Rep. Harry Warren
♦ The 2015–2016 session of the North Carolina legislature officially began yesterday, Wednesday, January 14, 2015, as 120 members of the House and 50 members of the Senate took their respective oaths of office. The galleries of both chambers were filled to capacity as family, friends and supporters came to witness their family member or friend be sworn-in as their new Representative or Senator.
Most members had their Bible, or other book of choice, held by a loved one as they recited the pledge of office. The House session was opened and conducted by the House Principal Clerk, Denise Weeks. Ms. Weeks has been with the General Assembly for 23 years and has served as the House Principal Clerk since 1993. The House Principal Clerk is elected by the body of the Chamber at the beginning of each new session. The fact that Ms. Weeks has been elected session after session regardless which political party is in power, is a testimony to the fantastic job that she and her office does, consistently.
House Principal Clerk Weeks, conducted the proceedings for the election of the new Speaker of the House. As expected, Representative Tim Moore of Cleveland County was elected Speaker, unanimously by the entire House membership. Once Speaker Moore assumed the podium, formalities of procedure were conducted and the session was gaveled into adjournment, to reconvene on Wednesday, January 28th. After the session adjourned, members were free to leave, many stayed to give family and friends a personal tour of the General Assembly, their office, and to take photos with the new Speaker and other members. Representative Chuck Jeter sponsored a Hospitality Room where folks could enjoy light snacks and sodas.
When the House reconvenes later this month, there will be no shortage of issues to address. Here are a few of the major topics that will be keeping us preoccupied for the next five months.
Education: Teacher Compensation
Last year, the General Assembly replaced the antiquated 36-step compensation program for teachers with a simplified 6-step plan, with the starting pay set at the southeast regional average of $33,000 for new teachers, resulting in an average 5.5% raise in pay for teachers. By paying eligible teachers their “longevity pay” monthly, rather than making them wait for an annual distribution, the average monthly take home pay for North Carolina teachers rose by about 7%, overall, with 5.5% of that being one of the largest pay increases in years.
When the teacher compensation increase was announced jointly by Speaker Thom Tillis, President Pro-Tem Berger and Governor Pat McCrory, on February 10, 2014, it was presented as “Phase 1” of a two (2) phase compensation raise. Phase 2 is scheduled to be implemented this year and will raise the starting pay for teachers to the national average of $35,000. Although the legislature managed to give all teachers a raise, the compensation increase was not uniform. This year, in addition to meeting the commitment to raise the minimum pay to $35,000, the legislature will be addressing the inequity in several of the pay steps for the longer tenured teachers.
Education Reforms
Despite the allegations made during the Senatorial campaign, public school funding was actually increased last year by $337,298,635.00 (2014-15 enacted vs. 2013-14 actual). The net increase for 2014-15 vs. 2013-14 was $184,843,363.00. The legislature also allotted $42 million for 761 additional classroom teaching positions for grades K-1. This $85 million increase was intended to reduce class size to a 1:17 ratio.
A pilot program for two virtual schools serving K-12 students was also funded, as was an At-Risk Allotment of $5 million. Additional provisions that were passed include ensuring each school has a supply of “Epi-pens” (Emergency Epinephrine Auto Injectors) and that school schematic diagrams and key storage devices be provided to local law enforcement to better respond in the event of an emergency situation. Lt. Governor Dan Forest’s Educational Endowment Fund was established and a structure was created to facilitate its implementation. A committee was established to research and design a set of scholastic standards to replace the controversial Common Core initiative.
On Friday, January 9th, the Republican House and Senate held a six hour long Joint Caucus meeting in Concord, North Carolina at the Research Center. The entire time and the sole intent of the meeting was to review and discuss progress made in education and to identify areas of opportunity for improving the quality of education in North Carolina that will position the state as a national leader.
This year promises to see a more collaborative effort between the House and the Senate that will hopefully result in legislation promoting reforms and improvements that all stakeholders will embrace and support. It is not possible to have a completely successful economic future without a superior education system in place and supported for decades to come.
Medicaid
Medicaid reform will no doubt be one of the major topics that the Assembly addresses again this year. It is absolutely critical that the state get control of this program and its ever escalating costs, if we are ever going to be able to meet our other financial responsibilities. Currently, the House and the Senate have differing opinions on how the program should be reformed but the communication is occurring and there is every possibility that a compromise can be reached.
