I am sure that everyone is enjoying the snow today and I hope that everyone who has to travel today reaches their destination safely.
The legislative session is in full swing here at the General Assembly and we are working hard to represent all of you. In this week’s newsletter we will be discussing four things: The economic stimulus package and its effect on jobs in our state, the Governor’s decision to divert lottery money from the counties’ education construction funding into the State’s General Fund, the spending cuts the Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee are working on and Senate Bill 13, Injury to Pregnant Women.
Education funding in the Stimulus Package and its effect on jobs
Last week we spoke about how the Stimulus Package would create jobs by supplying funds for road construction in our counties. This week we will focus on how jobs will be created from the funds going towards education.
In contrast to the road construction funding, the education funding will not immediately create new jobs. The immediate effect of the education funding will be to protect jobs that would otherwise be cut. Many education jobs are at risk as the state looks to balance its budget. With the influx of stimulus money those job cuts will be minimized, if not completely eliminated. In the long term the education funding will support an increase in school construction and the issuing of school construction bonds, creating more jobs in the future. For a general overview of the education section of the stimulus plan please follow this link.
As for North Carolina, the money will be divided among K-12 Education and College Education. Public school districts will receive just over $600 million dollars, one-half of which will be disbursed this July and the other half disbursed in July of 2010. The public school money will have two functions. First the money will go towards Technology Education, Local School District funding and Homeless Student Assistance. These allocations will stem the tide of educational budget cuts overall and will help to provide further assistance to those students who are stricken with hardships. The second function of the public school money will be to support an increase in school construction bonds to the tune of an estimated $551 million dollars (this disbursement of this money would be split in half much like the direct funding from the stimulus package is). It is from this allocation that new jobs will eventually be created. There will obviously be teaching jobs that will staff the newly constructed schools, but also created will be construction jobs and support jobs, such as food service, furniture manufacturing for the schools and jobs to support the increased need for educational supplies. Jobs will flow horizontally from the increase in school construction, much like they will from the increase in road construction.
The money that goes toward higher education will not directly create jobs, but it will prepare our citizens for new and emerging jobs. The money will also assist citizens who are looking to further their careers with higher degrees. There will be over $190 million dollars allocated for additional Pell Grant and Federal Work Study funding. Also included in the stimulus is funding for the American Opportunity Tax Credit, Federal Research Grants and Workforce Employment and Training. The research grants and the workforce training will be competitively appropriated based on State need. All of these funding measures will allow our workforce to improve. They will also assist those that cannot currently find work to better qualify themselves so that they will be more attractive to potential employers.
Governor Perdue’s Impact on Local Education Funds
On Wednesday of this week Governor Perdue announced Executive Order No. 6, giving her the power to transfer and borrow funds to cover the state’s revenue shortfall. Governor Perdue made use of her constitutional powers to pull $50 million dollars from the Education Lottery Reserve fund. This money flows directly from the lottery proceeds and is specifically designed to support education in our state. Many of our counties, if not all of them, depend on this money to fund new education construction or pay the debt on past education construction.
The four counties in our district face direct consequences from the Governor’s actions. Franklin and Granville counties will be hit hard by the loss in revenue. This loss will affect school construction planning and may lead to tax increases. The impact on Vance and Warren Counties is even more severe. Both of these counties will have to halt school construction that is ongoing.
Governor Perdue must understand the impact her decision will have on our state. She should clearly communicate the reasoning for her decision to take funding from this particular area. She must also lay out a plan detailing how the money will be restored and do so immediately. The counties need this information so that they can plan their expenditures. This funding has a direct effect on our counties and their ability to support education. The projects that are funded by the lottery money are a direct stimulus to the economies and the education efforts of our counties. The counties and the citizens of this state have a right to know that the money they were expecting will not be coming in. They also have a right to know when that money will be coming back.
Proposed spending cuts in the HHS Budget
The Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee has been asked to propose plans to the full Appropriations Committee that will cut money from the $4.9 billion allocated from the NC General Fund. We will be proposing three different options: a 7% cut, a 10% cut and an 11% cut. These cuts would amount to, respectively, $343 million, $490 million or $539 million in reductions. It is important to understand that these options are not definite parts of the budget plan. They are only options to look at, and they are not the only options available to the committee. There are many different factors still up in the air that will affect the outcome of the budget process.
Senate Bill 13 – Injury to Pregnant Women: Increasing the Penalty
Earlier in this session I introduced SB 13, the full text of which can be found here. This bill would increase the penalty for an injury to a pregnant woman by making the injury to the unborn child a separate crime in the eyes of the law. The reasoning for this is simple. There are men who are trying to escape 18 years of child support obligation by intentionally inducing a miscarriage, and that needs to be treated as a second, independent crime. It’s wrong to kill fetal life at that stage. It’s valued and it should be protected.
Roe v. Wade established that there is public interest in protecting fetal life during the second trimester. Protection of that life is, as defined by the US Supreme Court, autonomous from the mother’s interest. SB 13 was drafted in that spirit.
The problem with this bill is that the partisan divide over abortion is adversely affecting its chances of being passed. The public expects that we legislators move beyond our partisan differences and work for the best interests of all the people we represent. In other words, we have to represent all the people of our district, not just those that agree with us. The fact is that, regardless of you beliefs, this bill will further protect pregnant women from abuse that arises almost solely from their pregnancy. There should be tougher penalties for injuring a pregnant woman if only because of the heinous nature of such a crime. We should look past our partisan blinders and focus on the practical impact of this legislation — the impact it will have on the lives of our citizens.
For a further discussion of this bill please take a look at these two articles, which can be found here and here.
As always, I welcome your comments, suggestions, and any input you feel would be beneficial. By working together, we can find solutions to problems facing us every day. I consider it an honor and a privilege to serve you in the North Carolina General Assembly.
Sincerely,
Doug Berger