Weekly Legislative Update
Overview
The first full week of the 2009 session of the General Assembly brought the appointment of Senate Committees, reviews of the State Budget and State Health Plan, additional bill filings and introductions, and the memorial of long time Insurance Commissioner Jim Long. On Wednesday this week Senate President Pro Tempore Marc Basnight (D-Dare) appointed committees in the Senate by filling key leadership posts and creating one new committee. Lawmakers from both chambers met to hear reports from Legislative staff on the State Budget and the State Health Plan. Legislators continue to file and introduce bills and resolutions in both chambers this week. All week, the North Carolina flag has flown at half staff in memory of former Insurance Commissioner Jim Long who was remembered at funeral services Thursday afternoon. We report on all of this action and conclude this update with a tribute to North Carolina's longest serving Insurance Commissioner.
Senator Basnight filled key posts in the Senate by appointing Committee Chairs and committee memberships this week. Senator A.B. Swindell (D-Nash) will be a new Chair of the Committee on Appropriations, joining last year's chairs, Senators Albertson (D-Duplin), Dannelly (D-Mecklenburg), and Senator Garrou (D-Forsyth), as the chief budget writers in the Senate. Senator Clark Jenkins (D-Edgecomb) will be a new Chair of the Committee on Finance, joining last year's chairs, Senators Clodfelter (D-Mecklenburg) and Hoyle (D-Gaston), as the architects of tax policy in the Senate. These changes and others opened up space for other new leadership positions including:
- Senator Atwater (D-Chatham) as Chair of the Senate Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources Committee
- Senator McKissick (D-Durham) as Vice-Chair of the Senate Commerce Committee
- Senator Foriest (D-Alamance) as Chair of the Pensions Committee, and
- Senator Jones (D-Halifax) as Chair of the State and Local Government Committee. Retaining key posts are
- Senator Soles (D-Brunswick) as Chair of the Commerce Committee
- Senators Purcell (D-Scotland) and Bingham (R-Davidson) as co-Chairs of the Health Care Committee
- Senator Nesbitt (D-Buncombe) as Chair of Judiciary I
- Senator Hartsell (R-Cabarrus) as Chair of Judiciary II, and
- Senator Rand as Chair of the Committee on Rules, Calendar and Operations of the Senate.
In that role, and as the Majority Leader, Senator Rand is often regarded the second most influential Senator, behind Senator Basnight.
Other changes have combined two Education Committees into one Committee that will be co-Chaired by Senators Malone (D-Wake) and Stevens (R-Wake), and created a Select Committee on Energy, Science and Technology to be co-Chaired by Senators Dorsett (D-Guilford) and Queen (D-Haywood). While most committees, "Standing Committees," are created in the Rules of the Senate, "select committees," are created by authorization of the President Pro Tempore. It is not clear at this time the jurisdiction of the new Energy, Science and Technology Committee or if additional Select Committees will be appointed.
House and Senate members met jointly on Tuesday and Wednesday this week to review reports on the State Budget and the State Health Plan. Review of the State Budget outlook brought a recounting of the bad news facing the State: North Carolina's economy is continuing a decline in a recession that is creating a growing budget deficit totaling $625 through the end of 2008, the mid point in the State Fiscal Year. It is a near certainty that the deficit will continue to grow and Fiscal Analysts project the total shortfall will reach near $2 billion or 10% of the State Budget. Governor Perdue has ordered $894 million in budget reductions and is hoping for over $900 million in Federal Stimulus funding to balance the current year budget. Next year, the 2009-2010 state budget, could present even greater difficulties if revenue collections continue to slow, and that could force more draconian cuts to State Agencies, or increased taxes. Indeed, this week UNC President Erskine Bowles announced that he will seek authority to furlough University system workers and Governor Perdue and House Speaker Hackney have hinted that similar moves could be needed for state government employees. A large factor in the budget troubles is an unfunded liability for the State Health Plan of roughly $2 billion over the next two years.
At a meeting Wednesday, legislative fiscal analysts told lawmakers that the State Health Plan has reached a crisis state that requires "immediate action." That immediate action is expected to come in the form of a $300 million appropriation so that the State Health Plan can make payments. If the money is not delivered, the State Health Plan expects to be unable to continue operating after March 31. Next year, the plan is expected to come up short by another $1.2 billion and analysts are urging lawmakers to consider benefit changes, premium rate increases and other operational changes. The State Health Plan covers over 666,800 employees and dependents of employees of the State, University and Community College, public schools, and some local governments.
Outside of the legislature a turf battle over education and schools leadership is brewing. This week, Superintendent of Public Instruction, June Atkinson (D-Wake), sent a letter to legislative leaders asking them to consider changes to the law that places her office under direction of the Board of Education or to put before voters a Constitutional Amendment that will clarify her role as the head of schools. The letter is widely viewed as a response to Governor Perdue appointing Cumberland County Superintendent Bill Harrison to be a state school CEO and head of the Board of Education. Under Governor Easley, Atkinson suffered a similar usurpation when Easley used his influence on the Board to place Atkinson's primary opponent J.B. Buxton in the position of Deputy Superintendent. Apparently Atkinson has reached the limit and is ready to take the controversy to the General Assembly for resolution. In response Bill Harrison has emailed Department of Public Instruction (DPI) staff and informed workers that he does not anticipate major reform of the Department. The Legislature's Program Evaluation Division has recently released a report on the structure of school governance and recommended legislation that would more clearly define the roles of the Board, the Superintendent and the Governor.