Structurally, the two chambers differ on whether or not the Department of Medical Assistance should be a separate entity, removed from the Department of Health and Human Services or internally reformed. In terms of functionality reforms, the chambers differ, with the House supporting a provider-led, full risk capitated health plan approach, while the Senate is more supportive of a Managed Care model or a hybrid of the two forms.
One aspect that both Chambers appear to agree on is that despite signals from Secretary Wos and Governor McCrory, indicating a willingness to consider Medicaid expansion, it is not likely to occur without substantive changes having been implemented first.
Incentives
The last week of the “short” session saw the House reject HB 1224 – a piece of legislation supported by the Senate and the Governor, that was essentially laden with increased incentive funding. In addition to increasing funding to the J-DIG program ($16 million) and $12 million to the J-MAC grant fund, it included a $20 million allotment to the Department of Commerce for “closing the deal” with companies considering North Carolina. Opponents to the bill argued that a more judicious usage of the funds already allotted was more critical than increasing the incentive mentality to a heighten level and that the State’s reduced Corporate tax program plus attributes conducive to business success, such as infrastructure, rail, interstate, air, water, transportation, etc. should be enough of an inducement for an entity considering a move or expansion into the state. Proponents countered that states like Texas have all those and the advantage of this “walking around money” to help close the deal.
We can expect the Governor to lobby for increased incentive funding for this and other programs such as his transportation plan.
Transportation
Several weeks ago, Department of Transportation Secretary Tony Tata and Governor McCrory unveiled the Governor’s ambitious 10-year transportation plan. The plan addresses the transportation projects – repairs, expansions, new construction, that have been languishing for years but have lacked the funding necessary to initiate them. While the plan more than doubles the number of projects that it would address, it requires financing about $1 billion dollars to execute it. Additionally, the new plan has a metric for determining the priority of each project submitted for consideration. Those projects that score the highest points are considered a priority but there is some dissatisfaction with the grading system among many of the House members, as many local, rural projects scored lower and therefore didn’t make the list, whereas most projects in larger, wealthier counties, such as Mecklenburg and Wake, did. In any event, some members are skeptical about taking on more debt at a time that the economic recovery is still underway. This promises to be a hotly debated issue but one I believe will be resolved before the long session ends.
The Budget
It is that time, again! Time to create another two-year budget for the biennium. This year, it is the House’s turn to formulate a budget proposal first, then, the Senate will counter with theirs. First, however, the Governor will submit his budget proposal to the Legislature. I expect the Legislature will receive the Governor’s offering no later than mid-March. Although Speaker Moore has yet to assign and announce Committee appointments, most senior members who have served as Appropriations Chairs in the past are already thinking in generalities about their pieces of the budget. It is generally expected that we will be starting the budget process with a deficit – somewhere between $200 – $350 million dollars, which could be attributed to several factors including a revenue shortfall attributed to the new tax revision implemented this year, the annual Medicaid costs overruns and fulfilling the commitment to raise teacher compensation to a minimum of $35,000. The financial picture is expected to improve somewhat by the end of April to the middle of May, as tax returns come in and a more definitive status of Medicaid costs becomes clearer.
I will be starting the newsletter updates on a more regular basis, once the session work starts in earnest. As soon as committee assignments are announced, I will share those with you. It is my understanding that Speaker Moore intends to eliminate some committees and revive some more traditional ones. I was the Chair of the Government Committee but it is going to be replaced with the Local Government Committee, which sounds as if it will be responsible for a greater amount of legislation. The General Assembly website has been upgraded somewhat but I will advise you of any changes to the process for listening in on committee meetings.
I am looking forward to representing you for a third term and honestly appreciate the opportunity to do so. Thank you. My first Town Hall is scheduled for Friday, February 27th. It will be held at the County Commissioner’s Chambers, located at 130 West Innes Street, Salisbury and will begin at 6pm and end at 7pm. I hope you can attend. Thank you and best wishes to you!
Harry
N.C. House of Representatives
District 77, Rowan County
611 Legislative Office Building
Raleigh, North Carolina 27603
