From the Office of Representative Phil Haire July 1, 2010
Governor Perdue signed the final budget into law yesterday in time for the start of the fiscal year. The following information highlights just some of the important aspects of the state budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year that pertain to natural and economic resources and education.
Natural and Economic Resources
_ Provides funding to attract businesses to locate operations in North Carolina and to increase the sale of North Carolina exports, including agricultural commodities – $875,000
_ Provides additional funding for the One NC Fund to enhance the competitive position of North Carolina when recruiting national and international business and industry projects. Three percent of these funds shall be used for small business expansion – $12.5 million.
_ Appropriates funding for Job Maintenance and Capital Development Fund – $6 million
_ Funds the One NC Small Business Fund program, which provides matching grants to businesses that qualify for federal incentives funds – $1.5 million.
_ Provides funding for the Main Street Solutions Program and the creation of one two-year time limited position to administer the program. This program provides grants to active Main Street Communities and designated micropolitans with populations between 10,000 and 50,000 people. Grants are to be used to support downtown economic development, historic preservation initiatives, and other public and private improvement projects that will support small businesses and job creation – $1.5 million.
_ Provides funds to help create additional export opportunities for NC companies in Asian and South American markets and to increase North Carolina investment interest from Asian and South American companies – $200,000.
_ Appropriates money for matching funds for US Department of Energy grants to support energy research and green jobs – $1 million.
_ Provides funding for marketing North Carolina as a tourist destination – $1 million.
_ Provides funding to support the seven Regional Economic Development Commissions – $5 million.
_ Provides funds for the Biofuels Center – $5 million.
_ Provides nonrecurring matching funds to the Research Triangle Institute for a US Department of Energy grant for energy research and green jobs – $500,000.
_ Provides funds for small business loans for those who have limited access to credit – $750,000.
_ Provides additional funding for the Rural Center’s Building Reuse and Restoration Program to strengthen the capacity of rural communities to compete for and attract new and expanding businesses. Funding for small-scale regional community development projects is also included – $3.13 million.
_ Provides funding to the Rural Center to continue the Small Business Assistance Fund – $1 million.
_ Provides money for the Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund – $2 million.
_ Provides funds to support international trade initiatives – $200,000.
_ Provides funds for Got to Be NC marketing. This program promotes North Carolina’s farmers by helping to develop markets for North Carolina produce and products in grocery stores, restaurants, farmers markets, and other establishments – $250,000.
_ Reduces personnel and operating expenses for aircraft operations. This reduction eliminates four pilot positions and two mechanic positions. The sale of 10 eliminated aircraft is expected to result in over $1.5 million in one-time revenue – $1.5 million.
_ Eliminates the Marine Fisheries Division’s three helicopters and associated operating expenses in accordance with the recommendations from the Program Evaluation Division’s Study of State Aircraft. The aircraft will be sold, generating one-time revenue of $35,000 – $60,218.
_ Provides nonrecurring funding for the Indian Economic Development Initiative – $100,000.
Education
_Public Schools
_ Prevents layoffs of any instructional personnel in K-12 by adjusting the lottery receipts budgeted for Classroom Teachers. Also redirects $16.8 million from the Lottery Reserve – $121 million.
_ Reduces the annual appropriation for the North Carolina Window on Student Education (NC WISE), as this project is deployed and is in operations and maintenance phase. Also there is a nonrecurring reduction of the cash balance – ($12 million).
_ Provides on a nonrecurring basis for the purchase of replacement textbooks for emergency situations. The State Board of Education shall develop rules and guidelines for the allocation of these funds – $2.5 million.
_ Provides funding to extend the Student Diagnostic Pilot program for a year in the existing 40 pilot schools. – $10 million
_ Eliminates end-of-grade test for geometry – ($585,459)
_Community Colleges
_ Fully funds enrollment growth to help pay for the 15 percent increase (33,013 students) in enrollment – $81 million.
_ Increases curriculum tuition from $50 to $56.50 for residents and from $241.30 to $248.50 for nonresidents. Tuition for full-time resident students will increase by a maximum of $208 per year, from $1,600 to $1,808 – $30 million.
_ Authorizes bonds for the purchase of instructional equipment and technology at all 58 colleges. – $33 million.
_ Restores the reduction made to the Small Business Center allotment in 2009. This funding will be added to each college’s base allocation. With this restoration, the total funding available for this program will be $5,756,853 – $402,861.
_ Provides funds to assist Minority Male Mentoring programs at community colleges. These programs provide such activities as academic and personal counseling, drug intervention, and personal growth and development. These funds will be distributed through a competitive application process – $900,000.
_UNC System
_ Mandates a management flexibility reduction for the UNC operating budget with a priority on non-teaching related budget cuts. This reduction is in addition to the $100 million management flexibility reduction authorized for the FY 2010-11 base budget – ($70 million).
_ Repeals the reimbursement to UNC institutions for their loss of revenue due to their compliance with a law that grants resident tuition to nonresident student athletes – ($9.4 million).
_ Reduces the General Fund advertising budgets of UNC campuses by 24 percent – ($2.5 million).
_ Reduces the $44 million annual appropriation to UNC Hospitals due to the entity’s $501.1 million in unrestricted reserves – ($8 million).
_ Increases UNC Need-Based Financial Aid – $8.2 million.
_ Continues the phase-in of funding for the additional faculty and operating needs of the new School of Dentistry at East Carolina University that will open with 50 students in the Fall of 2011. To date, $5.5 million has been appropriated for the school’s operating budget – $6 million. (36 positions)
_ Completes the staffing and operational needs of the Energy Production Infrastructure Center (EPIC) opening at UNC-Charlotte in the Fall of 2011. These funds will enable the hiring of research faculty in electrical power, power system infrastructure, and power plant engineering. These funds are in addition to the $2 million appropriated in 2009 – $3 million (23 positions).
_ Continues the phase-in of faculty and staff for the NC A&T/UNC-G Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering located at the Gateway University Research Park in Greensboro. The program will conduct research in areas such as drug design and delivery, nanobioengineering, and genetic screening. There has been $3.9 million appropriated to date for the operating budget for this program – $1 million. (23 positions)
_ Provides funds to North Carolina A&T State University’s College of Engineering for 1) enhancement of the research infrastructure, 2) faculty retention, 3) recruitment of high quality students, and 4) additional support staff – $1 million. (10 positions)
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Rep. Haire and Legislative Assistant, Sara Jane Lennard, Intern, Paige Roberson may be reached at 300 N. Salisbury St., Room 639, LOB Raleigh, NC 27603, 919/715-3005, philliph@ncleg.net
