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CHILD WELFARE
Amend
Indecent Exposure
Laws (S776)
Sponsored
By:
Sen.
Snow
Action:
Enacted
Amends the indecent exposure law to
apply to indecent exposure to persons of the same sex with greater penalties
for indecent exposure to persons under age sixteen, and to require sex
offender registration upon felony conviction.
Child
Welfare Collaborative
Funds (S266 / H486)
Sponsored
By:
Sen.
Purcell;
Reps.
Weiss,
Insko,
Barnhart,
Moore
Action:
The bill was referred
to the Senate Committee on Appropriations/Base Budget and House Committee on
Appropriations. The bill was not debated/voted and not included in the
Budget. Bill appropriated $2.9 million
to expand the Education Collaborative Program that will provide needed
social workers in NC.
Child Protective Services
Worker Funds (S875
/ H1513)
Sponsored
By:
Sen. Purcell;
Reps.
Weiss,
Earle,
Barnhart
Action:
The bill was inserted into the
Budget at $2 million recurring for two years. Bill initially provided
$5.692 million for the Multiple Response System, which is an innovative and
empowering approach to intervening with families who have been reported for
abuse and neglect of their children.
Establish Child Assessment
Responses (S942 /
H277)
Sponsored
By:
Sen.
Thomas;
Reps.
Glazier,
Alexander, and
Carney
Action:
Enacted
Provides for family assessment
responses in cases in which children are reported to be neglected or
dependent and for investigative assessment responses in cases in which
children are reported to be abused.
Establish Child Maltreatment
Prevention Council
(H1530)
Sponsored
By:
Reps.
Weiss and
Earle
Action:
Referred to House Committee on
Appropriations. The bill was not debated/voted and not included in the
Budget. Establishes a legislative oversight council on child maltreatment
prevention and an interagency leadership team for child maltreatment
prevention and to appropriate funds for that purpose.
Meth. Lab Prevention
Act (S686)
Sponsored
By:
Sen. Dalton
Action:
Enacted
After passing a comprehensive
conference committee report that put all products with pseudoephedrine
(including gels and liquids) behind a retail counter, with a log and limit
on the amounts that can be purchased and with stiff penalties for breaking
the law, the House came to the conclusion the last week of session that the
Senate was not coming back in session this year. The House needed the
Senate to approve the conference report in order to become law.
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Afraid that NC would go another 8
months with no legislation on this issue, the House unanimously concurred
with an arguably weaker Senate bill sent over the week before that puts only
single/multi-source pseudoephedrine behind a pharmacy counter.
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The more
comprehensive committee report is still eligible for passage in the short
session.
NC Fast Appropriation
(Budget)
Action:
Appropriates non-recurring $4.9 million in 2005-05 and $6 million in 2006-07
to support the development and implementation of NC FAST. Families
Accessing Services through Technology (NC FAST) is a program designed to
improve the way the NC Department of Health and Human Services and county
Departments of Social Services do business. NC FAST introduces new
technological tools and business processes that will enable workers to spend
less time on administrative tasks and more time assisting families.
EARLY
CHILDHOOD
Smart
Start Funds (S678)
Sponsored
By:
Sen.
Nesbitt
Action:
Referred to Senate Committee on
Appropriations/Base Budget. The bill was not debated/voted and no expansion
included in the Budget. Bill expanded
Smart Start funding by $26.1 million in 2005-06 and $33.9 million in
2006-07.
More At
Four Program Expansion
(Budget)
Action:
Funded
Provides recurring $16.64 million for two years to fund 3,200 additional
slots.
Child Care Subsidy
(Budget)
Action:
Partially Funded
Provides non-recurring $3.6 million
for 2005-06 to reduce the child care subsidy waiting list, however, most
child advocates agree that no child will come off the growing waiting list.
ECONOMIC
SECURITY
Living
Wage Act (H330)
Sponsored
By:
Rep.
Adams and
Farmer-Butterfield
Action:
Failed initially on 2nd
Reading in the House after historic approval in House Commerce on June 1.
In July, the Health Insurance Credit (H20) bill was amended to
include a minimum wage raise to $6/hr. Approved by House on August 10 and
referred to Senate Finance Committee. A minimum wage increase has also been
included in 2005 Economic Growth and Tax Relief Act (S344), which
lowers the corporate tax rate while raising the minimum wage. S344 has
passed Senate Finance.
Earned Income Tax
Credit (S514 / H433)
Sponsored
By:
Sen.
Clodfelter;
Reps.
Insko,
Goodwin,
Weiss, and
Parmon
Action:
Referred to Senate and House Finance
Committees. No hearings or votes and was not included in the Budget.
Would provide $136 million in tax relief to
lower income workers in NC, especially those living in rural areas.
Increase NC Housing
Trust Fund
(S330 / H435)
Sponsored
By:
Sen.
Rand;
Reps.
Ross,
Brubaker,
Earle, and
Goforth
Action:
Partially Funded
Included $5 million in Budget
non-recurring for a total of $8 million. The bill appropriated $50
million.
EDUCATION
Sound Basic Education
Act of 2005
(H1745)
Sponsored
By:
Reps. Glazier, Yongue,
and Carney
Action:
Partially
Funded
A fraction of the bill was included
in the budget. $22.5m for two years in recurring funds to the Disadvantaged
Student Supplemental Fund (DSSF) and $20m recurring to the Low Wealth
Schools Funding for two years. No Sound Basic Education Commission
was named in the budget. Schools receiving DSSF and Low Wealth
appropriations must account for funds in a report to Department of Public
Instruction annually.
