The final budget released by state leaders this week includes a mixed bag of give, take, and neglect in regards to public investments that promote safe and healthy communities. At the same time that public investments are made for particular initiatives of interest, lawmakers cut state funding and totally neglect boosting public investments in other areas of the Justice & Public Safety (JPS) budget. For fiscal year 2018, the JPS section of the final budget is a modest 1.6 percent year-over-year increase in state spending when excluding additional state funding to provide pay raises to state employees.
Here are notable takeaways from the JPS section of the proposed final budget.
- Provides around $58 million in additional state funding for pay raises to state employees. The majority of the pay increase funding consists of a $1,000 salary increase for eligible state employees.
- Provides $250,000 for a limited pilot project with the City of Wilmington to address the needs of opioid and heroin overdose victims. This is the same level of funding included in the House and Senate respective proposed budgets. Whereas lawmakers acknowledge the seriousness of the opioid abuse issue in the state, a modest amount of state funding is included in the budget to prevent and combat this issue.
- Provides no additional state funding to enhance access to mental illness services for offenders. This missing investment in the final budget aligns with the House and Senate proposed budgets, which also excluded such funding. The Governor’s recommended budget provided $5.8 million for fiscal year 2018 to enhance services for mentally ill offenders.
- Includes $519,600 in one-time state funding for planning in regards to implementation of Juvenile Justice Reinvestment Act (JRA). The JRA was passed in 2011 and made major changes to sentencing and corrections in North Carolina in an effort to reduce state spending on corrections and to reinvest the savings in community programs that decrease crime and strengthen neighborhoods. The Governor’s budget included a total of $4 million in state funding for various support initiatives that continue the implementation of JRA.
- Provides $13.2 million in one-time state funding to support the “Raise the Age” initiative. The funding would be used to construct a new youth development center in Rockingham County in response to “Raise the Age” and is included in the Capital section of final budget. The respective House and Senate proposed budgets provided no state funding to support the “Raise the Age” initiative. Thus, the inclusion this funding is one positive outcome in the final budget.
- No additional state funding provided for indigent individuals to have access to private counsel representation. This missing investment in the final budget aligns with the House and Senate proposed budgets, which also excluded such funding. The Governor’s recommended budget included $2.9 million in state funding for fiscal year 2018 to increase compensation paid to private counsel representing indigent people who are unable to afford access to legal counsel.
- Includes a $10 million state funding cut to the Department of Justice budget and generates another $4.1 million in savings from eliminating 79 positions within the Department of Public Safety.
For more news and analysis during the budget debate, follow the Budget & Tax Center on Twitter @ncbudgetandtax.
Cedric Johnson is a Policy Analyst with the Budget & Tax Center, a project of the NC Justice Center.
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