Budget highlights – and lowlights

RALEIGH (September 22, 2023) – To win Medicaid expansion he has sought since he was elected, Gov. Roy Cooper agreed to make it contingent on passage of the state budget.

So Republican legislators packed a whole lot of policy into the 1,400-page 2023-25 budget for Cooper to swallow.

Here are some highlights – and lowlights.

Medicaid expansion: Republican legislators have resisted expansion of Medicaid health insurance to as many as 600,000 North Carolinians who don’t already qualify for more than a decade. But Senate leader Phil Berger changed his position last year and expansion was authorized this year – contingent on passage of the budget.

NCInnovation: A Durham-based nonprofit headed by former Truist CEO Kelly King aims to commercialize research from UNC System institutions – mainly those outside the Triangle. The Senate initially proposed to give the fledgling organization $1.4 billion of the state’s $4.8 billion budget surplus. That amount was whittled down to $500 million over two years in the final budget.¹

Opportunity Scholarships: The budget quintuples spending on the state’s private-school vouchers over the next 10 years, from $95 million in 2022-23 to $520 million in 2032-33. The budget removes income limits so that a student from any income level can receive a voucher, even if they already attend private school.²

Community College Governance: As part of an ongoing move to shift appointment powers from the governor to the General Assembly, legislators overhauled governance of the NC Community College System. Legislators will now confirm the next System President. The governor will lose 10 appointments to the State Board of Community Colleges and the legislature will now have 18. (The Lieutenant Governor, State Treasurer and Commissioner of Labor will also no longer be members.) The governor will lose four appointments to the Board of Trustees at each of the 58 community colleges. Now each board will have eight trustees appointed by the General Assembly and four appointed by county commissioners.³

NC Care: In an effort aimed at Eastern North Carolina and more broadly rural parts of the state, the budget orders UNC Health and ECU Health to “collaborate” on an initiative called “NC Care.” The budget allocates $420 million for the effort: $210 million for three health clinics, $150 million for investment in community-owned hospitals, $50 million for a regional behavioral health hospital and $10 million to integrate clinical networks.⁴

UNC Health Children’s Hospital: $320 million for UNC Health to build a new Children’s Hospital in the Triangle region that will include a behavioral health hospital.⁵

UNC School of Civic Life and Leadership: In a tug-of-war between UNC-Chapel Hill’s trustees and faculty, the legislature weighed in to establish the School of Civic Life and Leadership with $2 million a year in initial funding. The university must hire 10-20 faculty members from outside UNC-Chapel Hill who are eligible for tenure, and the Provost must name the inaugural dean of the school by December 31.⁶

UNC School of Government: A punitive one-time cut of $2.5 million, from $15.1 million to $12.6 million.⁷

Teaching Fellows Expansion: The NC Teaching Fellows scholarship program to support aspiring teachers had almost 8,500 graduates from 1986 until 2015, when a shortsighted legislature ended it. It was resurrected in 2017 with forgivable loans – but only for would-be teachers in science, technology, engineering, math (STEM) fields and special education. The new budget increases the number of participating universities from eight to 10, expands the fields to include K-6 teachers, and increases the amount of loans from $4,125 to $5,000 a semester.⁸

NC Education Campus: The budget provides money for demolition of the Department of Administration Building across the street from the Legislative Building to make way for consolidated offices of the UNC System, Community College System, Department of Public Instruction and Department of Commerce. It also provides initial funds for a parking deck. Total cost of the project has now ballooned to $395 million: $10 million for demolition; $65 million for the parking deck; and $320 million for the new building.⁹

Engineering NC’s Future: $20 million in continued funding to substantially expand engineering programs, with $10 million for NC State University, $5 million for N.C. A&T State University and $5 million for UNC Charlotte,[10] plus separate funding of $3.5 million to expand engineering at Western Carolina University.¹¹

N.C. A&T Research Funding: In its quest to be classified an R1 research university (a doctoral university with very high research activity), N.C. A&T receives $15 million.¹²

UNC Faculty Retirement Incentive: Salaries are the UNC System’s single largest expense. Legislators granted System officials’ request for $16.8 million to offer tenured faculty a full year’s salary as a severance package. Priority would be given to institutions most affected by shrinking enrollment: NC Central, UNC Asheville, UNC Greensboro, Winston-Salem State and East Carolina University.¹³

ECU Brody School of Medicine: The second year of the budget provides the first $20 million toward construction of a new Brody School of Medicine, which will cost a total of $265 million.

Elizabeth City State Flight School: Also in the second year of the budget, legislators provide $30.8 million toward a new aviation instruction building at Elizabeth City State University that will cost $54 million.¹⁴

Appalachian State Hickory Campus: The budget provides $8 million over two years to support Appalachian’s new Hickory Campus. It also provides $4 million in the second year toward an eventual $50 million in renovations at the campus.¹⁵

Nursing/Health Workforce Start-up Funds: $30 million in Covid-relief funds will go to community colleges to help start programs in nursing and other health-related fields.¹⁶

Longleaf Commitment Grants: This program uses $12.5 million in state dollars to pick up a program to provide need-based aid to help students complete community college, which Gov. Roy Cooper launched with federal Covid-relief dollars.¹⁷

UNC Completion Grants: $2 million will go to ECSU, Fayetteville State, N.C. A&T, UNC Asheville, UNC Greensboro, UNC Pembroke and Winston-Salem State to provide aid to students on track to graduate, but at risk of dropping out due to financial shortfalls.¹⁸

Leave a Reply Cancel reply