Appropriate Education for
Suspended
Students (H1747)
Sponsored
By:
Reps. Preston, Parmon, Bell,
and Stam
Action:
Referred to House Education
Committee after a brief layover in House Rules Committee. Negotiating with
NCAE and School Boards Association in hiatus.
Sound Basic Education
Commission (Study
Bill)
Action:
SBE Commission was listed in the
Study Bill in both chambers, but the Study Bill was never ratified before
adjournment. The Speaker and President Pro Tem have the authority to name
commissions in the hiatus.
Raise Compulsory School
Attendance Age
(S702 / H779)
Sponsored
By:
Sen.
Nesbitt;
Rep.
Fisher
Action:
The bill was referred to Senate
Education Committee and was not given a hearing or vote. In the House the
bill was trumped by a bill to study the issue of raising the school
attendance age to 18. H779 was then transformed into Increase the
Penalty for Truancy.
Clarify School Admissions
Procedure
(H1054)
Sponsored
By:
Rep. Daughtry
Action:
Passed the House in Senate
Education Committee
What was
once a bad bill is now pretty good and passed the House and waits in Senate Education Committee. Children who
were denied admission in public school
because they were living with
non-custodial caregivers, will now gain admission because of a new avadavat category created.
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Initially, the bill was designed to deny
admissions of children living with
non-custodial caregivers because of family crisis (abuse, drugs, emotional
problems, etc.)
HEALTH
Increase Cigarette Tax
(S214/H286)
Sponsored
By:
Sen.
Nesbitt;
Rep.
Weiss
Action:
Budget raises the cigarette tax by 25 cents per
pack of cigarette and increases it by
30 cents on July 1, 2006. Initially bill asked
for an increase of 75 cents from a
nickel.
Expand Medicaid Eligibility to 200%
of Poverty for Children
(S120/H106)
Sponsored
By:
Sen.
Purcell;
Reps.
Nye,
England,
Earle
Action:
Included in the Budget. Moves children 200% of
poverty from Health Choice to Medicaid
in order to make more room for
children under the
Health Choice cap, therefore keeping Health
Choice open for enrollment and not
kicking 30,000 children off the program next year.
Permit Notification to
Treat Minors
(H679)
Sponsored
By:
Rep.
Capps
Action:
Referred to House Health Committee and was heard,
but not voted on. It did not
make the crossover deadline. The bill would have
denied minor patients seeking health
care from confidentiality.
Public School Health Curriculum (H1059)
Sponsored by
Rep. Wright
Action:
Enacted.
The bill will add HIV to the list of STDs discussed in the
sex-ed curriculum while also adding the
affects of alcohol and drug use on sexual
activity. Strikes any references to NC's "crimes against nature" statutes in the
curriculum. These laws were found
unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court's Lawrence v Texas decision affirming privacy.
JUVENILE JUSTICE
Street Gang Prevention Act (H50/S733)
Sponsored by
Sen. Graham;
Rep. Michaux
Action:
$2m in non-recurring invested in the JCPC’s over
two years to address street gang
activities in the Budget. The House bill passed
the House with only one vote
against it. In the Senate it passed
committees, but was not heard on
the floor because of the $120m
incarceration note. The bill is eligible for consideration in the
short session.
Expunge Nonviolent Felonies/Young
Offenders (H1084)
Sponsored by
Rep. Borsden, Crawford
Action:
Passed the House 59-52 and is now in Senate Rules
Committee. Covenant picked up the
endorsement of the NC Bar Association
for this bill. This bill will expunge the
felony record from one incident that are
non-violent and were committed by a minor. The
offender must pay restitution, have a
clean record and perform community service. Felonies A-G are not eligible.
Juvenile Crime Prevention Councils Reduction (Budget)
Action:
Reduced annual budget by 2.5% or
$593,663 in recurring appropriation for two years.
DJJDP Youth Development Centers Reduction (Budget)
Action:
Reduced annual budget by 4% or
$1.855m in recurring appropriations for two years.
MH/DD/SA
Mental Health Trust Fund (Budget)
Action:
$10m appropriated non-recurring for
one year.
Mental Health Parity (S1100/H893)
Sponsored
by
Sen. Nesbitt;
Reps. Alexander, Hackney, Insko,
Wainwright
Action:
Referred to Senate Committee on
Commerce and House Committee on Health. No hearing/vote nor was it included in the
Budget.
SAFETY
All
Terrain Vehicle Regulation (S189)
Sponsored
by
Sen. Purcell
Action: Enacted.
Law prohibits children
under 8 years old from riding or driving
ATV machines. Requires helmets and standard safety features on all ATVs. Also requires
appropriate machine sizes for age groups.
School Children's Health Act of 2005
(H1502)
Sponsored by
Reps. Martin, McLawhorn, Lucas
Action:
Passed House unanimously and assigned to Senate
Education Committee. Bill requires
schools to adopt policies that will limit
children's exposure to toxicants
at school.
Instruction/Info. to Protect Newborn
(H683)
Sponsored by
Reps. Haire, Fisher, Justice
Action:
Passed the House 103-8 and referred
to Senate Education Committee
where it has sat since May 17. Requires school
systems to adopt a policy of
giving information regarding NC's "safe
haven" infant homicide prevention statute.
Ban
Cell Phone Use While Driving (H1104)
Sponsored by
Rep. McAllister
Action:
Defeated in House Judiciary III.
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