Every year when the budget comes out people focus on the big items such as education and Medicaid, but what about those small things that no one really talks about? I want to highlight some of those today. All of these spending items came from the Senate Budget as of June 17th.
K-12 Education:
- Transportation – Reduces the transportation budget by 4%, or $20 million each year. This includes salaries, diesel fuel, replacement parts, and the maintenance of yellow school buses.
- Non-instructional staff – Replaces General Fund dollars with lottery funds. Total swap is $345.5 million in the first year and $361.6 in the second.
- Department of Public Instruction – Reduces budget by 10%, or $4.7 million each year.
- Licensure – Eliminates the Licensure section of DPI, and creates a new entity, the Office of Educator Licensure. There is no direct budget impact.
Community Colleges:
- Truck Driver Training Program – Caldwell Community College gets this new program, $150k each year.
- Career advisers – Program to place career advisers in high schools, $500k in the first year, $1 million in the second.
- Botanical Lab – Increases funding for the Fayetteville Botanical Lab, total funding is $200k each year.
- Motorcycle Driver Safety – Funds a study for a motorcycle driver safety, $200k in the first year only.
UNC System:
- Management – Mandates management flexibility cut for UNC operating budget, cut of $17.9 million each year.
- Summer Bridget – Eliminates funding for the program, reduction of $1.2 million each year.
- Hunt Institute – Ends state funding support, cut of $737,230 each year.
- Tuition – Provides in-state tuition for non-resident veterans, $9.3 million each year.
Health and Human Services:
- Data analytics – Funds a contract for a new data analytics program for the department, $1 million in the first year and $1.3 million in the second.
- Paramedics – Starts a pilot program for paramedics to start providing house calls for non-emergency medical conditions, $350k in the first year.
- Infant mortality and birth outcomes – Justification Review of public health programs to see if they are performing as intended:
- Maternal and Child Health Contracts – $2.4 million
- High Risk Maternity Clinic – $375k
- Healthy Beginnings – $396k
- Pregnancy Care Case Management – $300k
- Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting – $425k
- Triple P-Positive Parenting Program – $828k
- NC Perinatal and Maternal Substance Abuse Initiative – $2.7 million
- Perinatal Substance Abuse Specialist – $45k
- Foster care – Expand the foster care age to 21, which will result in a caseload increase, $4.5 million in the first year and $9.5 million in the second.
- Adoption – assistance for youth adopted after age 16, $200k in the second year.
- Minority Health – Eliminates the office, savings of $3.1 million each year.
- Physical Activity and Nutrition Branch – Eliminates the program within Public Health, savings of $266k.
- Wright School – Eliminates funding and closes the school, savings of $2.1 million in the first year and $2.8 million in the second.
Natural and Economic Resources:
- Food and Drug
- Registration Fee – drug manufacturer’s’ fees increased from $500 to $1,000 and drug wholesalers increased from $350 to $700.
- License Fee – drug manufacturer’s’ fees increased from $500 to $1,000 and drug wholesalers increased from $350 to $700.
- Dairy Inspection Fee – dairy retailer fees increased from $10 to $50 and dairy wholesalers increased from $40 to $100.
- Agricultural Marketing – increases funding for marketing of NC-based agricultural products, total division expense is $8.3 million each year.
- FFA Foundation – gives additional funding for the program, total expense is $100k each year.
- Mine & Quarry Inspections – eliminates funding for the division, savings of $346k each year.
- Marine Fisheries:
- Shellfish Rehabilitation – total funding is $600k in the first year and $900k in the second.
- Oyster Sanctuaries – total funding is $483,969 over two years.
- Oyster Research and Development – $450k in the first year and $500k in the second.
- Museum of Natural Sciences in Whiteville – eliminates funding, savings of $300k each year.
- Dredging – increases funding for the Shallow Draft Navigation Channel, total funding next year will be $20 million
- Underserved & Limited Resource Grant – eliminates program and savings of $1.25 million each year.
- Biotechnology Center – eliminates funding, savings of $8.6 million each year.
- High Point Furniture Market – gives additional funding, total funding is $1.2 million each year.
- Tryon Palace – provides additional funding, total expense is slightly less than $3 million each year.
- Roanoke Island Festival Park – increases funding, two year expense is $517k
Justice and Public Safety:
- Samarcand – funds to start-up the Samarcand Training Academy in Moore County, $1.6 million in the first year and $1.9 million in the second.
- Medicine Drop – provides funds for a program to let citizens dispose of expired or unused medicine, $120k in the first year.
- Inmate Education – reduces budget by 5.6% or $500k
- Capital Defender – reduces funding for the capital defender’s office by $750k or 18.9%
- Underage drinking – increase funding for the initiative to reduce underage drinking outreach and marketing, $3.1 million each year.
General Government:
- Battlefield – provides funding to the Averasboro battlefield commission to help with buying and relocating the Shaw Halfway House, $50k first year only.
- Human Relations Commission – eliminates the commission, savings of $545k in the second year.
Transportation:
- Ferry – provides additional funds for the Hatteras Inlet route and training to meet new federal requirements for oil spill responses, total ferry division funding is $39.7 million each year.
- Bridges – increases funding for the bridge program, total budget is $202.9 million in the first year and $242.9 million in the second.
- Temporary Plate Fee – increases the fee by $5 for a 10-day temporary tag
- Ports Authority – spends $35 million each year to modernize the ports.