~ Executive order expands state employment policy to cover sexual orientation and gender identity
~ Order affirms rights of local governments and businesses to establish their own anti-discrimination policies for employees
~ Order maintains ‘gender-specific restroom and locker room facilities’ in government buildings and schools
Gov. Pat McCrory on Tuesday responded to growing criticism of HB2 with an executive order that expands state employment policy to cover sexual orientation and gender identity and affirming the rights of local governments and businesses to establish their own anti-discrimination policies for employees.
McCrory also promised to seek legislation to reinstate the right to sue in state court for discrimination, a right eliminated by House Bill 2.
At the same time, the governor said he would maintain “common sense gender-specific restroom and locker room facilities” in government buildings and schools.
“Simply put I have listened to the people of North Carolina and the people of North Carolina are entitled to both privacy and equality,” the governor said in a video message.
Event turns into a campaign rally for GOP governor, attorney general candidate
A counterprotest draws a few dozen
About 700 supporters of the new North Carolina law limiting LGBT protections against discrimination spread across the Capitol lawn Monday to cheer Gov. Pat McCrory and the law’s legislative champions.
Speakers repeatedly urged the crowd to applaud McCrory, Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, legislative leaders and supportive lawmakers. They also had sharp rebukes for PayPal, the online payments company that canceled its plans to expand in Charlotte; for Bruce Springsteen, who canceled a Greensboro concert in protest; and for the businesses that have publicly opposed the law.
The rally focused only on the part of the law that nullified a Charlotte ordinance that would have allowed people to choose bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity.
The law, commonly called House Bill 2 or HB2, was needed to protect the privacy and safety of women and girls in bathrooms and locker rooms, supporters said. “Such an ordinance creates a loophole sexual predators can exploit,” said the Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League of North Carolina, as members of the crowd waved signs saying “Keep kids safe.”
There was no mention of the parts of the law that void municipal LGBT nondiscrimination ordinances, prevent municipalities from requiring contractors to pay workers more than the minimum wage and bar workers from filing discrimination lawsuits in state court.
Opposition to the bill is part of “a carefully manufactured campaign,” said John Rustin, head of the NC Family Policy Council.
The rally also drew about two dozen counter-protesters who stood across the street and whose chants could be heard in the rally crowd.
Some of the speeches steered directly into political campaign territory, underscoring the prominent role HB2 is already playing this election year.
Sen. Buck Newton, a Republican from Wilson and a candidate for state attorney general, had the crowd booing Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper, who is running for governor.
Cooper will not defend the law against a suit brought by the ACLU and others.
“Mr. Cooper time and time again has refused to defend you, the people of North Carolina,” Newton said, because “he’s too interested in running for office.”
Cooper has called for repealing the law.
“Because Governor McCrory has put his partisan political agenda above all else and signed House Bill 2 into law, our state is losing hundreds of good jobs and millions of dollars in revenue,” Cooper campaign spokesman Jamal Little said later Monday. “North Carolina is better than this. We need a governor who will attract jobs to our state and grow our economy, not promote a partisan agenda.”
Newton said his opponent in the attorney general’s race, Democrat Josh Stein of Raleigh, would be another Cooper.
“It’s time that we had an attorney general who will stand up and fight for the people of this state,” Newton said.
Contacted later Monday, Stein said he wants to be an attorney general who protects all people in the state. “The attorney general of North Carolina should protect all people from discrimination, not champion laws that promote it.”
Michael Lindsay of Raleigh, an opponent of the law, tried to stand with the rally crowd while holding a sign that said, “Rebranding North Carolina as a State of Hate.” He was led across the street by law enforcement.
Lindsay said later that the law “is about politics” and meant to create an issue that will appeal to the Republican base. But it is damaging the state’s brand, he said. “They’re chasing jobs away right and left right now,” he said.
Speakers repeated some common themes supporting HB2 — that it’s a common-sense law, that the media aren’t telling the truth about it, that corporations are bullying the state.
“I’m not concerned about political correctness,” said Bishop Patrick Wooden of the Upper Room Church of God in Christ in Raleigh. “Everybody knows that a transgendered woman is a man. And everybody knows that a transgendered man is a woman. And we have allowed common sense to go out of the window in the name of political correctness.”
Ron Baity, a Baptist preacher and head of Return America, said people who don’t know who they are should go to the library and get a book on anatomy.
“God made no mistake when he created us,” he said.
Support for the law springs from “a misunderstanding of transgender folks and of the LGBT community as a whole,” Justin Lee, executive director of the Gay Christian Network, said in an interview later.
“It is not my responsibility as a Christian to tell you how you should be living your life,” he said. “It is my responsibility as a Christian to live my life the way I believe God wants me to, and to show you grace, even if we disagree. I think that is where these Christians are dropping the ball, the ones that support HB2.”
A proposal that codifies a statewide nondiscrimination policy in employment and public accommodations and prohibits North Carolina cities or towns from enacting stricter guidelines was signed into law by Gov. Pat McCrory late Wednesday after clearing the General Assembly in less than nine hours.
"I have signed legislation passed by a bipartisan majority to stop this breach of basic privacy and etiquette which was to go into effect April 1," McCrory said in a statement. "Although other items included in this bill should have waited until regular session, this bill does not change existing rights under state or federal law.
"It is now time for the city of Charlotte elected officials and state elected officials to get back to working on the issues most important to our citizens."
All Democratic members of the Senate walked out of the chamber in protest Wednesday evening, leading to a 32-0 vote for the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act.
"This bill essentially ties a noose around the necks of the cities and counties, and it smothers their ability to govern in a way that their citizens think they ought to," Senate Minority Leader Dan Blue said as other Democrats left. "We're not participating in this effort that you make to roll back the clock in this state, to take away powers from local governments."
Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger criticized the walkout. "Running out and ducking this vote is a serious breach of their duty to their constituents," he said.
