This year, the General Assembly was forced to make difficult and unprecedented decisions regarding the state budget. We cut more than 500 line items and eliminated more than 50 programs to shrink our state budget by $2 billion compared to last year.
This smaller budget includes federal stimulus money ($1.3 billion) and additional tax revenue ($990 million), which together cover about half of our more than $4 billion shortfall. The other half is covered by real, tangible cuts. We are in no way growing government.
The information below shows both how we have significantly cut spending across the board and how we have tried to preserve or expand vital programs in our state.
Budget Reductions
We made significant cuts across the board in the state budget this year. While we have worked hard to preserve necessary programs and services, there were just some programs that we could not continue or fund in full. The following information highlights just some of the difficult decisions we have had to make this year.
Overview
_State Employees: The budget eliminates 2,191 state employee positions, 726 of which are currently filled.
_Education: Funding has been reduced for about 100 programs; 23 programs have been eliminated.
_HHS: Funding has been reduced for about 125 programs; 13 programs have been eliminated.
_Natural and Economic Resources: Funding has been reduced for about 75 programs; five programs have been eliminated.
_Justice and Public Safety: Funding has been reduced for about 80 programs; 10 programs have been eliminated.
_General Government: Funding has been reduced for about 80 programs; two programs have been eliminated.
_Transportation: Funding has been reduced for about 30 programs; one program has been eliminated.
Education
_We have saved a significant amount of money by delaying the adoption of math textbooks in grades 6 through 12. - ($48 million)
_ We have reduced General Fund support for More at Four. - ($5 million)
_We have had to cut funding for local school systems across the state. Local education officials will decide how manage the cut, and the state will allow systems some additional flexibility in moving money around to protect classroom instruction. - ($225 million)
_We have eliminated funding for all 200 Literacy Coaches. - ($12 million)
_We have reduced funding for non-instructional support personnel in public schools. Non-instructional support personnel include clerical assistants, custodians, and substitute teachers, among other items. - ($10 million)
_We have reduced funding for public school transportation, which supports salaries of transportation personnel as well as the maintenance of yellow buses. - ($15 million)
_We have reduced funding to the following non-public school organizations: Communities in Schools, Schools Attuned, ExplorNet, Teacher Cadet, NC Network, Science Olympiad, Teach for America, NC Math & Science, and Project Enlightenment. - ($4.6 million)
_We have reduced funding to a number of UNC Centers and Institutes. – ($12 million)
Health and Human Services
_We have reduced funding for Smart Start. – ($16 million)
_We have reduced service funds for supplemental state-funded services provided to CAP/MR-DD patients. State funds are still allowed for room, board, and other services. – ($16 million)
_We have reduced funding for state operated services within the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services that are not part of the core mission of DMH, DD, and SAS. – ($4.5 million)
_We have reduced funding for community services within the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services that are not part of the core mission of DMH, DD, and SAS. – ($4 million)
_We have eliminated state funding for the following programs: Kidney Disease Purchase of Medical Care Program, Epilepsy Purchase of Medical Care Program, Adult Cystic Fibrosis Program, and the Cancer Purchase of Medical Care Program. – ($3.3 million)
_We have reduced Division of Public Health contract funds that (1) do not meet the Division’s core mission, (2) do not provide a direct service, (3) have had unobligated funds in the past, or (4) have not met the goals or deliverables in the contract. – ($4 million)
_We have reduced funding for NC Reach. NC Reach is an education assistance program for adoptees and foster youth. – ($3.2 million)
_We have reduced state aid to counties associated with county administration of public assistance programs. – ($5.5 million)
_We have reduced Medicaid provider rates. This reduction applies to all public and private providers except for federally qualified health centers, rural health centers, school-based and school-linked health centers, state institutions, hospital outpatient, pharmacy, and the non-inflationary components of the case-mix reimbursement system for skilled nursing facilities. – ($76.4 million)
_ We have reduced prescription drug expenditures by using more generics and better managing costs. – ($25 million)
_We have reduced appropriation for community support services within the Division of Medical Assistance. – ($65 million)
_We have reduced funding for some children’s group homes. – ($15.9 million)
_We have consolidated case management services throughout the Medicaid program. – ($41 million)
_We have frozen Community Alternative Program (CAP) slots for disabled adults and people with mental retardation and developmental disabilities. – ($6.7 million)
_We have reduced medical assistance payments by increasing payment by third parties and increasing cost avoidance through better utilization of technology and other Medicaid cost-containment activities. – ($20 million)
Natural & Economic Resources
_We have reduced operating expenses within the Division of Agriculture and Consumer Services. – ($345,873)
_We have reduced operating expenses within the Department of Labor. -($155,877)
_We have reduced operating expenses within the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. – ($724,866)
_We have reduced operating expenses within the Department of Commerce. – ($333,615)
Justice and Public Safety
_We have eliminated state funding for the Center for the Prevention of School Violence, which does not serve the core mission of the department. – ($481,225)
