Senate Passes Bipartisan State Budget Adjustment Including $1.5 Billion Middle Class Tax Cut, Teacher Raises | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release:

    Raleigh, N.C.     The North Carolina Senate passed a $23.9 billion balanced budget adjustment with bipartisan support yesterday, Thursday, May 31, 2018. Senator Bill Cook (R-District 1) voted in support of the fiscally sound State budget adjustment that continues the conservative pro-growth record of cutting taxes, streamlining government, strengthening State savings - while also providing over $700 million of new additional dollars for public education.

    Highlights on coastal/district provisions include, but not limited to:

    Dredging / Sand Management

• Appropriates approximately $23.2 million to the State's Shallow Draft Navigation Channel Dredging Fund. Earmarks $15 million from the Shallow Draft Fund to provide the placement of a shallow draft hopper dredge for North Carolina coastal waters.
• Authorizes $2.219 million for the Manteo Old House Channel (Shallowbag) Bay, N.C. navigation project.
• Designates $5 million to the Coastal Storm Damage Mitigation Fund (CSDMF) for beach nourishment, artificial dunes, and other projects to mitigate or remediate coastal storm damage to the ocean beaches and dune systems of the State. Projects funded from CSDMF must be matched with non-State funds on a dollar for dollar basis.
• Provides $5 million to the Resource Institute to work with local governments and engineering firms on the coast to explore opportunities for the development and implementation of emerging techniques that can extend the useful life of beach nourishment projects.

    Sewer Infrastructure Grant

• Allocates $1.125 million to the Town of Bath for a sewer system repair project. This appropriation provides the Town with the resources needed to make numerous improvements to increase the permitted capacity of the Wastewater Treatment Plant.

    Aquatic Weed Control Funding

• Increases funding dedicated for aquatic weed control for all waters of the State to $1 million.

    Shellfish, Oyster Rehabilitation

• Appropriates $850,000 for oyster sanctuaries, and $402,156 for cultch planting. Oyster sanctuaries have been found to support 27 times more broodstock oysters (>3") that produce spat to help sustain oyster populations, than harvestable natural oyster reefs. Cultch planting throughout the State creates public shellfish management areas that are open to harvest once oysters reach legal size(>3").

    Northern Shellfish Laboratory

• Provides $176,946 in recurring funds and $95,898 in non-recurring funds for startup costs to the N.C. Dept. of Environmental Quality to re-establish the shellfish laboratory in the Manteo/Nags Head/Kitty Hawk area. This provision is a reflection to House Bill 959 (Funds to Restore Northern DMF Lab.) sponsored by Representative Beverly Boswell (R-District 6).

    Oyster Research and Development

• Provides $500,000 to contract with the University of North Carolina Wilmington to develop oyster brood stock to provide seed for aquaculture.

    Shellfish Pathologist at N.C. State University Center for Marine Sciences and Technology

• Establish a shellfish pathologist position at the Center for Marine Sciences and Technology (CMAST).

    Oyster Marketing

• Mandates the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Seafood Marketing Office to create and implement a program for the promotion of North Carolina oysters, including branding, promotion, and outreach activities directed at consumers, restaurants, and food tourism providers.

    "Since 2015, the N.C. General Assembly, has enacted several provisions and earmarked special budget appropriations to enhance the State's ability to plant cultch, to fund sanctuary development and to expand the State's oyster industry. Due to these efforts, the farm gate value of oyster mariculture has tripled in the State of North Carolina," Cook said. "But, the progress we have made in the last few years, is not enough to match our competition nor the market opportunity. Virginia continues to outperform North Carolina in fresh wild-caught as well as farm-raised oysters. We need to change that, and continue to educate the Members of the General Assembly to better appreciate and support the incredible strength of the shellfish industry and all of our dedicated working watermen in the State."

    Crab Pot Cleanup

• Continues $100,000 on a non-recurring basis with the North Carolina Coastal Federation for the Crab Pot Cleanup Program. The Federation shall use the funds to contract with commercial fishermen to aid in derelict crab pot cleanup efforts, and are encouraged to find ways to reuse recovered crab pots.

    FerryMon Program

• Provides funding to the Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for the continuation of the North Carolina ferry-based water quality monitoring program. The revised net appropriation for this program is $125,000 in FY 2018-19.

    Clean Water Management Trust Fund (CWMTF)

• Provides an additional $4 million to the CWMTF for grants to local governments and nonprofits for clean water initiatives. The revised net appropriation for the CWMTF is $18.3 million in FY 2018-19.
• Allocates $1.5 million through the Water Resources Development Projects for storm debris removal in Eastern North Carolina.

    Tourism Advertising

• Designates an additional $1 million to the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC) for tourism advertising and marketing. These funds are restricted to a research-based comprehensive marketing program directed toward consumers in key markets most likely to travel to North Carolina and shall not be used for ancillary activities, such as statewide branding and business development marketing. The revised adjusted appropriation for the EDPNC is $20.58 million in FY 2018-19.

    Disaster Recovery - Hurricane Matthew

• Provides an additional $60 million in disaster relief assistance to victims of Hurricane Matthew. This funding would supplement the $300.9 million in State funds already provided, bringing total State funding for Disaster Recovery to $360.9 million.

    Teacher Assistant Tuition Reimbursement Program

• Maintains the teacher assistant tuition reimbursement program for Beaufort County. The program provides State tuition reimbursement for TAs to pursue a college degree leading to teacher licensure.

