2023 NASW-NC Legislative Session Update: Week 11

NASW-NC Celebrates Passage of Medicaid Expansion in North Carolina

RALEIGH — The National Association of Social Workers North Carolina (NASW-NC) is thrilled that Medicaid expansion has passed in North Carolina and is now on the desk of Governor Roy Cooper to sign into law. Governor Cooper is expected to sign Medicaid Expansion into law on Monday, March 27. NASW-NC Executive Director Valerie Arendt will be present for the signing of the bill into law.

NASW-NC has worked with social work members, legislators, and many partner organizations for over a decade to get this important legislation passed and to help the people of North Carolina live healthier lives. With passage of House Bill 76, more than 600,000 North Carolinians will now have access to healthcare.

Expanding Medicaid will bring an estimated $8 billion in federal funding to North Carolina each year. The federal government pays 90% of the costs of Medicaid expansion. North Carolina also will draw down an additional $1.75 billion dollars in one-time federal funds if the state expands Medicaid.

NASW-NC Executive Director Valerie Arendt says, “We have been advocating tirelessly for over a decade for the hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians who have been unable to access health insurance. Health insurance saves lives. Thank you to the many state leaders and legislators who fought for North Carolinian’s health from the beginning and thank you to the many advocacy organizations who never gave up on better health for North Carolina. We have a lot of work ahead of us to ensure that North Carolina has an adequate network of mental health providers to serve the most vulnerable.”

Medicaid Expansion will be implemented only if the 2023-2024 budget is passed into law by the end of 2023. We will keep members updated as the House and Senate budgets are released in the coming weeks.

Thank you to all the social workers & community partners who have worked tirelessly over the last ten years to get Medicaid Expansion into law.  

Wake County Public Schools to restore Master's Level Pay for School Social Workers
Hundreds of Wake County teachers, social workers and other school employees will get thousands of dollars more per year under a new plan to reward them for achieving advanced degrees. The Wake County school board unanimously approved Tuesday boosting the pay of employees who missed North Carolina’s 2013 cutoff to get a master’s degree, doctorate or other higher degree to receive extra state pay. Wake will tap into local dollars to provide the $4.4 million for the pay bump that will go into effect on July 1. It’s estimated to impact 650 teachers, social workers, speech language pathologists, audiologists, guidance counselors and pathologists.

Historically, the state paid teachers 10% more per year if they had a master’s degree. In 2013, the Republican-led General Assembly eliminated the extra pay for master’s degrees and other higher degrees for teachers and social workers. To be exempt, teachers and social workers had to have at least completed one course towards their degree prior to Aug. 1, 2013. State lawmakers have continued to pay other certified instructional support staff such as counselors and psychologists for their master’s degrees because it’s required for their license. But the state stopped paying them and teachers for other advanced and doctorate degrees unless they also met the Aug. 1, 2013 deadline.

Source: News & Observer 

House Budget
The first draft of the North Carolina state budget will be out next week. The March timeline signals that the new budget and any raises could be in place by the time the current fiscal year ends on June 30. The two-year spending plan will determine the amount of raises for tens of thousands of employees, what amount of taxes are paid, what projects are funded and what policy becomes law. The budget is supposed to be passed by June 30.

Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger have agreed to increase spending by 6.5% next year, to $29.7 billion, then by another 3.75% in the second year of the two-year budget, to $30.8 billion. By comparison, Cooper’s budget would increase spending by 18% in the first year, with about $32 billion in 2023-24; and by 3.9% in the second year, to $34 billion in 2024-25.

Source: News & Observer 

NASW-NC has learned that the House Budget is expected to be released on Wednesday, March 29th.We are NOT confident legislative leaders will include Master's Level pay for school social workers.There is a mental health crisis in our schools right NOW. Please see the action alert below and we need other personal testimonies to the NCGA immediately!  
Do you know a:

• School Principal
• PTA members
• Pediatrician
• Emergency Room Doctor/Nurse

We need those stories shared with legislators so they understand the critical need for school social workers. 

Urgent School Social Worker Action Alert! NASW-NC Needs Your Voice! SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKERS NEED TO CALL AND MEET WITH YOUR LEGISLATORS NOW!! Legislators are almost done writing their budget and this is your last chance to make your voice heard! Legislators are in Raleigh at the North Carolina General Assembly Tuesday-Thursday but back in their districts Friday-Monday. Invite them to come to your school to meet with you! This HAS to be done by March 30!

