Off They Go … After Finally Paying the Bills

Nelda Holder, photo by Tim Barnwell — Nelda Holder
Photo: Tim Barnwell

Legislative News by Nelda Holder –

They’re taken to their steeds and ridden out of town, at least for a bit, having finally—after more than two years: count ’em!—passed Senate Bill 257 which delivered the first full budget to the State of North Carolina in over two years.

For a legislature that likes to tout the business-friendly climate of this state, such tardiness with something as fundamental as your budget seems to open a dark hole where responsibility should be standing, and yet there was celebration of this great achievement in the press releases flung behind them as they walked out of the Legislative Building.

Well, let’s look a bit at what we finally got for their two years of work. We’ll even let the governor’s office—of a different partisan flavor then the majority of the General Assembly—put its spin on it.

“The budget delivers the largest starting teacher pay raise in nearly 50 years and largest overall teacher pay raise in 15 years, fully funds Medicaid for the year, and provides historic salary increases to public safety officers while making meaningful investments in the state’s community colleges, the DMV, childcare, cybersecurity, a new veterans home, clean drinking water, and summer food programs for kids.”

Bear in mind that while that’s a nice list of investments, they come after leaving these beneficiaries wandering in the desert for two lean years. One place that stands out the most is in pay raises for teachers and attention to literacy and mathematics initiatives. “Schools can now move forward with concrete information to finalize staffing, programs, and plans to best serve students.” (Author’s Note: You see, it is not just the whims of the legislature that beg for attention; it is the real needs of the state they represent.)

Statewide Organizational Observations

John Lassiter, president of the NC Principals and Assistant Principals’ Association, observes that the compromise budget “provides much-needed clarity and stability for North Carolina’s public schools. I have always believed that ‘perfect can sometimes be the enemy of good.’ While this budget isn’t perfect, the progress it offers is better than prolonged uncertainty… Progress deserves to be celebrated, and our students deserve for that progress to continue.”

“This budget reflects meaningful progress and reinforces an important truth: Investing in public education is one of the wisest investments North Carolina can make… [It] will provide much-needed investments in educator pay, recruitment, and retention; expansion of the NC Community Schools Framework; and increased access to affordable childcare for families.” At the same time, he notes that “progress will require sustained

investments, and the tax cuts included in this budget threaten the state’s capacity to invest in its students, educators, and communities for years to come.”

Wendell Powell, President of the State Employees Association (SEANC), noted that as a longtime correctional officer, he’s seen firsthand the impacts of vacancies on offender safety and officer morale. “The 15.5% raises will help us recruit top talent and keep people safe,” he noted.

“But as a representative of all state employees, I’m disappointed to not see that same value invested in every public servant. These 3% raises are not enough to keep up with inflation. They don’t value hardworking state employees appropriately, and they make it harder to attract new people to state

government. As North Carolina’s economy keeps growing, we must ensure that those benefits are felt by the people who keep our state running.”

Margaret Fenton Lebeck, CEO, Housing Assistance Corporation, offers an opinion that the new budget “provides additional funding for nonprofit housing grants to organizations like the one she represents—helping repair and replace homes since the earliest days after Hurricane Helene. Recovering the thousands of homes damaged or destroyed … will take all of us working together. Government programs, nonprofit organizations, faith-based partners, and volunteers.”

The budget includes funding, she noted, to provide temporary housing assistance in the Renew NC program while their homes are being rebuilt.

Amy Beros, President/CEO of the Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC, calls these “meaningful investments that recognize the deep connection between hunger relief, local agriculture, and the long-term health of our communities.

“We are especially encouraged by the significant commitment to purchasing food from North Carolina farms and the broader investments in land preservation for local agriculture. We also appreciate the funding, staff, and technology investments devoted to protecting access to SNAP grocery support.

“This budget represents a significant and important first step … and we are grateful to Governor Stein and the many legislative leaders who helped make it possible. At the same time, we know there is a long road ahead. Federal cuts to vital hunger relief programs mean North Carolina will need to do even more next year to protect SNAP, invest in local farms, and ensure no one goes hungry in our state.”

Eyebrow-Raising Overrides

Four bills of particular note were vetoed by the governor, but were then enshrined by overrides on behalf of the Republicans in the NC House on party-line votes. As reported by NC Newsline (a dandy little purveyor of information; subscribe for free at ncnewsline.com/subscribe).

Here are the titles of the four bills. See if you notice anything in common:

Senate Bill 153, “The North Carolina Border Protection Act”
Senate Bill 227, “Eliminating Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Public Education” (DEI)
Senate Bill 558, “Eliminating Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in Public Higher Education”
House Bill 171, “Equality in State Agencies/Prohibition on DEI”

Let me give you a little deeper dive into the language (and intent) of this DEI topic. HB 171, for example, begins thusly: “An act eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in state and local government and clarifying the penalty provisions of the state budget act and local government budget and fiscal control act.”

It gets even “better.” Under Part I, we see that: “No State agency shall promote, support, fund, implement, or maintain workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), including using DEI in State government hirings and employment, maintaining dedicated DEI staff positions or offices, or offering or requiring DEI training.”

For further clarity, it explains DEI thusly:

“Diversity, equity, and inclusion or DEI—A program, policy, initiative or activity designed or implemented to:

(a) Influence hiring or employment practices with respect to race, sex, color, ethnicity, nationality, country of origin, or sexual orientation other than through the use of merit-based hiring processes in accordance with any applicable State and federal antidiscrimination laws.

(b) Promote differential treatment of or providing special benefits to individuals on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, nationality, country of origin, or sexual orientation.

The bill then outlines penalties and grievance procedures, and then offers an interesting list of exceptions under “Nothing in this section shall be construed to do any of the following.” Let’s look at those so you’ll know exactly what the controls are:

Conflict with, restrict, limit, or infringe upon speech protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Conflict with or prohibit compliance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as amended; the Americans with Disabilities Act, as amended; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, as amended; Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; or other applicable State or federal law.
Alter the relationship between the State and an American Indian tribe which shall continue to enjoy all rights, privileges, and immunities as an American Indian tribe with a recognized tribal governing body carrying out and exercising substatial governmental duties and powers similar to the State, being recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of thei status as Indians.
Apply to the North Carolina State Commission of Indian Affairs and Indian education services and positions.
Prohibit the celebration of any holiday, observance, or remembrance.

You might want to muse on this one … and what exactly the real intentions might have been to turn it into state law.