On Wednesday afternoon, the House voted 84-24 in favor of the bill as state lawmakers rushed to push it through the General Assembly in a one-day special session.
"This is historic," said Rep. Dan Bishop, R-Mecklenburg, noting that North Carolina has never had a nondiscrimination statute.
The bill excludes gays and lesbians from discrimination protections, however, prompting an outcry from LGBT advocates, some corporations and Attorney General Roy Cooper, the Democratic candidate for governor.
Chris Sgro, executive director of Equality North Carolina, called it the "worst anti-LGBT bill in the entire nation."
"The bill tears away at the fabric of my community by overturning and pre-empting vital protections for gay and transgendered people," Sgro said. "He [McCrory] goes back on his word again by signing legislation coming out of an expensive and unnecessary special session."
"That the North Carolina legislature would convene a costly special session specifically to invalidate and prohibit the expansion of civil rights for LGBT people is disgraceful," Eric Wachter, associate regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, said in a statement. "Equality, fairness and the desire to stand on the right side of history are reasons enough for legislators to reject this odious and discriminatory legislation."
"Discrimination is wrong, period. That North Carolina is putting discrimination into the law is shameful," Cooper said in a YouTube video posted by his campaign.
"Our commitment to the fair treatment of all individuals, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, has not changed and is at the core of our NCAA values," NCAA spokeswoman Gail Dent said. "It is our expectation that all people will be welcomed and treated with respect in cities that host our NCAA championships and events."
Greensboro and Charlotte are scheduled to host regional games in the NCAA men's basketball tournament in the next two years.
A similar religious rights measure is pending in Georgia, where corporations and even the NFL have said they'll avoid doing business in the state if it becomes law.
The North Carolina bill also doesn't include disabled people among the groups protected from discrimination, but Bishop said other state statutes already protect them.
Rep. Grier Martin, D-Wake, tried to amend the bill so it included gays and lesbians among the protected groups, as well as veterans, but the Republican majority voted to table that suggestion.
The Senate Judiciary II Committee likewise tabled an attempt Wednesday evening by Sen. Terry Van Duyn, D-Buncombe, to add gender identity to the bill for protections against discrimination.
Bathroom debate prompted bill
The legislation is in response to an ordinance passed last month by the Charlotte City Council that broadly defines how businesses treat LGBT customers. The ordinance includes a provision that allows transgender people to use public bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity.
Social conservatives have railed against the Charlotte ordinance for weeks, saying it violates the religious freedom of business owners and puts women and children at risk by allowing sexual predators to go into women's bathrooms.
"If God didn't give you access to a male or female bathroom via your anatomy, neither should we give you access via either ordinance or legislation," John Amanchukwu, executive director of Upper Room Christian Academy in Raleigh, told members of the House Judiciary IV Committee on Wednesday morning.
Chloe Jefferson, a junior at Greenville Christian Academy, called the prospect of a boy in the girl's bathroom or locker room at her school "completely frightening," adding that dealing with body image is hard enough for teen girls without having boys around when they change clothes or go to the bathroom.
"I am not the only girl scared," Jefferson said.
Charlotte business owner Heather Garofalo encouraged lawmakers to outlaw local anti-discrimination ordinances, saying they threaten her religious right to choose not to serve LGBT customers.
"Business owners like myself, we would be forced to check our deepest-held beliefs at the door or suffer fines of $500, jail time, lawsuits," Garofalo said. "I am asking for a right to provide for my family."
But several transgender people pleaded with lawmakers to defeat the proposal, saying they are just as scared to go into bathrooms where they don't feel comfortable.
"I can't use the men's room. I won't go back to the men's room. It is unsafe for me there. People like me die there," said Madeleine Goss, a Raleigh woman who said she was bullied as a boy in Hickory because of her gender identity.
"I have the right to be safe too," a sobbing Angela Bridgeman told lawmakers.
"I feel bullied by you guys," Skye Thomson, a 15-year-old transgender boy from Greenville, told senators. "Imagine yourself in my shoes, being a boy walking into a ladies room. It's awkward and embarrassing and can actually be dangerous."
"Are you really interested in me being spit on and pushed around and shoved because of who I am in a restroom?" asked Rev. Michael Slack, a transgender man. "Legislating mistreatment, hatred and misunderstanding is shameful."
The bill would require people to use the bathroom that aligns with the gender listed on their birth certificate. Backers noted that North Carolina law allows people who have undergone a sex change to amend the gender on their birth certificates. California and Texas also allow people to amend their birth certificates, but it was unclear Wednesday whether other states had similar regulations.
"This is really not about bathrooms. It's about fear," said Rep. Rodney Moore, D-Mecklenburg. "The spirit of the bill is not what it says it intends to do."
Rep. Tricia Cotham, D-Mecklenburg, said the bill resorts to fear-mongering and "flies in the face of" attempts to move North Carolina forward.
"We must be a state that is inclusive and welcomes in North Carolina and protects everyone," Cotham said. "You are absolutely not protecting children, and you're not protecting women."
But Rep. Dean Arp, R-Union, said "prisoners have more privacy" than people in public bathrooms under the Charlotte ordinance.
"How compassionate is it to strip North Carolina citizens of their right to privacy?" Arp said.
Cotham was able to amend the bill to allow parents or caregivers to take children under age 7 into a public bathroom with them, regardless of gender.
Lawmakers draw line on municipal power
In addition to voiding the bathroom provision of Charlotte's ordinance and spelling out state policy on discrimination in employment and public accommodations, the bill also would prohibit cities and counties from adopting so-called living wage ordinances because that would require businesses to pay workers more than the state-established minimum wage.
Bishop and other supporters said North Carolina needs consistent regulations for business and that Charlotte overstepped its authority by passing its ordinance.
"This is not new law," Bishop said. "It's a clarification."
His characterization of the Charlotte City Council as "a handful of radicals under the influence of an activist group" and the ordinance as "the picture of the subversion of the rule of law" drew sharp rebukes from House Democrats.
