2023 NASW-NC Legislative Session Update: Week 19
On Tuesday, May 16th, Republicans in both the NC House and NC Senate voted to override Governor Cooper's veto of SB 20-Care for Women, Children, and Families Act. The override votes were passed strictly down partisan lines, 30-20 in NC Senate, and 72-48 in NC House. The main takeaway is that abortion access is still available and will not be changed in North Carolina until July 1st.
NASW opposes government restrictions designed to limit access to reproductive health services, including abortion services. Reproductive health and abortion access will always be a social work issue! This law is a damaging setback for North Carolina. Abortion is healthcare, abortion is essential to our society’s collective health and well-being. We will continue our long-standing advocacy for reproductive freedom.
You can read NASW-NC's full statement on the passing of the monster abortion ban here: Social Work Opposes Monster Abortion Ban - National Association of Social Workers NC Chapter (naswnc.org)
Pro-Choice NC 2023 Spring into Action Gala Thursday, May 25th 7:00PM
While the passage of SB20 is a devastating setback, it's not the end. If anything, we're more determined than ever to keep pushing forward. Abortion care is essential healthcare, and we won't give up because there's too much at stake. Join us to hear how pro-choice warriors in states facing restrictions even more severe than North Carolina are still fighting back and to learn why your voice and your support are critical to the future of reproductive freedom. Click Here to Register.
NC Senate Budget is Introduced
The North Carolina Senate unveiled its two-year budget proposal on May 15, outlining Senate Republicans’ policy positions on tax cuts, education funding, state employee pay raises and more. The spending plan differs dramatically from the House budget proposal released in March. Before a budget can pass into law, the two groups of GOP lawmakers will have to resolve big differences between their proposals. Lawmakers in the House and Senate hope to reach a compromise by June, when the 2023 legislative session is scheduled to conclude. The House Budget included funding to Restore Master's Level Pay for School Social Workers; this is NOT included in the Senate version. This is one of NASW-NC's top legislative issues for 2023. We will continue our advocacy at the NC General Assembly to reinstate this funding in the final version of the budget. Please look out for any action alerts coming soon.
Source: NCInsider
See Senate Budget items of note to Social Workers from NASW-NC.
You can read the entire text of the Budget here: House Bill 259: 2023 Appropriations Act.
From NC Budget & Tax Center: The Senate passed a budget after less than 72 hours of public review and limited policymaker debate. The proposal would further reduce income tax rates to the primary benefit of the richest 20 percent of North Carolinians while underfunding public schools, early childhood education, elections, and a range of other priorities people across the state have identified.
Read their report on the NC Senate Budget Here.
NC Budget & Tax Center Making Connections with BTC: Income Taxes Tuesday, June 6th 12PM-1PM
Join the NC Budget & Tax Center on Tuesday, June 6, for our next Making Connections webinar about taxes and how we must come together to demand that North Carolina’s elected leaders unrig the tax code to make sure that the wealthy and corporations pay what they owe. Tax decisions in North Carolina this year could block communities and people from having what is needed to access opportunity and secure greater well-being.
NASW ACTION ALERT
The School Social Workers Improving Student Success Act (H.R. 1415) has been introduced in the US House. Social workers have long been an essential workforce in our nation’s preK-12 schools, providing a broad range of services aimed at helping students succeed in school and life. The School Social Workers Improving Student Success Act (H.R. 1415S ) is a key step in increasing and retaining the availability of social work services in schools. Make your voice heard. Urge your member of Congress to support H.R. 1415 to increase access to social work services in schools. Click below to send a letter to your Representative!
ACTION ALERT:
HB 347-Sports Wagering: An act to authorize and regulate sports wagering on professional, college and amateur sports in North Carolina. If you would like to contact your local representative, you can find their contact information here.
Talking points from Addiction Professionals of NC:
- The need to utilize a portion of the revenues from any gambling expansion to support comprehensive addiction prevention, treatment, and recovery services that include compulsive gambling services.
- Other states appropriate money very narrowly to “compulsive gambling” only, and they have a very hard time spending the funds with that narrow definition.
- We know through research and anecdotally that SUD and gambling often intersect; thus, we must ensure a comprehensive prevention and treatment response.
- Encourage legislators to ensure dedicated funding to the field is explicitly stated in any final agreement.
May is National Foster Care Month -May is National Foster Care Month! This year’s theme, “Strengthening Minds. Uplifting Families.” highlights the need to take a holistic and culturally responsive approach to supporting the mental health needs of those involved with child welfare. Join us in working to help children and youth exit care with strengthened minds, holistic supports, and stable families. #FosterCareMonth Read more here: https://www.childwelfare.gov/fostercaremonth/
May is Military Appreciation Month- "NCDHHS Military Appreciation Month - In Memory of Many, In Honor of All"For Military Appreciation Month, the NCDHHS Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services will host a webinar to honor those who served, those who sacrificed, those left behind, and those who carry on. North Carolina recognizes the importance of honoring the relations with veterans and military personnel, and we are committed to building on the strengths and resiliencies of veterans, military members, their families, and the community to achieve improved health, wellness, and quality of life.
Thursday, May 25, 2023: 10:00-11:00AM Join Link: Click here to register
Bills of Interest:
HB860: Protect Our Youth in Foster Care. An act to ensure the use of trauma-informed, standardized assessments and appropriate care for children and youth in foster care. It would be used in both foster care settings and before children enter the system. The proposal also would direct the Division of Health Benefits to implement “in-lieu-of” services under the Medicaid state plan to address gaps in care of children receiving foster care services. The bill was advanced out of the House Health committee and is now in the Appropriations Committee.
HB862: Strengthen Child Fatality Prevention System. This bipartisan bill will create a State Office of Child Fatality Prevention, allowing North Carolina to become the 48th state to participate in a national electronic data system. This state office will streamline data and avoid duplicative reviews and reports in both local and state offices. The bill received a favorable report in the House Health committee Tuesday, May 16 and is now headed to the House Rules committee.
Social Work Interstate Licensure Compact Update
SB 718 was not subjected to the final bill crossover deadline of May 4th. This means we still have the rest of the 2023 Legislative Session to get the bill passed in both chambers and signed into law by Governor Cooper. We are optimistic the bill will pass. Since only Republican-sponsored bills have moved this session, we are pitching the Compact as primarily a bill to support military spouses. The Social Work Compact creation was initiated by the Department of Defense to promote licensure portability for military spouses. You can read about that here: Interstate Licensure Compact for Social Work (socialworkers.org) A large number of Republican lawmakers, who have the supermajority in both the House and Senate, are very supportive of bills that support military populations and NASW-NC is working on getting support to advance the bill before session ends. Please be on the lookout for action alerts to contact your legislators to support the Social Work Licensure Compact.
More information about the Social Work Licensure Compact can be found here: https://swcompact.org
Thank you to the members of NASW-NC for supporting the advocacy work we do. We would not be able to advocate for the social work profession or social justice issues in North Carolina without a robust and engaged NASW membership. If you are a social worker and not a member, we ask that you join NASW today. Our voice is louder with your membership.
Learn more about NASW-NC membership here.
Want this information sent directly to your inbox? Sign up for weekly NASW-NC legislative updates: https://votervoice.net/NASWNC/home
