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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 01-21-2025 ; 6-d - Orange County’s Proposed 2025 Priority Legislative Issues 1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: January 21, 2025 Action Agenda Item No. 6-d SUBJECT: Orange County's Proposed 2025 Priority Legislative Issues DEPARTMENT: County Manager ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: DRAFT Orange County 2025 Priority Commissioner Jean Hamilton, 245-2130 Legislative Issues Commissioner Amy Fowler, 245-2130 John Roberts, County Attorney, 245- 2318 Travis Myren, County Manager, 245- 2300 PURPOSE: To: 1) Review and discuss the proposed Orange County 2025 Priority Legislative Issues as developed by the Legislative Issues Work Group (LIWG) and any other potential items for inclusion in Orange County's legislative agenda package for the 2025 North Carolina General Assembly Session; and 2) Consider approval of the Orange County 2025 Priority Legislative Issues document for submittal to Orange County's legislative delegation. BACKGROUND: Orange County's Legislative Breakfast with Orange County's legislative delegation, in conjunction with the 2025 North Carolina General Assembly session, is scheduled for February 27, 2025. The Board of Commissioners has historically approved a set of legislative issues each year for presentation to/discussion with the delegation. The Board historically has appointed two members to work with staff on a Legislative Issues Work Group (LIWG) to develop a proposed legislative document. Based on the work of the LIWG, the BOCC has then reviewed and approved a package of legislative items to present to Orange County's legislative delegation. Commissioners Amy Fowler and Jean Hamilton are serving on the 2025 LIWG and have worked with staff on the attached 2025 legislative package. As the LIWG considered its approach for this year, the Group (similar to recent years) decided to identify a short list of Legislative Priority Issues. The Group ultimately developed twelve (12) Priority Issues, acknowledging that the full Board of Commissioners may consider modifying the list, exchanging one item for another item, other potential revisions, etc. The LIWG also acknowledged Board members' previous comments on organizing the issues by topic area similar to the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC)and listing the topics in priority order: 2 The Board will need to discuss the materials as provided by the LIWG. The work of the Legislative Issues Work Group to this point is based on the current information available for the 2025 General Assembly Session. The issues addressed by the Group may evolve and change over the session and require additional attention by the Group and Board of Commissioners. New issues may also arise necessitating additional review. FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with reviewing and approving Orange County's 2025 Priority Legislative Issues. ALIGNMENT WITH STRATEGIC PLAN: This item supports: • GOAL 2: HEALTHY COMMUNITY OBJECTIVE 1. Improve harm reduction, prevention, and support services for adults and children experiencing behavioral health issues, substance use disorder, and intellectual or developmental disability. OBJECTIVE 2. Expand access to quality, affordable healthcare services. (e.g., Crisis Diversion facility, Medicaid expansion, crisis response, healthy living campaign). OBJECTIVE 3. Provide social safety net programming and the resources needed for our most vulnerable community members (e.g., veterans, unhoused people, foster children, older adults, etc.). OBJECTIVE 4. Reduce impacts and barriers for justice-involved children and adults through deflection, diversion, therapeutic interventions, and re-entry support, including housing. OBJECTIVE 5. Invest in, support, train, and retain our community safety, health, and emergency services employees and direct care workforce. • GOAL 5: PUBLIC EDUCATION/LEARNING COMMUNITY OBJECTIVE 2. Improve school readiness and educational outcomes by providing access, training, tools, technology, and other resources needed to thrive. OBJECTIVE 4. Improve learning environments by investing in facilities over a 10-year period that address repair, renovation, and educational adequacy needs. OBJECTIVE 5. Invest in and implement a plan that supports schools operational and facility funding needs. OBJECTIVE 6. Implement the recommendations of the Schools Safety Task Force. OBJECTIVE 7. Invest in and expand equitable behavioral health services for children and adolescents. OBJECTIVE 8. Invest in and expand equitable behavioral health services for teachers and staff. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends the Board: 1) Review and discuss the Orange County 2025 Priority Legislative Issues and any other potential items for the 2025 North Carolina General Assembly Session; and 2) Consider approval of the Orange County 2025 Priority Legislative Issues document for submittal to Orange County's legislative delegation. Pending action by the Board, staff will work with the Chair to draft a cover letter to be included with the attached document to be provided to Orange County's legislative delegation for the February 27, 2025 Legislative Breakfast. DRAFT 3 ORANGE COUNTY 2025 PRIORITY LEGISLATIVE ISSUES HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Mental Health, Behavioral Health, and Substance Use Issues — Seek legislation to develop and fund mental health and behavioral health facilities and services at the state and local level that: • Ensure adequate State-funded mental health, developmental disability and substance use disorder services and facilities are available, accessible and affordable to all residents; • Include dedicated resources for community para-medicine projects and enhanced mobile crisis response; • Support Medicaid reimbursement to EMS for behavioral health transport to crisis centers; • Establish a Medicaid code to reimburse behavioral health urgent care services at a sustainable rate; • Reduce the number of people with mental health issues in county detention centers by funding additional community-based mental health services and increasing in-patient beds at State hospitals and residential behavioral health facilities; • Ensure that state resources fund service provision costs, inclusive of crisis intervention and treatment; • Increase innovation waiver slots more aggressively to meet the Olmstead Act requirements to serve members of the public with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities (IDD) (current waiting list of approximately 17,000); • Increase compensation for mental health providers, psychiatrists, nurses, social workers, and direct support staff funded by innovation waivers and other Medicaid sources; • Approve and fund implementation of