Heard in the Halls is an email service of NAMI North Carolina to provide updates on state legislative and policy issues. Heard in the Halls is produced for community advocates at least monthly and more frequently during sessions of the General Assembly. To be added to the Heard in the Halls list send a message to heard@naminc.org with just "subscribe" (no quotes) in the subject. Because of the variety of e-mail servers, Heard in the Halls is sent in plain text and as a formatted attachment.

August 16, 2002

This week the House, after long and rancorous debate, passed its budget. The House version of the budget is far more friendly to the MH/DD/SA system than either the Senate or Governor’s budget. The budgets are not great. In this disastrous budget year, none of the budgets increase recurring funding. Here is how the three budgets stack up on key items (numbers listed are funding cuts):

Area Mental Health Programs

House 0
Senate $29 million
Governor $38 million

Mental Health Case Management (Medicaid)

House 0
Senate $20 million
Governor $7.7 million

State Psychiatric Hospitals

House $2.9 million
Senate $2.9 million
Governor $1.5 million

Direct VR Client Services (Vocational Rehabilitation)

House $1.9 million
Senate $3.5 million
Governor $1.9 million

CAP-MR-DD program (Medicaid)

House 0
Senate $18 million
Governor $24 million

The House budget contains $500,000 in non-recurring funds for "Housing support for the Mentally Ill". As previously reported, the Senate budget also contains $50 million in non-recurring money for the Mental Health Trust Fund. The ongoing concern is that these funds could easily be confiscated by the Governor, as was the case this year, to deal with the state’s continuing budget crisis.

After the House passed its budget, it was rejected by the Senate. This means that the budget debate now moves to a conference committee of 30 House members and 24 Senate members who have been appointed to resolve differences. 

ACTION NEEDED

While no one likes cuts of any sort, the House budget overall is a significant improvement over the Senate budget. By eliminating some of the major cuts in the Senate budget, it retains recurring (ongoing) funds so that most current services can be maintained. Overall, it does less damage to the MH/DD/SA system. Contact the leaders of the conference committee that are listed below this week and urge them to:

• Support the House budget for items affecting the MH/DD/SA system (you can reference items from above if you want)
• Make no additional cuts to the MH/DD/SA system
• Improve services and funding for individuals with MH/DD/SA disabilities and their families

SENATE
Sen. Aaron Plyler, D-Union, Co-chair, 919-733-5739 - Aaronp@ncleg.net
Sen. Howard Lee, D-Orange, Co-chair, 919-715-3030 - Howardl@ncleg.net
Sen. Fountain Odom, D-Mecklenburg, Co-chair, 919-733-5707- Fountaino@ncleg.net
Sen. Bill Martin, D-Guilford, HHS co-chair 919-715-3042 - Billm@ncleg.net
Sen. Bill Purcell, D-Scotland, HHS co-chair 919-715-0690 - Williamp@ncleg.net

HOUSE
Rep. David Redwine, D-Brunswick, Co-chair, 919-733-5829 - davidr@ncleg.net
Rep. Ruth Easterling, D-Mecklenburg, Co-chair, 919-733-5900 -
ruthe@ncleg.net
Rep. Pete Oldham, D-Forsyth, Co-chair, 919-715-2530 - warreno@ncleg.net
Rep. Greg Thompson, R-Mitchell, Co-chair, 919-733-5828 - greggt@ncleg.net
Rep. Beverly Earle, D-Mecklenburg, HHS co-chair 919-733-5747 – Beverlyre@ncleg.net

Edd Nye, D-Bladen, HHS co-chair 919-733-5477 - Eddn@ncleg.net

While the General Assembly has struggled through the summer to pass a budget, reform of the public mental health system has continued to move forward. In July, the Department of Health & Human Services released "State Plan 2002," which provides the updated blueprint for the reform efforts. In communities across the state, planning forums have been initiated to develop the required Local Business Plans that must be submitted by all counties in January 2003. There are unprecedented opportunities for consumer and family involvement in this planning process. NAMI North Carolina has developed a number of materials to assist communities in the planning process, including a summary of the State Plan and a series of technical assistance bulletins. The bulletins cover:

• Best Practice Services
• Family/Consumer involvement, particularly in monitoring and assuring quality services
• State and Local Business Plan requirements for family/consumer involvement
• Client rights

All of this information is available on the NAMI North Carolina web site at www.naminc.org If you want to get involved, contact your local NAMI North Carolina affiliate or your local area mental health program.

Make a difference, get involved!