2023 NASW-NC Legislative Session Update: Week 9
2023 NC School Social Workers Association Annual Conference (NCSSWA)
Governor Cooper proclaimed March 6-10, 2023 as School Social Worker Week. You can read the proclamation by clicking here.
On March 10th, NCSSWA held its 2023 Spring Conference in Cary, NC. At the conference, NASW-NC Executive Director Valerie Arendt was interviewed by ABC11 WTVD about the student mental health crisis and how MSW School Social Workers are NOT paid on the Master's level in North Carolina and are leaving the school systems due to high caseloads and low pay. NASW-NC has partnered with the North Carolina School Social Workers' Association (NCSSWA) to advocate for legislatively restoring Master's Level Pay for School Social Workers in North Carolina and to include additional funding for School Social Workers in the North Carolina Budget. This issue has been on NASW-NC's legislative agenda for a decade.
During lunch,school social workers had a question and answer legislative forum with:
- Representative John Torbett, Chairman of Appropriations, Education Committee
- Senator Sydney Batch
- Representative Maria Cervania
- Repräsentative Julia von Haefen
Representative von Haefen told conference attendees she will be introducing a bill that includes restoring Master’s Pay to school teachers, school social workers, and other school instructional staff who have been negatively impacted by the current pay rates since 2013.
School social workers gave personal testimonies around their heart for serving children and their school communities, and the critical need to Restore Master’s Level Pay for School Social Workers. NASW-NC continues to advocate as this is one of our top legislative issues for 2023. Many thanks to NCSSWA President Tanyetta Sutton and the fantastic volunteer Board of Directors for their hospitality and community partnership.
NASW-NC School Social Work Advocacy
- NASW-NC made significant efforts in 2022 to advocate with the North Carolina State Board of Education to prioritize School Social Workers:
- IT WORKED! In January 2023, NASW-NC thanked the North Carolina State Board of Education (SBE) for including School Social Workers in their 2023 Long-Session Budget Priorities:
- $100 million to fund school nurses and school social workers as a Tier 1 and 2 Grant Program (Page 10)
- Final Additions: Social Worker pay increases: $10million in recurring funds for Master’s Level Pay (Page 13)
- https://www.wral.com/state-board-of-education-floats-100m-for-school-social-workers-nurses/20658659/
- NASW-NC staff including NASW-NC Executive Director Valerie Arendt and NASW-NC Director of Advocacy and Policy Lauren Zingraff have been at the North Carolina General Assembly since session started in January speaking to key education leaders about the current student mental health crisis and the importance of School Social Workers in North Carolina and asking them to include the above budgetary asks.
Action Alert
PLEASE email and CALL your legislators and ask them to make sure the $10M in recurring funds for Masters-Level School Social Worker pay is included in the state budget AND the $100M for SSW and Nurses. You can find your Senator and Representative here: https://www.ncleg.gov/FindYourLegislators
SB 184 Restore Master's Pay for Teachers & ISP
- Last week, Senators introduced SB 184 Restore Master's Pay for Teachers & ISP. This WOULD restore Masters-Level pay for school social workers. Unfortunately, because this is a Democrat bill with no Republican sponsors, it will not move past the Senate Rules Committee. HOWEVER, you should contact your Senator to either thank them for introducing the bill if they are a sponsor or ask your Senator to sponsor the bill and help move the bill forward through committee. Find your Senator here: https://www.ncleg.gov/FindYourLegislators
- On Monday, Senator Danny Britt filed SB 202 Restore Master’s Pay for Certain Teachers. This would NOT restore Masters-Level pay for school social workers, but we will work on asking for amendments if this bill moves forward.
- Representative Julie von Haefen is expected to introduce her bill to restore masters' pay for teachers, school social workers and other instructional support personnel the week of March 13th.
NASW-NC will be leading the charge for the Social Work Interstate Licensure Compact Bill in NC General Assembly
On February 27, 2023, the final version of the Social Work Interstate Licensure Compact was released. You can find the language and background information here. https://swcompact.org/. This website will also track which states ratify it going forward, and share other developments about the process.
See NASW’s statement on the Compact: https://www.socialworkers.org/News/News-Releases/ID/2622/Social-Work-Profession-One-Step-Closer-to-Interstate-Licensure-Compact
It’s important to highlight that the compact does not go into effect until after seven states ratify it through legislation. This activates the creation of the Compact Commission, which will oversee the central database, administrative processes and other details related to social work practice through the compact. That’s likely going to be a multi-year process in itself.