Find your legislators here: https://www.ncleg.gov/FindYourLegislators
Ask them to PLEASE fund Masters-Level Pay for school social workers and additional positions for school social workers in the budget! Talking points here.

We need school social workers from across North Carolina to contact their legislators, ESPECIALLY if they serve on the House or Senate Appropriations for Education! These are the legislators who will or will NOT include funding for school social workers!!!

Even if you do not live in these districts, please contact your legislators and tell them to include school social workers in the North Carolina budget! You are CRITICAL to the mental health and well-being of your students and school districts! PLEASE ACT NOW and don’t give up! Call, email and come to the legislature!

Click Here to take ACTION!

https://abc11.com/north-carolina-school-social-workers-association-education-underpaid-hoke-county/12938852/

Governor Cooper Vetoes Legislation Eliminating Sheriffs' Background Checks for Handguns

Senate Bill 41: Guarantee 2nd Amend Freedom and Protections 

Governor Cooper made the following statement on SB 41:

"Eliminating strong background checks will allow more domestic abusers and other dangerous people to own handguns and reduces law enforcement's ability to stop them from committing violent crimes. Second Amendment supporting, responsible gun owners know this will put families and communities at risk.”

SB 41 eliminates the current requirement that people have a valid permit from their local sheriff’s office before purchasing or acquiring a handgun. Under SB 41, sheriffs will lose the authority to issue or deny these permits based on criminal background checks and determining the safety and character of applicants.

The legislation removes sheriffs’ authority to refuse a permit based on signs of mental illness, domestic abuse incidents that might not be captured in a national database, or other indicators that a person could be a danger to themselves or others.

The bill also allows guns on some school properties, increasing the chances that children can find or access firearms at a time where gun offenses and suicides among North Carolina children is increasing.

The 2023 North Carolina Child Fatality Task Force reports that gun deaths for children have increased dramatically—231.3% between 2012 and 2021. Guns are now the leading cause of injury death for children in North Carolina, surpassing car accidents.

NASW-NC supports the Governor's veto.

HB 187- Equality in Education (Anti-CRT bill) NASW-NC OPPOSES. North Carolina House Republicans approved new rules on Wednesday limiting how racism and sexism can be taught but fell short of gaining any Democratic support to guarantee a veto override. The 68-49 vote went along party lines with all Republicans in support and all Democrats in opposition. GOP lawmakers say the bill is designed to prevent schools from promoting Critical Race Theory. A nearly-identical bill passed along party lines in 2021, but was vetoed by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. 

The legislation now goes to the GOP-controlled Senate, where it’s expected to easily pass. A bill with nearly identical language passed the House and Senate in 2021. When Cooper vetoed that bill, he said it “pushes calculated, conspiracy-laden politics into public education.” House Bill 187, titled “Equality in Education” says public schools can’t “promote” concepts such as the idea that “one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex” or that “an individual, solely by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive.”

The bill also would stop teachers from promoting the concept of “white privilege,” or that white people have unfair advantages over others solely due to their race. The bill says teachers can’t promote that privileges should be ascribed to race or sex.

Source: News & Observer

HB 188: Standards of Student Conduct
North Carolina Republican lawmakers are advancing a bill they say will help bring discipline back into classrooms. The state House Judiciary 1 committee backed legislation Wednesday that would remove from state law that disrespectful language, not complying with staff directives, dress code violations and minor fights are not considered serious student disciplinary offenses. House Bill 188 has already passed the House K-12 Education committee. It now goes to House Rules. 

This act will allow public school administrators to use their own discretion regarding what constitutes a serious conduct violation. This policy will increase the total number of long-term suspensions in addition to disproportionately impacting students based on race and disability. NASW-NC OPPOSES.
 
HB 98/SB 121 – Medical Freedom Act 
A bill seeking to eliminate certain COVID-19 vaccine mandates was advanced in committee on Tuesday. The bill, HB 98 or the “Medical Freedom Act,” would prohibit local governments and schools from requiring their employees or students to get the COVID-19 vaccine, except in circumstances that would jeopardize federal funding.

