RALEIGH REPORT
16
Honoring Riley Howell
We were all incredibly saddened to learn that one of our finest from Waynesville, Riley Howell, was among the victims of the UNC-Charlotte shooting. This tragic event would have been much worse if not for Riley's heroic actions. He tackled the gunman, sacrificing his own life to save others.

Riley will be remembered as a hero. Let us all keep his family in our prayers.
The NC Flag at the legislature flew at half mast this week in honor of Riley Howell and all of the victims of the UNC-Charlotte shooting.
Red for Education
Last Wednesday, educators from Haywood, Jackson, and Swain Counties joined with school employees from across North Carolina to advocate for better public education. Public school staff, parents, and students attended the Rally for Respect and voiced their support for increasing per-student funding and expanding Medicaid now!
It was great to see such committed citizen advocates from Haywood, Jackson, & Swain at the Capitol!
We need a great teacher in every classroom and an excellent principal at the head of every school. Education is our top priority as a state. We must do better. I will continue to work for better funding and more resources to support our schools and educators in their efforts to better serve our children.
I am working hard to provide the resources our classrooms need and our children deserve.
Joe Sam's Notes
House Budget Highlights

This week we debated the House version of our State Budget. I voted against this irresponsible budget because it fails our teachers, working families, and every day North Carolinians. Instead it prioritizes tax cuts for the wealthiest and continues to promote an irrational political ideology.

You can see the full House Budget here and the Governor's Budget here.
Healthcare
House Budget

This House Budget fails to expand Medicaid, denying more than 500,000 of our hard-working North Carolinians healthcare coverage that we already pay for. This is incredibly irresponsible; fiscally irresponsible and morally irresponsible . By denying this common sense step, we are throwing $2.5 billion down the drain every single year. That's $5 billion WASTED in this budget.
Governor Roy Cooper's Budget

Our Governor's budget would expand Medicaid in full, insuring more than 500,000 individuals, creating 40,000 new jobs and saving thousands of lives.

Expanding Medicaid requires no new taxes. It simply stops the waste of the taxes we already pay, allowing those tax dollars to help our citizens here in North Carolina instead of paying for healthcare in another state.
Medicaid Transformation
House Budget

This House Budget under-funds our existing Medicaid programs by $64 million-- a total loss of $174 million including lost federal matching funds--making Medicaid Transformation more difficult than it already is.
Governor Roy Cooper's Budget

Our Governor's budget fully funds a path for a smooth Medicaid Transformation from the traditional Fee-For-Service Model to a true Managed Care Model.

Medicaid Transformation refers to our Department of Health and Human Services' innovative strategy of focusing on medical outcomes. It uses health drivers, a medical home for all patients, and a unification of physical and mental health for an all-encompassing, truly managed care.
Rural Needs
House Budget

This House Budget fails to invest adequately in rural North Carolina.

It cuts Governor Cooper's proposed $15 million Rural Investments Strengthening Economies (RISE) Program.

It cuts the Governor's $26 million for locally identified rural economic development projects.

It transfers more than $14 million away from existing rural economic development programs, the Utility Account and the State Rural Infrastructure Grants.
Governor Roy Cooper's Budget

Governor Cooper's budget invests $134.7 million in rural economic development, broadband expansion, and affordable housing.
Investing in our Future
House Budget

This House Budget's "SCIF SCAM" siphons 4% from the general fund for capital and debt service, handcuffing this and future budgets' ability to meet critical needs in a timely manner.

The SCIF approach simply does not provide any long-term guarantee as to what projects we will actually get, where they will be located, or when they will be built. It provides neither certainty nor transparency.
Governor Roy Cooper's Budget

The bond is a better way. It is certain and transparent.

Governor Roy Cooper's budget creates the Invest NC Bond, which would issue $3.9 billion in bonds this November, allocated as follows:

  • $2 billion for public schools
  • $800 million for water and sewer
  • $500 million for the UNC System
  • $500 million for the Community Colleges System
  • $100 million for the Museum of History and the NC Zoo
Education
House Budget

This House Budget fails our children, skimming money from teacher pay and healthcare to pay for school construction. It cooks the books on teacher pay, giving our educators a 1/2-year raise.

Shifting funds to fit a set of talking points instead of working for real policies to improve our education system is not smart for North Carolina students. Our educators deserve respect, and our children should not be pawns in a political game.
Governor Roy Cooper's Budget

Our Governor's budget would raise teacher pay more 9.1% over the next two years.

It invests $30 million to create the NC GROW program, which would pay for tuition at community colleges for students in high-demand fields, and $15 million in Finish Line Grants to help community college students finish school.
This House Budget is by far the most haphazard, unresponsive and irresponsible budget I have seen in my years as a legislator. This House Budget simply does not meet the needs of our great state. We can only hope the Senate will do better. Stay tuned.
Sincerely,
Please share this with your friends!

P.S. check out our legislative web page at www.joesamqueennc.com . You can find all of my previous newsletters and more!