"Government is best when handled at the lowest level possible," said Rep. Marvin Lucas, D-Cumberland, who called the bill "micromanaging."
"Even the authority you have given them in the past, you have taken away from them," said Rep. Mickey Michaux, D-Durham, noting the General Assembly has stripped cities of power several times in recent years.
Reps. Mike Hager, R-Rutherford, and Nelson Dollar said the legislature needs to act when Charlotte or another jurisdiction oversteps its authority.
"These cities and counties, especially in this case, have operated outside their boundaries, and they're into the boundaries of the state," Hager said.
"We do not need any municipal government acting outside of its appropriate authority, particularly when they are seeking to make political statements," Dollar said.
Other issues raised
Opponents to the bill also argued that not prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity could put $4 billion in federal education funding to the state at risk under the Title IX gender equity law.
Similar legislation has been defeated in Tennessee and South Dakota because of such concerns, but Republicans in the General Assembly argued Title IX has exemptions that would preclude any loss of funds to North Carolina.
Democrats also questioned whether the bill would eliminate some protections for wrongful termination claims by fired workers. Republicans disagreed on whether that was the case, with some saying it didn't and others saying people were better off filing a federal lawsuit anyway.
"A rushed process leads to mistakes, leads to omissions," Martin cautioned his fellow House members.
Under the bill, discrimination complaints would be handled by the state Human Relations Commission, but some Democrats pointed out that Republicans gutted the commission's budget last summer, which would render it ineffective.
Legislation becomes campaign issue
Lawmakers called themselves into session on Tuesday after McCrory declined to do so. McCrory said he thought the issue could be addressed during the regular 2016 legislative session, which starts April 25, but legislative leaders wanted to pre-empt the Charlotte ordinance, which is scheduled to take effect April 1.
Cooper said McCrory sparked the debate by publicly denouncing the ordinance shortly after it passed.
"Gov. McCrory got us started down this path by promising legislative action for political gain," he said. "The governor lit the match and then stood aside as the fire grew out of control."
McCrory's campaign responded by accusing Cooper of not doing his job in fighting the ordinance himself.
"Roy Cooper supports forcing women and young girls to use the same restrooms and locker rooms as grown men, all in the name of political correctness, and he refused to act as attorney general to protect our privacy and defend our state's laws," Russell Peck, McCrory's campaign manager, said in a statement.
Berger and Sen. Buck Newton, R-Wilson, the Republican candidate for attorney general, also criticized Cooper for his inaction on the Charlotte ordinance, which Newton called "a radical and dangerous policy."
"Frankly, if the attorney general would do his job, we wouldn't be here today," Newton said. "It would be easy for him to put a stop to this."
The Attorney General's Office has said no action is necessary because cases of indecent exposure and sexual assault can already be prosecuted under state law.
Local schools facing big budget cuts can expect more freedom on how to spend state money, says Rep. Thom Tillis, a Huntersville Republican who's been tapped as House speaker in the new GOP-dominated legislature.
Before he was elected to the North Carolina State Legislature four years ago, Tillis was a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools parent volunteer, PTSA president and education activist from the northern suburbs.
Now he brings that experience to a top post in a year that could shake the foundations of public education, with Republicans holding a majority in the state legislature for the first time in more than a century and a $3 Billion gap looming in the N.C. State budget.
Tillis says his PTSA work at Hopewell High gave him a firsthand view of how many strings come attached to state money. While he's not ready to offer specifics, he says Republicans are ready to loosen those strings.
"There's about 500 pages of statutes," Tillis said. "How can we ease the burden?"
That's welcome news to CMS leaders, who have long sought more decision-making power.
Board chair Eric Davis, who is registered unaffiliated, says much of the current control dates to the Great Depression, when North Carolina stepped in as small districts went broke.
"We're now in an economic crisis second only to the Great Depression," Davis said, and he urges state legislators to seize the opportunity to get rid of "rules and regulations that tie our hands."
The CMS board is still working on a legislative wish list, but Davis cited rules restricting furloughs and setting the school calendar as examples that limit local options.
Superintendent Peter Gorman said Wednesday that he'd like to see the state give each district its share of the money with no restrictions. Now, state money is often attached to prescribed jobs. Preliminary state plans for dealing with big cuts in 2011 would reduce the number of teachers available at each grade level, a loss of up to 500 from CMS alone, and eliminate teacher assistants in grades 1-3, leaving them only in kindergarten.
Gorman said he'd like the option of cutting something else to preserve assistants. Making those decisions brings more criticism to local officials, he said, but "I'd rather take the blame and be more strategic."
Tillis says his party has some broad strokes plans for education, from allowing more charter schools to cutting regulations. Starting this month, he said, he and other leaders will meet with educators, officials, parents and others willing to help chart the details.
"We want as many people engaged in the process as are interested," he said shortly after Republicans chose him to become speaker.
Up-close knowledge
Mary McCray, president of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators, calls Tillis' CMS experience "a plus-plus."
"He knows what overcrowded high schools are, what they look like," McCray said.
In 2003, Tillis was part of FUME, a north-suburban parent group organized by Rhonda Lennon, who's now on the CMS board. The group was concerned about school crowding created by CMS student assignment and slow construction of suburban schools, along with other issues.
At Hopewell, Tillis said, concerns about safety and discipline led to a PTA survey of teachers. That taught him to listen to rank-and-file educators, he said.
He said he'll work with groups such as the N.C. Association of Educators, a quasi-union in a right-to-work state, but "I don't view the NCAE as being the voice of teachers."
Tillis says his own family has experienced school choice; his two kids attended both public and private schools. His daughter graduated from CMS's Hopewell and attends Central Piedmont Community College, he said, while his son graduated from the private Cannon School and attends American University in Washington, D.C.
One of the GOP's top priorities is lifting North Carolina's 100-school limit on charters, which get public money but don't report to local districts.
