Budget and Legislative Update from The Arc of NC
8/12/09
The legislature has finalized its business for the summer and now the
legislators are heading back to their districts. There is no doubt this year
has been the most difficult legislative session in decades. There is no way
to sugar-coat the budget reductions and the potential impact they will have
on our service delivery system.
For some individuals with developmental disabilities and their families
there will be little change in the service array they have today, for others
they can count on a significant reduction in service and there is no doubt
that people waiting for services will have to wait longer. The full impact
of the cuts will not be seen for months and the lasting impact will not be
known for years.
Much of the uncertainty of the impact of the cuts is due to Special
Provisions that direct how departments will implement the cuts (read the
Special Provisions). For example, the 40 million dollar cut to Local
Management Entities (LME's oversee service provision in local areas) is a
non-recurring cut in both years of the budget and the special provision
language requires the LME's to use fund balances to make up the cut. It is
unclear how this will be monitored and how single county LME's will be
treated. There are several other items like this in the budget that will
require monitoring and strong advocacy at t he state level.
As bad as the budget is it could have been much worse. The Arc was in a
better position this year to fight the worst of the budget reductions which
did result in less cuts to people with developmental disabilities. You will
also see two slight increases (really a redirection of funding cuts);
increasing the availability of Tier 1 CAP slots and the annualization of the
START crisis model.
The Budget Wrap Up document is comprehensive and quite detailed. It is
intended to provide you with the full story of this legislative session from
The Arc's perspective.
We were also able to pass significant policy legislation. We have prepared a
Legislative Update document that details the legislation that we believe
will make a significant difference in the lives of people with developmental
disabilities. These bills have an impact on children and adults throughout
North Carolina. The Arc was either the lead agency on these bills or played
a significant part in their passage. You should also read Implementation
Update 59 that provides information regarding people who receive CAP
services and state-funded services.
It's hard to feel good about this year but what we all must remember is
that without our work we would have seen our system set back 25-30 years.
Your phone calls, e-mails and visits made a tremendous difference. The Arc
thanks you for your advocacy.
The Arc of NC
343 East Six Forks Rd. Ste. 320
Raleigh, NC 27609
1-800-662-8706
www.arcnc.org 
NCARF Leadership would like to give back to membership during this economic downturn by initiating an incentive to all members who renew their membership with NCARF this year. Once all membership dues have been collected, your organization will receive a "stimulus rebate check" reflecting approximately 25% of your dues paid from the previous year.
Hawthorne Inn