the 1115 Medicaid Waiver approved by the Federal government. This Waiver authorizes NCDHHS to invest in housing, food, transportation and reentry for more high-needs Medicaid recipients; and • Support legislation to: • Provide additional regulation on hemp-derived products such as Cannabidiol (CBD), and prohibiting those designed to resemble well-known candy and other snack food products; • Raise the legal age to purchase and use hemp-derived products to 21; and • Incorporate a ban on the flavoring of vape products. Support for Older Adults — Seek legislation to: • Strengthen the state's Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program by addressing staffing concerns associated with paid ombudsman positions (potentially seven (7) additional positions statewide) and defining roles and responsibilities of the county volunteer committees that monitor conditions in facilities; • Implement changes recommended by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services' Adult Protective Services Improvement Design Team and provide recurring state funding to support needed capacity to protect all vulnerable older and disabled adults across the state; and • Provide additional funding to provide for the delivery of meals to those individuals across the state with limited mobility/access to meal sites. 4 Affordable Housing — Support legislation and additional funding to increase affordable and accessible housing, including permanent supportive housing for individuals with disabilities. Foster Care — Seek legislation providing additional resources and state leadership for foster care, along with funding for dedicated physical spaces and necessary staffing to serve foster children held in county custody. PUBLIC EDUCATION Priority School Issues — Support legislation to address the following issues related to schools: • Provide local school systems with calendar flexibility; • Provide full funding for State allotments including Average Daily Membership (ADM) growth and infrastructure/capital, and support legislation to provide for an overall increase in funding based on ADM outside of the current formula system; • Provide a periodic accounting process for State per pupil funds so that funds and pro-rated funds follow students to their respective schools, as opposed to the current process that only considers State funding allocations based on students' attendance location on a single day during the school year; • Increase salary compensation for teachers and staff at all years of service; • Impose class size reductions commensurate with State funding for staffing; • Provide increased funding for school safety initiatives; • Provide full funding for public Pre-K education which benefits both students and the general public through improved life-long health/mental health, achievement; and other benefits; and • Reduce funding and limit eligibility for/availability of private school vouchers (especially reversing the availability of funding for non-low income families), as vouchers constrain available funding for public education statewide, encourage students to leave public education, and limit services and educational opportunities for all remaining public school students. School Capital Funding — Support a State bond referendum to address school capital needs to provide needed capital funding to support school infrastructure, renovations, and new construction; and support legislation to: • Allocate State surplus funds for statewide school capital needs; and • Ensure methods used to distribute school capital funding consider the needs of all counties. Full Funding of the Leandro Remedial Action Plan — Support equity and racial justice by fully funding the Leandro Remedial Action Plan, which details additional comprehensive, targeted education funding over the next eight years, predominantly to low-wealth and minority communities, in order for the State to come into compliance with its constitutional obligation to provide every student a sound basic education. 5 GENERAL GOVERNMENT Racial Equity in Criminal Justice — Support continued consideration and implementation, where practicable, of the recommendations of the North Carolina Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice (TREC), including: • Legislation to legalize the possession and use of marijuana and permit licensed businesses to engage in retail sales to adults, as this decriminalization will in turn broaden the agricultural economy and jobs as well as enhance revenue for governments with taxes, licenses, and other associated revenues that can be utilized to address opioid and other drug-related problems and other needs; • Policing reforms to address use of force, community oversight and law enforcement training on crisis intervention; • Funding at the county level to expand access to diversion and restorative justice programs; • The reduction of fines, fees and costs in criminal court, noting that such fines, fees and costs disproportionately impact people of color and people of low income; and • End automatic driver's license revocation for failure to appear in court and failure to pay court fines and fees and ensure this statutory change is retroactive, with notice to drivers and without requiring the payment of restoration fees. Concealed Weapons in Parks and Red Flag Law — Support legislation authorizing counties to regulate the carrying of concealed weapons on county-owned playgrounds and in county-owned parklands, and allowing courts to prevent access to firearms for individuals who show signs of being a danger to themselves or to others. Mental illness, escalating threats, substance abuse and domestic violence are among the circumstances in which a judge should have the authority to order weapon restrictions or surrender. Non-Partisan Redistricting Process for Elections — Support legislation to establish a process for an independent, non-partisan redistricting process after each United States Census for the election of representatives from North Carolina to the United States House of Representatives, the North Carolina House, and the North Carolina Senate. Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation Funding — Support legislation to remove the restriction on State funding for stand-alone bicycle and pedestrian projects imposed by the North Carolina Strategic Transportation Investment Law. The restriction limits the development of infrastructure for bicyclists, pedestrians, and users of personal mobility devices. Broadband Expansion — Support efforts to encourage the North Carolina Department of Information Technology, Division of Broadband and Digital Equity, and private providers to expedite the allocation of Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funding for projects in eligible areas of Orange County to deliver essential broadband access to residents.