_We have eliminated pass-through funding to Boys & Girls Club, which was used as part of a match for grant funds that the club no longer receives. – ($400,000)
_We have reduced state-funded Eckerd Wilderness Camp contract, which will close two of the seven camps. The North Carolina Eckerd Wilderness Camps serve boys and girls, ages 10 through 17, with behavioral problems. – ($2.8 million)
_We have closed the Samarkand Youth Development Center. – ($2.6 million)
_We plan to close seven prisons, which will be staggered over the course of the 2009-2010 fiscal year. – ($8.4 million)
_We have eliminated Community Work Crews, which provide labor for state and local governmental entities at no cost, as well as providing occupational development for inmates; 127 associated officer positions will also be eliminated. The DOC may charge actual cost to governmental entities for these services. – ($4.8 million)
Transportation
_We have reduced aviation and ferry funds. – ($4.15 million)
_Administration funding is cut throughout the Department of Transportation. This funding is used for salary and operating expenses in the administration of the NCDOT, Division of Highways, and the Division of Motor Vehicles. – ($9.2 million)
_Funds for the Drivers Education Program in the Department of Public Instruction are also reduced. – ($1.1 million)
_Funding for various operating accounts is reduced in the State Highway Patrol. - ($3.7 million)
General Government
_We have made reductions to various operating accounts in eight divisions across the Department of Administration. – ($104,647)
_We have made reductions to various operating accounts within the Department of Cultural Resources. – ($552,985)
_We have reduced various administrative services within the Department of Cultural Resources. – ($193,640)
_We have reduced funding for the following expenditures within the Department of Cultural Resources: Tryon Palace, Maritime Museum, the Museum of Art, the Arts Council, State Library Services, the Museum of History, and the Roanoke Island Commission. – ($1.9 million)
_We have reduced funding for the Volunteer Safety Workers’ Fund within the Department of Insurance. – ($2.5 million)
Preservation/Expansion of Vital Programs
Although we have made significant cuts across the board, we must continue to invest in job creation, education and health care if our state is to remain strong. The following information highlights just some of the ways we have tried to preserve vital programs in North Carolina.
Education
Despite a lack of funding, we have done our best to protect education in North Carolina. The following information highlights just some of the ways this budget will help to preserve the quality of education in our state.
_Overall education spending increase between House budget and final version - $285 million
_We have allocated funds to prevent the elimination of 3rd-grade teaching assistants - $130 million
_We have allocated funding to protect K-3 teaching positions - $139 million
_We have provided funding for 12 additional Learn & Earn high schools that will be operational in FY 2009-10 - $3.6 million.
_We have allocated funding to expand the District and School Transformation Initiative, which is part of the state’s redesigned framework for delivering technical assistance and other support to low performing districts and schools. - $ 2.5 million
_We have provided recurring funding for additional dropout prevention grants. - $13 million
_We have fully funded enrollment growth in community colleges. - $58 million
_We have fully funded enrollment growth in universities - $44 million
_We have allocated funding to re-establish and place renewed emphasis on vocational and technical education programs at community colleges. - $4.5 million
_Financial aid for UNC system - $35 million
_We have increased the state’s contribution to the Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System. - $21 million
Health and Human Services
The following information highlights just some of the ways that we have tried to preserve essential programs in Health and Human Services.
_Complete last phase of three-year takeover of Medicaid from counties, freeing money for local governments - $252 million
_We have expanded the Children’s Health Care Program (Health Choice) - $17 million
_We have restored funding for Local Mental Health Management Agencies - $10 million
_We have provided funds to keep the Dobbs Youth Development Center open - $2.26 million
_We have provided additional funding to the State Health Plan cover medical costs and to reduce the premium rate increase for the next two years from 10 percent to 8.9 percent. - $132.2 million
_New local inpatient beds for the mentally ill to treat people closer to their homes
and relieve state hospitals - $12 million
Justice and Public Safety
The following information highlights just some of the ways we have tried to preserve and fund important programs pertaining to justice and public safety.
_We have restored funding for 132 jobs in state courts - $7.5 million
_We have restored funding for 155 Victim Witness Legal Assistants - $7 million
_We have provided money for the Private Attorney Fund to address backlog of unpaid claims carried over from last fiscal year. Recurring continuation increases for the Fund are reduced. - $7 million
_We have allotted funds to expand Chief Probation Parole Officer Positions to fund an additional 18 positions. - $1.4 million
_We have restored 400 proposed job cuts in the Department of Corrections - $15 million
Miscellaneous
_We have allocated funds for maintenance to the state highway system. The increase in funding is necessary to prevent further deterioration of the State highway system. - $41.1 million
_We have provided funds to Water Resources Development Projects to pay for the state’s share of the projects. Funds will provide a state match for $57,700,000 in federal funds. - $4.9 million
Prepared with the assistance of the Speaker’s Office of Communications
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Regular Reports On What Is Happening In the NC General Assembly of Interest to citizens in District 51 by Representative Jimmy Love
