Advocacy: Legislative Updates
2007 - 2008 Budget Comparison
MH/SS/SA Services Comparision of 2007-08 House and Senate Budgets (pdf file)
Senate Vote on Budget
The Senate gave near unanimous support Wednesday to a $20 billion budget proposal, voting to tentatively approve a spending plan that provides 4 percent pay raises for most state employees, ends two temporary sales and income taxes first adopted in 2001, and includes $1.2 billion in borrowing for construction at public universities and prisons. Many Republicans took the rare step of signing on to the budget bill because of the tax relief, which includes a cap on the state gas tax, as well as provisions to better catch Medicaid fraud and provide more scrutiny to nonprofits that receive state funds. "I find myself in the unusual position of speaking in favor of this budget," said Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham. "There is a big difference in this budget as far as I'm concerned, and I'm going to urge people to vote for it."
The Senate budget is quite a bit different from the House budget. Conferees from the House and Senate will be appointed by the leadership. The Conferees will work on hammering out the differences between the two budgets. This process is anticipated to take at least three to four weeks. (rest of update)
Crossover Deadline
With the House budget complete and the Senate has not begun their work on the budget, work has been focused on “crossover”. “Crossover” is a self-imposed deadline where non-appropriation bills must pass one of the chambers or the bill is considered dead. The “Crossover” deadline this year has been extended to May 24th. With this deadline looming, committees in both chambers have been meeting non-stop and will do so again all next week.
One bill that we have been tracking closely is H1654 that moves some of the rule making authority from the Secretary of DHHS to the Commission of MH/DD/SA. Many groups favor this move because the Commission’s rule making process is much more open and seeks public comment prior to the rule being implemented. It is scheduled to be heard on the floor of the House on Monday. (rest of update)
2007 Session - May 11, 2007, Number 8
The House approved its budget May 11th, shortly after midnight. See the attached pdf file for the Special Provisions that were approved - at this time the final Money Report is not available. The provisions for MH/DD/SAS did not change, except for some technical amendments. We do not think there were major changes in the MH/DD/SAS money report and the $2.5 million for Supported Employment Long Term Support remained untouched. The NCARF will provide you with a detailed analysis of the House Budget by early next week.
Click Here for a report on the bills we are tracking. To find out where the bill is look at the “Progress” line. To see if there is a companion bill look at the “Related” line. |