"I believe this year if you see nothing else, you will see a more friendly environment for charter schools in North Carolina," he said.
Not all charters are successful, Tillis said, but a wider range would offer more options and more success stories. His goal, he says, is recognizing standouts among charters and traditional public schools.
Swinging for doubles
The 2011 session convenes Jan. 26; that's when new members will be sworn in and the speaker will be formally elected.
The legislature could re-examine the state pay scale, Tillis said. He said he's intrigued by CMS's quest to base teacher pay on student progress and other measures of effectiveness, rather than seniority and credentials.
"I believe it's worked well in business and been successful in some other districts," he said.
And he said he'd consider loosening the state-imposed limits on when the school year stops and starts, as long as changes don't harm the economy. Some businesses that rely on summer vacation trade and/or student labor lobbied for a uniform school year.
Every creative approach that state and local officials can find will help, Tillis said, even though he doubts there's one big answer to dealing with cuts.
"I don't believe there are any home runs out there," he said, "but I do believe there are a lot of singles and doubles."
North Carolina Republicans narrowly selected state Rep. Thom Tillis of Mecklenburg County on Saturday as their nominee to become the next speaker of the North Carolina House. Tillis is a relative newcomer with fiscal expertise who was the GOP's floor chief for the past four years.
House Republicans claimed 68 seats on Election Day, all but assuring sole GOP control of the 120-seat chamber and the speaker's post for the first time since 1998. The actual vote for speaker occurs Jan. 26 on the session's first day.
Democrat Joe Hackney, who loses his position as speaker to the incoming Republican majority, issued a statement Saturday congratulating Tillis.
"My Democratic colleagues and I look forward to working with him to make our state better," Hackney said.
"We will also continue to support action consistent with our principles. We will oppose policies that take North Carolina backward, that threaten to destroy the remarkable progress we have made in our public schools, our community colleges and our universities, or that threaten our outstanding and highly lauded climate for business."
Tillis, 50, who just won his third term to the Legislature, defeated three other candidates, including Rep. Paul Stam, R-Wake, the minority leader since 2007.
Results of the private meeting, secret-ballot vote weren't released by caucus leaders, who would only say that Tillis won on the second ballot and that the final margin was thin.
Stam unanimously was elected majority leader, which Tillis called a sign of the amicable competition and the good feelings Republicans had for both candidates. Two other candidates who had sought the majority leader's post dropped out for Stam.
"We went in there unified and we came out unified, and I have every reason to believe that that's why we're going to go into the legislative session and make history," Tillis told reporters after the meeting.
Stam said the GOP will lead cooperatively and constructively. "We're still going to cooperate with Democrats whenever we can. In the past, it was out of necessity because it was the way to get our bills passed, but, in the future, we'll do it because it's good government," he said.
Tillis, a former IBM business consultant first elected to the House in 2006 and became minority whip in 2009, has won points for running the campaign operation that raised money and recruited candidates who defeated more than a dozen Democratic incumbents. He said fiscal issues such as taxation and narrowing a projected $3.2 billion budget gap would be the immediate work of the new majority.
"This is a part-time legislature that's going to try and solve that crisis over a six-month period. Most CEOs would go running for the door if they had to take on the task that we've worked hard to take on," he said.
"Our priorities are going to be what they were in the campaign," Tillis said. "We're going to focus on the fiscal situation. We're going to focus on trying whatever we can to create jobs. We're going to live up to our promises."
Stam, an Apex attorney completing his fifth term, also talked fiscal matters but appealed more to social conservatives and has been involved in Republican Party politics since the early 1970s. He first joined the House in 1989 and returned more than a decade later.
Reps. Ric Killian of Mecklenburg County and Mitch Gillespie of McDowell County also ran for speaker Saturday. They were removed from the ballot after they trailed in the first round of voting.
Outgoing Speaker Joe Hackney, D-Orange, has been in the Legislature for 30 years. State GOP Chairman Tom Fetzer said he didn't believe Tillis' relative inexperience is a liability.
"He's going to bring a businessman's focus, a businessman's perspective to the job of speaker. He's not a career politician," Fetzer said. "We need to disabuse ourselves of this notion that people have to be around there forever to effectively lead."
Tillis and Sen. Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, chosen Thursday as the GOP's choice for Senate leader, will become the top Republican leaders in state government, setting the tone for what legislation will be heard and which lawmakers will get plum committee assignments. They'll also serve as chief negotiators with, and likely foils of, Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue.
Tillis said he won't have all the answers leading the House but said he knows where to find them.
"I have the kind of experience that you need to lead a caucus that has tremendous institutional knowledge," Tillis said.
Unity is a sensitive issue for House Republicans, who struggled through a fracturous decade between those aligned with or against former co-Speaker Richard Morgan, R-Moore. The infighting surfaced in primary elections during the 2004 or 2006, taking out several GOP incumbents. Stam, 60, is credited with restoring the caucus.
House Republicans also agreed to nominate Rep. Dale Folwell of Forsyth County as speaker pro tempore, a largely ceremonial position but one Tillis said Folwell initially will use to help with new member orientation. Folwell still must be elected by the entire chamber January. The caucus also elected Rep. Marilyn Avila, R-Wake, as chairwoman of the joint House-Senate Republican caucus.
The day was largely a joyful one for Republicans, who have held control or partial control of the House for only six years since the 1898 elections. When asked what it will be like switching from minority leader to majority leader, Stam replied simply: "We're going to win a whole lot more votes."
US Senator Kay Hagan introduces Anti-Fraud Software proposal on the Senate Floor. This Software will help eliminate Billions in National Medicaid and Medicare Fraud.
Sunday's column on tax reform mentioned the General Assembly's Republican Joint Caucus proposal for tax and spending reforms. The proposal, outlined in a news release under the names of House Republican Leader Skip Stam of Wake, NC Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger of Rockingham and Joint Caucus Leader Eddie Goodall of Union.