NASW North Carolina is taking the lead on introducing and passing the Social Work Licensure Compact in North Carolina. We have secured a bill sponsor in the NC Senate and are waiting for the bill to be introduced. Please look out for information in the coming days from NASW-NC with more information.
Governor Cooper’s Behavioral Health Plan
Governor Roy Cooper released a comprehensive plan to invest $1 billion in addressing North Carolina’s mental health and substance use crisis, including anxiety and depression rates that have almost quadrupled, overdose deaths that have jumped 72 percent and youth suicide rates that have doubled. The plan outlines three areas for investment in the continuum of behavioral health care: making behavioral health services more available when and where people need them; building strong systems to support people in crisis and people with complex behavioral needs; and enabling better health access and outcomes with data and technology. Woven throughout the plan are elements to support the behavioral health workforce, which is critical to the plan’s success.
The key investments detailed in the report break down as follows: make behavioral health services more available when and where people need them, build strong systems to support people in crisis and people with complex needs, and enable better health access and outcomes with data and technology.
Source: NASW-NC News & Press
Medicaid Expansion is ALMOST HERE!
Recently, NC legislative leaders reached a monumental agreement to expand Medicaid. The language of the deal was incorporated into HB 76, Access to Healthcare Options (which passed the NC House last month) and was passed by the NC Senate Health, Finance and Rules Committees earlier this week. Medicaid expansion will be before the full Senate soon and then sent back to the NC House for concurrence. Please take a moment today, to email or call your lawmakers to ask them to support final passage of HB 76.
Source: Care4Carolina
City of Durham Social Work Month Proclamation
Thank you to Durham City Council member Dr. Monique Holsey-Hyman, for asking the Mayor and City Council of Durham, NC to proclaim March Social Work Month. Dr. Holsey-Hyman is a social worker, NASW-NC member, and faculty member at North Carolina Central University, all while serving Durham citizens on the city council. Executive Director Valerie Arendt was invited to attend the event on March 6th on behalf of NASW-NC to accept the proclamation. You can watch Durham City Council Member Dr. Holsey-Hyman read the 2023 Social Work Month proclamation starting at 17:51 and Valerie's comments here: https://www.youtube.com/live/DX7sCGAsfkk?feature=share&t=1070.
Bills on the Move:
- HB 289 (SB 210): - Gun Violence Prevention Act -This bill would require a permit for the purchase of an assault weapon; require a 72-hour waiting period; prohibit the sale of assault weapons to minors; require safe storage and many other gun safety policies.
- HB 303: Reduce Early One-Stop Voting Days -This bill reduces the number of early one-stop voting days during an election.
- HB 338: Lifetime Concealed Handgun Permit - A bill to allow the issuance of lifetime concealed handgun permits.
- SB 263: Healthy Students - A Nurse in Every School -This bill would require at least one school nurse in a public school beginning in the 2023-2024 school year.
- SB 294: Reduce Maternal Morbidity/Mortality/Medicaid - A bill that works to reduce maternal morbidity by providing rate increases for obstetrics maternal payments for Pregnancy Care through Medicaid.
Bills that NASW-NC Opposes:
- HB 10 - Require Sheriffs to Cooperate with ICE - A bill that will force sheriffs to hand detainees over to ICE for deportations- without trials- is moving forward to committee in the NC House. If passed, resulting deportations will constitute death sentences for those jettisoned back to countries overrun by poverty, war, and state violence. The bill further demands that local law enforcement turn in not only immigrants, but anyone whose immigration status "is unknown." NASW-NC OPPOSES. Take action here.
- HB 123 - Early Voting Constitutional Amendment - will end early voting a full week before election day, four days from the current window. NASW-NC OPPOSES.
- HB 187 - Equality in Education - This is the same bill introduced in the 2021 session that would ban teachers’ ability to discuss important social issues such as systemic racism, homophobia or sexism in schools. This bill is intended to prohibit schools and teachers from teaching historical and current realities of racism and other forms of oppression in the United States. NASW-NC OPPOSES.
- HB 189 - Constitutional Carry Act - This bill would enable anyone who can legally possess a firearm to also carry it concealed, in public, without needing to pass the test that the state currently requires. NASW-NC Opposes.
SB 53 (H41) Hotel Safety Issues
The North Carolina General Assembly gave final approval on Tuesday to legislation designed to help hoteliers and innkeepers remove longer-term guests determined to be violating establishment rules. The bill now moves to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who vetoed a similar measure in 2021. His response could lead to an early test of his veto powers this year after Republicans expanded their House and Senate majorities with the November elections so that they are now within one seat of holding veto-proof control.