“It’s not an anti-vaccine bill, it’s just a medical freedom bill — it’s exactly what it says it is,” Republican Rep. Brian Biggs, one of the bill’s primary sponsors, said to the House Health Committee.

Rep. Sarah Crawford, D-Wake, questioned why the bill was necessary if the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission already allows for religious and medical exemptions to vaccine requirements.  Rep. Jon Hardister, R-Guilford, another of the bill’s sponsors, said that in his district, some county employees who sought a medical exemption were required to submit to weekly COVID tests. “The deference and the accommodation provided to those individuals is not always an optimal situation,” he said.

The bill passed the committee with most Democrats voting against it. An earlier version of the bill would also have banned public schools from quarantining healthy students or from making rules regarding masks, but the bill’s sponsors said they removed these components after consulting with the state Department of Health and Human Services.

Source: The Insider (Kyle Ingram)

Bills to watch:

• HB 476 - Increase Personal Needs Allowance/Medicaid.  A bill to raise the Personal Needs Allowance (PNA) for nursing home residents from $30.00 a month, where it has been since 1987.  NC increased the PNA for assisted living residents in 2022 from $46 to $70 in 2022. This increase is needed for nursing home residents who have to purchase clothing, toiletries, hairstyling services, and cellphone bills out of pocket. NASW-NC supports this bill with community partners such as Friends of Residents in Long Term Care (FOR), and the NC Coalition on Aging (NCCOA), and AARP-NC.
• SB 51- Kayla’s Act: Protecting Domestic Violence Victims
  North Carolina lawmakers want to make it easier for domestic violence victims to testify remotely, so they won’t have to encounter their abusers in a courtroom. Kayla’s Act, would also extend the statute of limitations for misdemeanor domestic violence cases from two years to 10 years. Prosecutors hope that will allow them to revisit older cases where the victim’s unwillingness to testify in a courtroom prevented charges from moving forward. Source: WUNC
• HB 439/SB 353 - RBG ACT (Remove Barriers to Gain Access to Abortion) Democratic lawmakers introduced legislation Wednesday to expand abortion access, and said they wanted to make clear their support for removing barriers that are currently in place even as Republicans prepare to introduce and pass stricter limits. The bill — called the “RBG Act” as a nod to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the late U.S. Supreme Court justice (though officially it’s “an Act to Remove Barriers to Gain Access to Abortion”) — would replace North Carolina’s current 20-week abortion ban with the standards set in Roe v. Wade, which was overturned by the court last year. It would also remove a ban on abortion medication being provided through telemedicine, and would get rid of the 72-hour waiting period.
  Below is an op-ed that we ask you to share widely within your networks to continue to amplify the danger these new laws will cause. From NC Policy Watch, and our community partner, Pro-Choice North Carolina Foundation: North Carolina physician: Proposed abortion restrictions threaten the practice of medicine
• 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 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.  NASW-NC SUPPORTS. 
• HB 633-Restore Master's Pay for Teachers & ISP. This act would restore education-based salary supplements for teachers and instructional support personnel.  This would restore Master’s Level Pay for School Social Workers.  It was introduced by Representative Jule von Haefen, a friend to NASW-NC.  NASW-NC SUPPORTS THIS BILL; however, without bipartisan support, it is not expected to pass.  
• SB 338: Equal Pay Act.  Prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender in the payment of salary or wages, including benefits, or payment of salary or wage rates less than the rates paid to employees of a different gender for comparable work. NASW-NC SUPPORTS. 

NASW-NC State Health Plan Provider Survey
In January 2025, Aetna will begin to serve as the Third Party Administrator (TPA) for the self-funded North Carolina State Health Plan (SHP). At this time, the National Association of Social Workers North Carolina (NASW-NC) does not know whether the SHP will use an Aetna network, or will maintain a separate network (currently the Clear Pricing Project, or CPP) to serve the clinical needs of their employees. NASW-NC asks that current and potential SHP providers please take this survey. NASW-NC plans to use the results of this survey to 1) inform Aetna and the State Health Plan Board about how behavioral health providers are thinking about their participation in the networks and 2) advocate for providers and their patients.

Please take survey:

https://forms.gle/AF8ffSgwUmLgtCvH6

Want this information sent directly to your inbox? Sign up for weekly NASW-NC legislative updates: https://votervoice.net/NASWNC/home