Proposed Principles for Job Creation through Tax and Spending Reform:
1.) The concept of substantially reducing personal and corporate income tax rates and sales tax rates is good. If that reduction is accomplished by broadening the base in a revenue neutral way, that is the right way to go. But it raises four major issues.
2.) Neither the public nor Republicans trust Democrats to keep the rates low. There must be a mechanism to ensure this. Two possibilities: a) A Constitutional amendment limiting the state sales tax rate at 3% + and the county sales tax rate to an equivalent. The Constitution currently specifies a 10% limit on tax on net income. b) A Statute that sets out as a Rule of Order, applicable to each House, that an increase in the rate must be separately passed by both Houses and signed by the Governor, and cannot be combined with any other matter unless by a 2/3 vote of each House.
3.) The base widening must delete the exemptions and refunds which are in current law for political reasons/not because of true economic considerations.
4.) Tax Reform must include spending reform that has passed the House in the past – zero based budgeting, and must include: a) Procedural reforms must allow “off budget” sources of revenue to be considered as part of the budget process. b) The minority party is entitled to proportionate representation on the Budget Conference Committee. c) The Governor’s proposed budget must only include the amount of revenue collected in the prior year (with a recession exception).
5.) In determining what is “revenue neutral” the temporary taxes imposed in 2009 shall be treated as if they had expired.
6.) We should also look at other reforms that take advantage on behalf of our citizens as federal taxpayers of federal deductibility issues. This could save our citizens $1 billion a year in federal income taxes.
NC State Rep. Paul Stam's proposal to buy anti-fraud software for Medicaid was included in the state's budget.
Early in the legislative session, Stam, an Apex Republican, pitched the idea that buying software meant to prevent fraud before Medicaid payments are made could save millions every year.
The idea has been previously pushed, particularly by Republicans. Stam said he found a more receptive audience among the Democrats who wrote the budget this year since the state was facing a deficit.
"I think what changed is they were desperate for money and they realized if they were going to be short on Medicaid money they had to stop wasting so much of it," Stam said.
U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan is pushing an amendment to federal health care legislation that would implement similar software meant to prevent billions of dollars of fraudulent claims.
U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan (Dem) says a North Carolina initiative and software sold by a Cary company could save billions in wasted and fraudulent health care expenses.
Hagan was speaking on the Senate floor Tuesday in support of an amendment to the health care reform package that is meant to lower costs by preventing fraud and waste.
Hagan spoke in favor of a program meant to catch Medicare and Medicaid fraud before payments are made, rather than having investigators try to recover spent money. SAS has written software that would catch irregularities that suggest fraud before payments are made, she said.
Hagan also spoke in favor of bringing a state program to the national level. ChecKmeds NC, a program of the N.C. Health and Wellness Trust Fund, provides free consultation with seniors about their medications. The cost of patients not following doctors' orders on medications is $290 billion a year, Hagan said.
In the state's program, seniors bring all their vitamins, prescriptions and over-the-counter medications to a participating pharmacist who offers a review and consultation.
Pharmacists discuss ways to save money by switching medications or potential problems and pitfalls with combinations of medications. Hagan said the program, which served 15,000 seniors in 2007, saved $10 million and avoided countless health care problems.
The State of NC must repay about $300 million to the Federal Government for overbilling Medicaid.
Starting last November, public hospital Medicaid payments were improperly billed to the federal government rather than to a state account, according to the NC State Department of Health and Human Services, Lynn Bonner reports.
The state has agreed to repay $200 million by the end of the month, and the rest by the end of the year.
"This mistake should not have been made," NC DHHS secretary Lanier Cansler said in a statement. "Originating almost eight months ago, it should have been identified and reported earlier. I have discussed the matter with the Governor, and I am aggressively working to strengthen the internal controls and will take whatever other remedial actions may be necessary."
Legislative leaders who monitor North Carolina’s mental health system are surprisingly positive after negative actions they took last month to close a budget hole.
They’re pleased with new Department of Health and Human Services leaders who oversee treatment for more than 300,000 mentally ill patients, substance abusers and the developmentally disabled.
However, spending cuts for treatment reaching as high as $400 million this fiscal year mean there’s no doubt patients will lose local treatment options and see other services curbed.
“I’d be optimistic if we didn’t cut the budget 20 percent,” said Dave Richard, executive director of the Arc of North Carolina, which advocates for the mentally disabled. “You can’t do what they’re doing without hurting thousands upon thousands of people in the state.”
The cuts had to be deep, according to Democrats who calculated the budget gap for this year at more than $4 billion. But improved cooperation with the department helped prevent patient cuts from getting worse, said Sen. Martin Nesbitt, D-Buncombe.
“We now have people we can work with,” said Nesbitt, co-chairman of the Legislature’s mental health oversight committee. “This (reduction) is what we had to do to preserve the system.”
The good feelings contrast with eight years of frustrations and setbacks for a mental health reform effort that a legislative watchdog agency said in July ultimately wasted up to $635 million in government money on one initiative alone.
The positive vibes are traced to Secretary Lanier Cansler, who was hardly a newcomer when Gov. Beverly Perdue appointed him in January. The former House member, from Buncombe County like Nesbitt, was deputy secretary during then-Gov. Mike Easley’s first term before a brief consulting career.
Under Easley, the department struggled to carry out a 2001 law designed to shift the state’s mental health programs away from institutional care to community-based treatment offered by private providers.
Lawmakers and advocates clashed with the department under then-Secretary Carmen Hooker Odom because they said she didn’t seek their input enough. But advocates say Cansler wasn’t part of the problem.
Relations improved in late 2007 when Dempsey Benton, a career bureaucrat in state and municipal government, succeeded Hooker Odom and pledged to fix the department. But his time was short and marked by the fallout from hospital patient deaths and hemorrhaging cash with the Community Support program.