    Aurora Fossil Museum

• Appropriates a $50,000 non-recurring grant to the Aurora Fossil Museum in Beaufort County. As the museum begins its 4th decade of STEM education service, this grant will provide funds to upgrade and enhance their facilities.

    Beaufort County Open Door Community Center

• Appropriates a $100,000 non-recurring grant to the Open Door Community Center in Washington, N.C. The Purpose of the Center is to provide a shelter for homeless women and children. The grant will assist in completing the renovations of the building and purchase some of the needed furnishings for the center.

    City of Washington Bobby Andrews Recreation Center

• Provides a $50,000 non-recurring grant to the City of Washington for capital improvements to the Bobby Andrews Recreation Center. The Center is the only multi-purpose structure that includes indoor facilities in Beaufort County.

    The Greater Bath Foundation

• Dedicates a $20,000 non-recurring grant to the Greater Bath Foundation to promote the history, tradition, beauty and development of the Town of Bath and the surrounding area through beautification projects, tourism, and special projects/events.

    Dare County Special Olympics

• Earmarks a $30,000 non-recurring grant to the Dare County Special Olympics. The grant will assist in providing year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.

    Military Presence Stabilization Grant Fund

• Earmarks $225,000 for grants to local communities or military installations, potentially including Base Elizabeth City (U.S. Coast Guard) in Pasquotank County. These funds shall only be used for actual project expenses and shall not be used to pay for lobbying the North Carolina General Assembly, salaries, travel, or other administrative costs. The North Carolina Military Affairs Commission shall establish guidelines for applying for these grants.

    Elizabeth City State University Stabilization Funds

• Appropriates an additional $2 million on a non-recurring basis to Elizabeth City State University to stabilize enrollment. Funds will be used to hire temporary faculty to anchor core programs, provide start-up funds for an aviation science program, and support student success initiatives.

    East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine: Physician Supplemental Payment Plan

• Appropriates $3.2 million of recurring funds to expand allowable slots for the physician upper payment limit plan by 60 slots to be allocated between East Carolina University (ECU) Brody School of Medicine and University of North Carolina (UNC) Health Care. The total slots allowed after this addition will be 1,761 slots.

    School Construction in Rural Counties

• Provides an additional $42.3 million to the Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund for grants to assist economically struggling, rural counties with critical public school building needs. And sets aside $241 million in lottery funding to build or upgrade school facilities.

    Dare County Bombing Range

• Transfers approximately $1.4 million to the Dare County Bombing Range or "Navy Dare" via the North Carolina Forest Service.

    Rural Broadband Development Grants

• Provides $10 million to the Broadband Infrastructure Office to begin the Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) program for the development of broadband infrastructure in rural areas.

    NCSU Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals

• Provides an additional $2 million for North Carolina State University's (NCSU) participation in a collaborative effort to accelerate the development of innovative manufacturing processes for biopharmaceutical products. Funds will support the Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center at NCSU and serve as matching funds for a federal grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

    In Taxes and Economic Development, but not limited to:

• Reduces the tax burden on North Carolina families and small businesses by cutting the personal income tax rate from 5.499 to 5.25 percent in 2019, and by increasing the amount of income that is exempt from State income tax.
• Lowers the corporate income tax rate from 3 percent to 2.5 percent in 2019, continuing the business tax reforms that have helped create more than half a million new jobs since Republicans took control of the State legislature in 2011.
• Enables a company that commits to investing at least $1 billion and creating at least 3,000 new jobs in North Carolina to be eligible for a transformative project award under the State's Job Development Investment Grants (JDIG) program.
• Modifies the award that is available to large economic projects to make certain that the positive impact of those major job recruitments is felt by the entire State.

    In Agriculture and the Environment, but not limited to:

• Sets aside more than $10 million to provide access to clean drinking water for those impacted by GenX contamination and to fund the State's efforts to address these emerging compounds and their threat to safe drinking water.
• Allocates more than $22 million for Farmland Preservation, the Clean Water Management Trust Fund and the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund.
• Provides funding to purchase dredging equipment to ensure valuable economic activity at the North Carolina coast can continue, with a potential economic impact of up to $500 million in Dare County alone.
• Designates over $3.5 million in match funding that will leverage an additional $15 million in federal funding to improve the State's wastewater and drinking water infrastructure.

    In Education, but not limited to:

• Increases funding for public education by nearly $700 million.
• Fully funds K-12, community college and public university enrollment growth.
• Provides $35 million for school safety initiatives, including new grant programs to support students in crisis, school safety training, safety equipment and youth mental health personnel.
• Invests an additional $11.9 million in textbooks and digital resources, bringing the total annual State funding for textbooks to $73.9 million - a $71.4 million increase from the last Democrat-authored budget.
• Directs additional lottery funds toward grants to economically struggling, rural counties to assist with critical public school building needs.
• Maintains smaller class sizes in core academic subjects and keeps a new salary allotment for kindergarten through fifth grade program enhancement teachers - like music, art and physical education - beginning next school year.
• Protects the Read to Achieve, Teach for America, and Communities in Schools programs from being cut by the Department of Public Instruction.
• Allocates close to $15 million to community colleges for workforce training programs.
• Fully funds the N.C. Promise Program, which guarantees in-state undergraduate students at three schools across the State pay just $500 per semester for tuition, including Elizabeth City State University.
• Increases funding for Children with Disabilities Scholarship Grants by more than $3 million to reduce the waitlist.

    In Salaries and Benefits, but not limited to: