Contraceptive rules, ride-share fees, hospital construction: More from the NC Senate budget
The state Senate plan is expected to move through the chamber over the next few days. It differs significantly from the budget advanced last month by the House. The two sides will negotiate away those differences over the next few weeks.
Posted — UpdatedA state budget proposal Senate Republicans moved forward Tuesday would cut taxes, add new fees on ride-share services, put hundreds of millions of dollars toward new hospital construction and lay out nearly $30 billion in annual state funding.
It would also make permanent a rule forbidding state contraception funding to groups that perform abortions.
Senate Republican leaders described the plan as a cautious budget that funds critical priorities. The progressive N.C. Budget and Tax Center complained Tuesday that the proposal prioritizes tax cuts — which it said total some $7.7 billion between now and 2029 under this plan — over adequate funding for public education and other state functions.
“By once again scheduling income tax cuts into the future for the benefit of the very wealthy, they hope that the people won’t notice the state’s diminished commitment to providing every child a sound basic education, ensuring the safety of our drinking water, and protecting the health and well-being of every family,” the center said in a news release.
When lawmakers announced the budget Monday, Senate Appropriations Co-Chair Brent Jackson called it "a strong budget that addresses our state’s needs without breaking the bank" and that gives "money back to the hardworking people of North Carolina."
The Senate budget also boosts tax exemptions that help airlines, and it expands a fuel tax exemption for cargo ships. It tinkers with the state’s tobacco taxes in a way that is expected to boost those revenues by $3.3 million by 2027.
Sen. Vickie Sawyer, who proposed the amendment, said Uber and Lyft preferred the percentage tax to flat fees.
Contraception and abortion
The Senate budget includes language that would forbid the state from sending any family planning money to an entity that performs abortions. Similar language is already part of state law, but in a manner that has to be re-upped every so often, according to Planned Parenthood, which is affected by the language.
The Senate budget would make the rule permanent, Planned Parenthood South Atlantic spokeswoman Molly Rivera said. It would also ensure that Planned Parenthood won’t qualify for contraceptive funding from the abortion bill.
Sen. Natasha Marcus, D-Mecklenburg, asked Republican budget writers in committee Tuesday why they added this language to the budget and didn't get an answer.
“It sounds like nobody in this committee can explain why we would make these policy choices,” Marcus said.
“Thank you for that comment,” replied Jackson, R-Sampson.
New hospital construction, rules
Expansion won’t go into effect until the state budget passes, but once it does, not only will expansion take effect, the federal government will send the state roughly $1.6 billion — an enticement that Congress approved for states that hadn’t yet expanded the federally funded program.
The Senate budget would invest much of this enticement in health care infrastructure, including:
- $500 million for a new UNC children’s hospital in the Triangle area
- $370 million for a partnership between UNC Chapel Hill and East Carolina on three regional health clinics
- $50 million for a new regional behavioral hospital in Greenville, with a plan to eventually create five of these facilities in various places.
This budget also has $8 million a year in it for a new forgivable loan program for medical students who go on to practice primary care medicine or psychiatry in poor or rural North Carolina counties. Up to $100,000 per student could be forgiven.
The Senate budget has $9 million in it over two years to cover reduced-lunch co-pays so that any student eligible for free or reduced lunch would get a free lunch.
The budget also forbids local school systems from penalizing students who have school debts, banning schools from withholding transcripts, report cards and other records. Schools also couldn’t forbid students from participating in graduation ceremonies or receiving their diploma.
School of Civic Life and Leadership
This budget has $4 million in it over two years to start the new School of Civic Life and Leadership at UNC Chapel Hill.
The Senate budget also cuts $5 million, each, from the UNC School of Government and UNC School of Law over two years.
The Senate proposal boosts the governor’s annual salary from $165,750 now to $198,120 starting July 1 and to $203,073 a year come July 2024.
The bill also boosts salaries for other members of the Council of State, which is a group of statewide elected officials including the lieutenant governor and attorney general. Salaries for those nine jobs would be $168,384 a year after July 1, 2024.
Community college changes
That includes changes in the way the community college board is appointed, which shifts appointments from the governor to the legislature, and a new requirement that new system presidents be confirmed by votes of the General Assembly.
The system recently hired a new president who won’t be subject to that requirement, even if it passes.
Transportation
Senators proposed $5.3 billion in the first year of this transportation budget, an increase of 17%. The second year would total $5.6 billion.
African American monument
The budget includes $3 million to design and install a long-discussed monument on the state capitol grounds honoring African Americans in the state.
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