Cansler, a Republican in a Democratic administration, seemed to have bipartisan support on the oversight committee last week. Nesbitt said he had never seen committee members listen so intently to a department secretary.
“I think we’ve got somebody that’s very capable,” said Rep. Fred Steen, R-Rowan, a committee member who acknowledged the panel has been accused at times of micromanaging.
Cansler acknowledged current cuts, among them $55 million less to “local management entities” that evaluate patients and find them community treatment, a $16 million reduction for in-home services and lower Medicaid reimbursement rates for providers, will hurt families and those that treat patients but his agency is working to minimize the harm.
“There will be some Providers out there that will not survive,” Cansler said. “There are going to be repercussions and there’s no way to avoid it when you take $350, $400 million out of the system.”
Cansler talked about a new effort to provide more financial accountability within the department and get divisions to work together to meet common goals.
He’s also hired outside the department, a Tennessee behavioral health consulting firm director, a Lumberton hospital executive and Sandhills-area local treatment manager among them, to take key mental health positions.
“Sometimes when you have a new set of eyes with a different background, different understanding, you see issues that those who have been within the forest for many years don’t see,” Cansler said during a break in last week’s meeting.
The good relations were tested in last week’s oversight meeting, the first since the session ended.
Legislators complained how Cansler’s department allocated $55 million in cuts to the 24 local management entities.
They spent most of the afternoon peppering new state Medicaid director Dr. Craigan Gray over the phaseout of the Community Support program, which provides non-medical care for 33,000 mental health patients living at home.
The Legislature agreed to eliminate the program by next June after a series of unflattering reviews that found overpriced care — such as paying $61 per hour to take clients to the movies or shopping.
But lawmakers were worried that patient transition to other treatment programs left out more fundamental assistance like teaching patients life skills.
By meeting’s end, Cansler said the department would provide more data to legislators to help them decide if they believed lower-skilled treatments needed to be restored, according to Nesbitt.
NC State Sen. David Hoyle, one of the most powerful lawmakers in the Senate, plans to retire.
Hoyle, 70, a Gaston County Democrat who has been in the Senate for 18 years and is consistently placed near the top in effectiveness rankings of legislators, said he will finish his current term, but won't run again.
"Public service has always been a central part of my life and my commitment to our community and our state remains strong," Hoyle said in a news release. "Having had the honor and privilege to serve my community and state in every way that has been asked of me, beginning 45 years ago as mayor of Dallas, it is now the time and the season to welcome the next phase of my life."
Hoyle, who rooms with Senate Leader Marc Basnight in Raleigh during sessions, is one of the leading voices for business interests in the Senate. His district is competitive and his decision not to run again gives Republicans a legitimate shot at claiming the seat.
Hoyle's decision continues what is shaping up to be a changing of the Democratic guard in the Senate chamber. Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand is leaving the chamber this month. Sen. R.C. Soles Jr., the longest serving member, has not yet announced whether he intends to run again, but has been plagued with personal issues that make a run difficult.
Soles, Rand and Hoyle represent three of the longest-serving and most powerful lawmakers in the chamber. Another Democrat, Sen. Julia Boseman of Wilmington, has also announced she won't seek re-election.
Boseman's district is also considered a swing district where Republicans or Democrats could be competitive.
- As a result of tough-on-crime sentencing laws approved by legislators 15 years ago, North Carolina's Inmate population is booming and will soon outpace the number of prison beds.
Despite this, the state budget signed by Gov. Beverly Perdue this month orders seven small prisons closed, eliminates 972 corrections jobs and cuts programs aimed at keeping juvenile offenders from becoming hardened criminals.
Administrators say the state Department of Correction can safely absorb the cuts in the short-term by increasing the number of inmates at other facilities. But judges, legislators and others with a stake in the criminal justice system worry that the growth, if unchecked, will soon result in prisons so crowded as to be unsafe for inmates or staff.
Last year, the state budgeted more than $1.5 billion for prisons and probation. That's 3.5 times what was spent in 1985, when adjusted for inflation. The number of inmates has more than doubled over the same period, from 17,430 to about 39,000. The system has about 20,000 workers, making it the largest employer among state agencies.
“We can't just keep putting more and more people in prison,” said Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, a Democrat from Carrboro who co-chairs the legislative committee that oversees justice and public safety. “We can't afford it.”
At the heart of the issue is the conflict between strained state resources in the worst economic recession in a generation and the unwillingness of legislators to budge on laws that require criminals to serve more time.
The $74 million in budget cuts and prison closures requires the relocation of about 950 inmates and cuts programs that are popular with inmates and the public, such as family visitation, gyms and the community work crews that provide cheap labor for local governments. Money for the crews that collect litter along the state's highways was also reduced.
The budget also cut $33 million and 122 jobs from the state Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, eliminating the Governor's One-on-One program, which provides mentors for at-risk youth. Legislators cut two state-funded wilderness camps for children with behavioral problems. Support Our Students, an afterschool program aimed at keeping youngsters out of trouble, is also being discontinued.
Inmates going to other prisons
Many of the positions are vacant, but about 620 employees at the N.C. Department of Correction will lose their jobs if other positions for them can't be found in the system. Inmates at the prisons being closed will be transferred to other facilities. In some cases, cells now used to hold one inmate will be modified to bunk two, while custody classifications at some facilities will be lowered to increase dormitory-style housing.
Jennie Lancaster, chief deputy secretary at the state Department of Correction, said there are limits to how many facilities can be converted to hold more prisoners, especially at the higher security levels.
“We need to run a safe system,” said Lancaster, a former warden who has worked in the state's prisons for 32 years. “We have said to legislators, we consider this a temporary solution. … The state is going to have to either keep adding prison beds or find a way to slow down growth in the prison population.”
A review by the legislature's fiscal research office this year projected that by 2018 the state's prison population will outpace the planned beds by 7,488 inmates. That projected shortfall takes into account 2,268 prison beds scheduled to be added through new construction by 2012 at a budgeted cost of $101 million.
