Your presence is requested

By the time you receive the December 2006 issue of CountyLines, the Board of Directors will have voted on the package of legislative goals that will be presented to the membership at our bienniel Legislative Goals Conference. The two-day conference, which will be held Jan. 11-12 in Moore County, offers counties the opportunity to chart our course for the upcoming legislative biennium.

The issues facing counties have not changed much in recent years, whether it be Medicaid relief, funding for school construction or our desire for more autonomy through increased revenue options. These issues have remained constant for several years now because the General Assembly has been reluctant to provide counties the tools we need to meet our mandated duties and responsibilities.

During the last legislative biennium, that began to change. This year alone, counties started receiving proceeds from the state education lottery to help us provide schools for the never-ending influx of children into this state, and we obtained one-time county Medicaid relief. In addition, 45 counties even got a local-option, half-cent sales tax bill through the House before watching it languish in the Senate. And we pushed for a fiscal modernization study commission to examine the state-county fiscal relationship, with a specific goal of determining a permanent solution to eliminate the county Medicaid share.

Clearly, our efforts have gotten the attention of legislators, and we have begun to build some momentum. Medicaid relief was a major topic on the campaign trail this fall, as one candidate after another spoke in favor of eliminating the county Medicaid share. The fiscal modernization study commission had its first meeting in late November, and the House Select Committee on Health Care, which also met in late November, recommended extending the cap on county Medicaid costs until a permanent solution to relieve counties of the Medicaid burden is found. And all of this happened before the end of November!

That is why it is imperative that county commissioners – both new and old – attend this year’s Legislative Goals Conference and make their voices heard. We need to ensure that when we adopt these goals, we have representatives from every county in attendance. We not only want your vote, we want your input. We want legislators to know that when our staff is called upon to speak at a House or Senate committee meeting, they are speaking on behalf of all 100 counties.

It is up to us to keep this ball rolling. We’ve managed to push it almost all the way to the top of the hill, and it will take a collective effort to get it over the crest and started down the other side.