Built on a solid foundation

Session underscores importance of renewed relationship with state partners

One of the most striking findings by School of Government researchers during the Association’s long-range planning and visioning project a few years back was the view held by many commissioners that the state-county relationship was broken.

Instead of pointing fingers and laying blame, our Association took a proactive approach and decided to try to fix the problem. The effort began in earnest at the 2006 Annual Conference, when several legislators and state officials participated in workshops centered on our theme of “Untangling the Web: Redefining the State-County Relationship.”

Out of this effort arose the State-Local Fiscal Modernization Study Commission, which examined in further detail many aspects of the state-county relationship. I had the pleasure of serving on that commission, along with past presidents Kitty Barnes of Catawba County and Breeden Blackwell of Cumberland County, and commissioners Beth Ward of Pitt County and Joe Carpenter of Gaston County.

The commission also featured numerous other legislators, and the dialogue that was begun during these meetings helped lay the groundwork for the Medicaid relief solution contained in the state budget.

Legislators clearly understood our pleas for help. Early in the session, every member of the House but two signed on to a bill that would have permanently capped county Medicaid costs at 2005-06 levels. And when a disagreement over exactly how to relieve counties of the Medicaid burden threatened to derail the state budget, legislators in both chambers, along with representatives from Gov. Mike Easley’s office, kept working until they found a solution.

There were numerous times where it would have been easy for the state to throw up its arms and say, “Let’s just come back next year and give it another try.” If we had not taken steps to strengthen our relationship, they may well have took the easy way out.

Instead, the state leaders stayed the course because they knew how important this issue was to counties, and because they valued the relationship we have built over the past year. The foundation has been laid, and now it’s time to start building the house.