Each maximum-security bed the state adds costs as much as $136,500 in construction, not including the recurring annual expense of feeding and guarding those additional inmates. On average, it costs the state $27,310 a year to keep someone behind bars.
Sentencing guidelines tweaked
Much of the growth in North Carolina's Prison System is driven by two legislative changes made in the mid-1990s as a response to rising crime rates. In 1994, legislators required offenders to spend more time in prison before becoming eligible for parole. Two years later, legislators ended statewide caps on the prison population.
Legislators passed two laws this year sponsored by Kinnaird that will decrease the inmate population in future years by tweaking sentencing guidelines. But a third bill that would have cut the prison terms of many felons by three months and added that time to the length of post-release supervision failed to even come up for a vote.
“The three bills together would have had a tremendous impact, essentially stopping the growth,” Kinnaird said. “But they (legislators) couldn't go along with that.”
Kinnaird said cuts to juvenile programs and funding for the state's mental health division could exacerbate the expected growth in inmate population.
“The Department of Correction is very nervous,” Kinnaird said. “Double-bunking sets up a very dangerous situation. You only have to look at California to see the disaster of having 6,000 inmates in facilities built for 3,000. The increased violence becomes harder and harder to control.”
Often cited as a worst-case scenario, the California prison system is one of the most crowded in the nation, with many of its facilities holding more than double the number of inmates they were designed for. A federal court concluded this month that overcrowding and poor health care is resulting in an avoidable inmate death each week. An Aug. 5 riot and fire at a prison outside Los Angeles left 250 inmates injured and 55 hospitalized.
District Court Judge Marcia Morey of Durham said eliminating programs in North Carolina aimed at helping juvenile offenders and at-risk children is short-sighted, and will potentially cost taxpayers far more down the road.
“I think we're going to pay,” said Morey, who advocates for stronger state services for juvenile offenders. “When you cut community-based services, curfew checks and counseling, you're going to see the results out the back door. It's a recipe for increased juvenile delinquency, which will escalate into adult crime.”
Another issue is that more than a third of those entering prison are ex-offenders who either violated the terms of their probation or were arrested on new charges.
Bill Rowe, a lawyer for the liberal N.C. Justice Center, advocates doing more to help those released from prison to find jobs, housing and vocational training.
“The current system of incarceration and re-incarceration is not working and is eroding the safety of our communities,” Rowe said.
Texas worth imitating?
A coalition of groups supporting reform heard a presentation last month by Jerry Madden, a GOP legislator from Texas who helped revamp that state's corrections system to blunt overpopulation.
Texas is one of nine states in a program run by the national Council of State Governments aimed at lowering prison spending and inmate numbers by investing in programs that improve law enforcement and living conditions in targeted neighborhoods where data show the most crime occurs. Since 2006, Texas has managed to halt growth in its prison population while lowering rates of violent crime.
“I think we came to the conclusion it was smarter and a wiser utilization of our money to invest in programs that can change people's lives, save taxpayers money and at the same time make the community safer,” Madden said Friday.
N.C. Department of Correction administrators and some legislators say they're interested in instituting similar initiatives. The new budget allocates $100,000 for studying programs within the state and across the nation that have reduced the numbers of people going to prison.
But reducing sentence lengths for criminals is likely to be a tough sell at the legislature.
You can't just let a lot of folks out
Sen. Phil Berger, a Republican from Eden, said the state needs to spend whatever it takes to build enough prisons to keep up with the number of inmates entering the system.
“There is recognition, even amongst Democrats, that you can't just let a lot of folks out of prison,” said Berger, the state Senate's GOP leader. “Many of those people are in prison for a reason, and when they get out early or you reduce sentences, we see examples of folks creating havoc once they're released.”
Kinnaird said she is hopeful a bipartisan solution can be found before overpopulation becomes a crisis.
“If we can convince a conservative Republican from Texas there is a different way to go, I think we have a very good chance of explaining to people here that we're approaching this all wrong,” Kinnaird said. “We can't keep doing the same thing and expect different results.”
Officials are looking at putting the facility for about 1,380 low-security prisoners from the Washington, D.C., area in Winton, a small town along the Chowan River in Hertford County.
The other site being considered is in Princess Anne, along Maryland's Eastern Shore.
Days after denying interest in a congressional run, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory has opened the door to a rematch with Democratic Gov. Bev. Perdue.
In a Q&A with Raleigh's WRAL, McCrory, a Republican, was asked whether he would consider running for governor again or even the Senate.
"Yes," he replied. "Running a state-wide race was a great experience (except for election night!!!) and I am proud of the campaign we ran. We participated in (and most believe we won) every debate and proved that a candidate can run an effective, positive campaign. We lived within our fundraising means, didn’t take any loans, and ended the campaign without any debt, just in the same manner I promised I would govern."
McCrory never addressed a possible Senate run, presumably against Democrat Kay Hagan in 2014. But he was critical of Perdue who, he said, "has done an about face on about everything she promised during our campaign."
"I definitely haven't closed the door on any future political options up to and including governor," McCrory told me this morning. "I think I'd be foolish to close doors."
Last week, after opting not to run for Congress from the 8th District, McCrory didn't want to talk about his political future. "Right now my total focus is on completing my term," he said.
1) Are you going to consider running for governor again or maybe even running for Senate?
Yes. Running a state-wide race was a great experience (except for election night!!!) and I am proud of the campaign we ran. We participated in (and most believe we won) every debate and proved that a candidate can run an effective, positive campaign. We lived within our fundraising means, didn’t take any loans, and ended the campaign without any debt, just in the same manner I promised I would govern.
2) Dear Mayor McCrory, first I hope that you take another run at the governor’s race in about three years. What do you think of the term so far of the current administration?
