care homes and whether such a ban would reduce the number of available foster care homes.
Miscellaneous
A new law creates an exception to the public records law so that identifying information of minors participating in local park and recreation programs is not required to be publicly available. The law (SB 212) allows the county, municipality, and zip code of a participant to remain public, but all identifying information is redacted. The information is not considered confidential and can be disclosed by local governments if they choose, but they are not required to do so.
North Carolina has joined the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children. The compact was created to make changing schools easier for children of military families by creating consistent enrollment, record transfer, student placement, extracurricular activity guidelines. The new law (SB 1541) allows for the enforcement of administrative rules and uniform collection and sharing of information. It also promotes flexibility and cooperation between the schools, parents and students as these families are transferred to new posts.
The law allowing children to ride in the back of pickup trucks was amended last year to raise the minimum age from 12 to 16. The law (HB 2340) also removed the exemption from the law for 32 smaller counties in the state. Vehicles being operated as part of an agricultural enterprise remain exempt from the law.
Meetings/Events
I plan to attend the following meetings/events:
Please invite me to attend your county, city, community or civic, etc. meetings or events.
As I’ve said many times before, I hope you will continue to let me know how you feel about the issues that are being debated by the North Carolina Legislature and the challenges you and your family are facing each day.
By working together, we can make Northampton, Vance and Warren Counties and all regions of North Carolina a better place to live, work and raise a family.
Please remember that you can use the General Assembly’s website to look up bills, view lawmaker biographies and access other information. The site also contains detailed information about the state budget and legislative schedules.