Course set for legislative biennium

Counties once again spell relief M-E-D-I-C-A-I-D

Also see:
2005-06 legislative goals (Also available as a PDF and PowerPoint presentation).

By Jason King
Information and Communications Specialist

County leaders have set the package of goals the Association is to pursue for the 2005-06 legislative biennium and – as expected – the NCACC’s lobbyists and membership will have to travel a beaten path if goal No. 1 is to be achieved.

Voting delegates from 76 counties were in attendance at the 2005 conference. (Photo by Jason King)

Medicaid relief, which was voted the NCACC’s top goal two years ago and has been part of the legislative agenda since the mid-1990s, is once again at the top of county wish lists.

Revenue options for counties and a statewide school construction bond referendum joined Medicaid relief as the three priority goals the Association will work toward during the next two years.

Voting delegates from 76 counties were among a contingent of 230 commissioners and representatives that also discussed and voted for 51 other positions at the 2005 Legislative Goals Conference, held Jan. 13-14 at the Radisson Hotel High Point in Guilford County.

While there was much discussion and debate on the many other critical issues facing counties, Medicaid relief was again at the center of it all.

As several county representatives related to conference attendees, the spiraling costs of Medicaid have gone beyond being a thorn in the side of county budget makers.

“(Bladen County Commissioner) Delilah Blanks will tell you that 25 percent of their total budget is now dedicated to Medicaid. They’ve had to reduce public health, law enforcement and education to pay the bill,” said Forsyth County Commissioner and past NCACC President David Plyler.

President Breeden Blackwell presents Nathan Ramsey (center) and Stan White with ceremonial gavels, a token of appreciation for their work as co-chairs of the Legislative Goals Committee. (Photo by Jason King)

“That is the No. 1 priority for our Association,” he added. “It needs to be the No. 1 priority in the General Assembly.”

The Legislative Goals Committee, which met three times in late 2004 to review requested goals and prepare a legislative agenda, recommended that the Association focus the majority of its efforts on three priority goals.

Dare County Commissioner Stan White, who co-chaired the committee with Buncombe County’s Nathan Ramsey, told conference attendees the Association should present legislators with a short list of items “that are very meaningful to the entire state,” not just a handful of individual counties.

“I can certainly remember as a small boy asking my family for about 10 things for Christmas, and it seems like I always got the three least expensive things I asked for,” White said. “As time went on, I began to narrow that list down.”

President Breeden Blackwell said the Association is “making great strides” toward its No. 1 goal through work with legislative staff members and the Blue Ribbon Commission on Medicaid Reform.

“Their staff has developed several options to help counties. We’ve never been offered that help before,” he said.

Sen. Linda Garrou appeared as the keynote speaker at the conference banquet on Jan. 13. (Photo by Todd McGee)

Conference attendees debated the wording of the Medicaid goal and offered suggestions on how the state could pay to relieve counties of Medicaid participation, but delegates eventually voted to adopt the goal as proposed.

Stanly County Commissioner Gary Lowder, a member of the Legislative Goals Committee, said counties should not tell the state where to find the money needed to assume the county share of Medicaid, but instead should let the General Assembly address that side of the issue. Lowder said that counties needed to send a clear message that Medicaid relief is their No. 1 goal.

One legislator who attended the conference was Sen. Linda Garrou (Forsyth County). Garrou was the featured speaker at the conference banquet, and she acknowledged that legislators are mindful of the Medicaid issue.

“It’s an issue we are very aware of,” she said. “We know the problems some counties are facing, and we’ve got to do something about it.”

Two goals that were not part of the proposed legislative package approved by the Board of Commissioners in December were added to the agenda at the conference.

The first goal would seek legislation that would require the state to foot the bill for any new election it deems necessary that is not required under the current general statutes. The second was to support legislation to allow the creation of a unified government system in counties that do not have existing incorporated entities within their borders.

Legislators convened for the 2005 session on Jan. 26.

County officials discuss ways to help Association achieve agenda

For the past several years, the Association – in conjunction with staff from the School of Government – has been conducting a strategic planning and visioning project. One of the themes to emerge from the effort has been that county commissioners want to get more involved in advocating for the Association’s legislative agenda.

Forsyth County Commissioner David Plyler addresses attendees - including Pitt County Commissioner Jimmy Garris (left) - at one of the luncheon sessions. (Photo by Jason King)

As a result, Association staff arranged a special luncheon session on the first day of the Legislative Goals Conference to discuss ways that county officials can assist the Association in its lobbying efforts and use the media to boost public support of county positions. Attendees had the opportunity to hear success stories from their peers and network with one another on advocacy strategies.

Jones County Manager Larry Meadows told one group of how his county’s tax base was being affected by other local government agencies buying land in Jones County for the purpose of wetlands mitigation.

Meadows worked with the NCACC legislative team on the problem, and during the 2003 session identical House and Senate bills on wetlands mitigation were introduced.

Assistant General Counsel Paul Meyer asked Meadows to come to Raleigh and tell his story to a legislative committee reviewing the bill. Meadows said he left the meeting with a good feeling that state representatives had heard his message and would work to resolve the problem.

“If something’s broke, I think they will do whatever is in their power to fix it,” he said.

During the 2004 session, S933 – which requires state and local government agencies that acquire land for wetlands mitigation to reimburse the county in which the land is located for its lost taxes due to the acquisition – was passed into law.

Meadows said that county leaders can also achieve success with the goal of Medicaid relief by working with their state representatives and the Association’s lobbyists.

“There’s an old saying, ‘If we do what we’ve always done, we’ll get what we’ve always got,’” he said. “If we don’t do something different, Medicaid is always going to be the No. 1 goal of this Association.”

Past NCACC President David Plyler of Forsyth County relayed a story about how he and Bladen County Commissioner Dr. Delilah Blanks, another past president, held a series of meetings with newspaper editorial boards to present the county perspective after Gov. Mike Easley withheld more than $200 million in funds due to counties during the 2001 budget crunch. The resulting media coverage was overwhelmingly in favor of the counties, with more than 30 editorials in North Carolina newspapers urging Gov. Easley to return the funds to counties. He eventually did so.

When the General Assembly permanently eliminated nearly $400 million in reimbursements to local governments in 2002-03, the Association successfully lobbied for a local option half-cent sales tax as a replacement source of revenue. Plyler said that once again, positive coverage from the media helped the unpopular tax increase pass the General Assembly.