I believe the appointments for Secretary of Commerce (J. Keith Crisco) and Secretary of Transportation (Gene Conti) were actually quite good. However, the current administration has done an about face on about everything she promised during our campaign. Our new Governor has raised taxes, reduced mental health care, laid off teachers, and closed much needed prisons. There has been no effort to change the culture of how state government decisions are discussed behind closed doors. Campaign violations by the past and current Administration continue to be exposed well after the election.
3) How would you have handled the budget differently than our current governor? What would be your top three priorities at this time?
Before ever considering tax increases, I would have initiated major reforms of state government. I would have first made the budget process more transparent and open to scrutiny by both the public and media before the budget was adopted. My major priorities would have been:
1) Not to not raise taxes in order to maintain private sector jobs
2) Education reform
3) Strengthen public safety.
4) The new N.C. budget unfortunately has a tax increase and you vowed not to raise taxes in your race versus Perdue. What specifically would you have cut from the budget to prevent a tax increase?
I would have reduced bureaucracy and duplication in the University system, eliminated perks, such as state airplanes, and begun selling assets to reduce operating costs, in areas in which the state government does not need to be directly involved. For example, I would have transferred retail operation of the ABC liquor store system to the existing private sector stores, yet retained the much-needed revenue from those sales. The operation savings and the sale of assets would have been transferred to the budget deficit and to help retain teachers. I would have vetoed any effort to continue to subsidize out-of-state athletes with in-state tuition. I would have also started the process to allow offshore oil drilling to create much needed jobs and generate new revenue for the State.
5) Mayor McCrory: I am a life-long Democrat who seldom votes for a Republican because I ordinarily find my opinions to be diametrically opposed to the GOP's. You are different from most Republicans and I voted for you. I probably would vote for you again if I agree or see that your philosophy concerning health care reform is that it has to be changed. Therefore, my question is: What is your position concerning policy that N.C. can institute that will make health care universally accessible to all citizens, affordable and better than our current system which I see as a failure?
We need healthcare reform at both the federal and state level. However, many of the solutions coming out of Washington, D.C, would cause an even greater deficit and could actually rob the Medicare system of already limited revenue. I would propose major tort reform, especially to assist emergency room doctors in rural areas, reduce the number of state-required mandates so young people can afford to buy insurance in N.C., and I would look for more competition among insurance companies.
6) Mr. McCrory, how would you handle the Gas tax situation? Would you have done what Gov. Perdue did? I now wish you would have won the election.
I was a proponent of capping the gas tax, especially during these tough economic times. I would make sure our transportation expenditures are based upon four major factors:
1) Safety
2) Traffic congestion
3) Environment, and
4) Economic development, which is presently not the case.
I am an advocate for the State planning and partnering with local communities in developing a transportation plan with many choices, including roads, greenways, bikeways, and sidewalks to complement the needs of both small towns and large cities. Unfortunately, our State DOT is not as flexible as it needs to be and we still have a political formula of where and how we build and maintain roads in N.C. This must change.
7) PLEASE run again for governor in the next election. You came so close last time and I think you could win next time. I voted for you the first time, but many of my fellow educators thought Perdue was better for education. Could you please briefly explain what you would do for education? Thanks!
Education runs deep in my family. I obtained my N.C. teaching certificate after college and my sister was a teacher with Wake County schools until the latest round of budget cuts. My vision for the K-12 level is to decentralize the decision making and bureaucracy to allow principals and teachers more flexibility in teaching the basics, instead of just tests. I want to ensure teachers are backed up when addressing discipline problems in the classroom. I support immediately lifting the cap on charter schools to allow more choice for parents and students.
I believe the community college system needs to return to putting more emphasis on trade and technical education, as opposed to junior college curriculum. At the university level, we first must remove the politics and the culture of creating numerous levels of management outside of the classroom. I would also look at a process to eliminate duplication, course work among schools and introducing shared curriculum through more efficient, long-distance technology.
8) To what extent do you think that the major political parties are marginalizing their candidates and nominees by requiring them to march in lockstep with party lines rather than allowing them to speak/vote with their own conscience/values? If you do not, please explain.
The major problem with political parties is that they continue to gerrymander districts to guarantee elections at the local, state and federal level. This gives limited choices to voters at election time and also discourages any bipartisan cooperation. Most elections for state legislators are determined in the primary because of this political scheme. I believe party affiliation does give voters information as they go into the voting booth, but I hope people are also evaluating candidates based on past performance and the values they espouse and live up to.
9) What do you think was your biggest mistake in your campaign?
We thought our opponent was Beverly Perdue, when in fact, we underestimated the role and impact of the Obama organization and their ability to impact the Governor’s race by encouraging straight ticket voting. We didn’t know at the time that the Obama campaign had more than 300 paid staff members spread throughout the state and were pouring literally millions of dollars to make North Carolina competitive with a message to vote a straight-party ticket. We simply didn’t have the money to overcome those resources.
10) To what do you attribute your loss in the governor's election of November 2008? I thought you won the debates, and your experience topped Perdue's. Was your loss attributable to Obama's coat tails?
Most political experts would say that we won the debates and ran an effective and positive campaign – all without incurring any debt while being outspent by 3 to 1. Most political pundits would agree that we lost for four primary reasons:
1) First and most important was the Obama campaign and their unlimited resources to make North Carolina a contested state and encourage straight-ticket voting
2) The third party, libertarian candidate taking limited, but very important and valuable votes from our efforts
3) Weaker Republican national ticket which had little or no coattails
4) The economic meltdown in September and October while President Bush was in office no doubt also impacted the election.
Unfortunately, some voters believed the Perdue campaign’s shameless, inaccurate, and negative ads on radio and TV stations during the last four weeks. Despite these factors, I am very proud we received over 60 percent of the vote among those who voted specifically on election day. No matter the outcome, I am proud that our integrity and reputation are intact after the campaign. Overall, it was a wonderful, yet heartbreaking, experience.
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