The measure says that landlord-tenant rules, which make it more difficult to remove an occupant, don’t apply when a person is staying at a hotel, motel or RV park for fewer than 90 consecutive days. Such rules are usually reserved for home and apartment renters, which can require legal action to complete evictions.
The House on Tuesday rejected a Democrat’s amendment that would have reduced “transient occupancies,” in which the tougher removal regulations wouldn’t apply, to stays of fewer than 45 straight days. And an innkeeper would have been required to give a guest at least 24 hours’ notice before removal and to release the guest’s personal property afterward.
Source: WRAL
Childcare Reform Bills
Democrats and Republicans are sponsoring five bills together about early childhood in North Carolina, and seeking ways to address the child care crisis.
House Bill 321: Reduce Maternal Morbidity/Mortality/Medicaid. This bill would increase rates for obstetric coverage, including adding some doula coverage to prenatal Medicaid services.
House Bill 322: Tri-Share Child Care Pilot Funds. Clemmons described Tri-Share as an innovative model that divides the cost of child care among an employer, eligible employee and the state government.
House Bill 342: Extend Child Care Compensation Grants.The bill would allow counties to purchase more child care for children from low-income families and reduce waitlists.
House Bill 343: Increase Rates/Set Floor/Child Care Subsidy. House Bill 344: QRIS/Star Rating System Reform. This bill would extend the deadline for star system assessments reporting that had been extended during the COVID-19 state of emergency.
Source: News & Observer
Governor Cooper Signs One Bill into Law
On Friday, March 10, Governor Cooper signed Senate Bill 115: Repurpose R.J. Blackley Center as Psych Hospital into law.
HB 40: Riot Bill Sent to Cooper’s Desk
A House bill that would impose tougher criminal penalties for rioting, which Republicans say is necessary to deter people from destroying property or engaging in violent behavior, passed the Senate on Thursday. The Senate voted 27-16 to approve House Bill 40, with all Republicans present voting in favor of the bill and all Democrats but one (Sen. Mary Wills Bode of Wake and Granville counties) voting against it. The bill passed the House last month, and now goes to Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk, setting up a potential showdown if Cooper vetoes the bill as he did with similar legislation in 2021.
Six Democrats joined Republicans to approve the bill when it passed the House last month, and at least one, Rep. Shelly Willingham of Rocky Mount, told The News & Observer that he’ll support it in a veto override vote, if it comes to that. Republicans need only one Democrat to join them in order to override a veto from Cooper in the House, and have the required three-fifths supermajority in the Senate, which means that the GOP-controlled legislature will likely be able to enact the bill into law on its own, if Cooper decides to block it.
Source: News & Observer
Redistricting Brief - NC Supreme Court Blocks Cooper’s and Stein’s Amicus Brief
The North Carolina Supreme Court denied a motion Thursday, March 9 by Gov. Roy Cooper and Attorney General Josh Stein to submit an amicus brief in the partisan gerrymandering case that the court agreed to rehear last month at the request of Republican legislative leaders. The court granted a request by Republican legislative leaders in February to rehear the case, along with Holmes v. Moore, which concerns the state’s voter ID law. Both cases were ruled on by the court in December, when Democratic justices held a majority. The court’s newly-seated Republican majority agreed to rehear both cases, while Democrats on the court dissented.
Source: WNCT
Social Workers for Reproductive Justice
NASW-NC will continue to oppose any and all efforts to restrict access to abortion and reproductive health care in North Carolina. Recently Walgreen's made the decision to not distribute abortion medication in 20 states. Walgreen's received a letter from the 20 Republican attorneys generals threatening legal action. “We intend to be a certified pharmacy and will distribute Mifepristone only in those jurisdictions where it is legal and operationally feasible,” the company said in a statement. A federal judge in Texas is expected to rule any day on a lawsuit seeking to block the use of medication abortion nationwide, in the biggest abortion-related case since the Supreme Court overturned Roe. NASW-NC understands that Walgreen's is the only pharmacy available for many of our members and the clients we serve. However, if you would like to advocate that Walgreen's ensure abortion medication is readily available to all customers, here is their corporate headquarters information:
Walgreens Corporate Address:
200 Wilmot Road
Deerfield, Illinois 60015 USA
Corporate Phone Number: 1-847-914-2500
Corporate Fax Number: 1-847-914-2804
Corporate Email: info@walgreens.com
Stock Symbol: WAG
Customer Service Phone Number: 1-877-250-5823
Official Walgreens Website: Walgreen Co
Source: CNN
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