Amid the current state budget stalemate, New Hanover County is facing significant financial shortfalls on multiple fronts, including public school funding and Medicaid coverage.
As the chairman of a Senate budget committee, Senator Michael Lee holds the keys to passing a comprehensive state budget. Despite his position, Lee and his Republican colleagues have failed to take action, leaving crucial funding on the table.
Senator Lee and state Republicans’ inaction on passing a comprehensive state budget has left nearly 1,700 teachers in New Hanover County waiting nearly three years for a pay raise.
Just last year, the New Hanover County Commissioners cut around $975,000 for pre-k classrooms due to a lack of funding. In January, the New Hanover County school board asked the Republican-led state legislature to improve funding for exceptional children, especially those with additional educational needs.
“The problem is that our schools are not funded at the place where they need to be..When I was a high school principal, the formulas and the funding was the same as it was a decade ago,” stated New Hanover Superintendent Dr. Christopher Barnes.
“Educators are feeling it in our budgets, and yet it’s the students, it’s trickling down to them. They’re in schools right now that are crumbling and falling apart because they can’t pass Leandro, and there’s no funding, and teachers are leaving because they can’t afford it, or it’s draining, and they’re burned out,” Jennilee Lloyd, Wake County school teacher, told WHQR.
In addition, the more than 48,000 people in New Hanover who depend on Medicaid for their health care coverage could be at risk. According to a report from the American Medical Association, Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center, which primarily serves four counties, has an annual number of over 5, 500 Medicaid beneficiaries and nearly 18, 000 Medicare beneficiaries receiving care.
NC Health News reported that without a state budget to address the $319 million Medicaid shortfall, rural hospitals across the state, including in counties surrounding New Hanover, may have to stop accepting Medicaid altogether.
Despite controlling both the state House and Senate, NC Republicans are overall failing to protect North Carolinians from spikes in health care insurance, high utility bills, and harmful federal cuts to crucial programs like Medicaid and SNAP. The nine-month delay in the state budget only contributes to the cost-of-living emergency that North Carolinians are already experiencing.
This budget is long past due – so much so that North Carolina is the only state in the country without a comprehensive state budget. Lee and his Republican colleagues’ impasse means that our state is failing to fill the gap, causing over one billion dollars to be taken out of our health care system and putting our already underfunded education system at further risk.
It’s long past time for Republican leadership to put politics aside. Call state Senator Michael Lee today and ask him to pass a full budget– one that funds our health care, lowers costs, supports our educators, and invests in the communities that make North Carolina strong.
To call Senator Lee, contact (919) 715-2525.
