Orange County NC Website
6 <br /> <br />Senator Valerie Foushee said the Senate will not take up this bill in the short session. 1 <br />Commissioner Rich said the Board passed a resolution where everyone is registered to 2 <br />vote when they reach a certain age, and she asked if this has hit the floor. 3 <br />Representative Verla Insko said she has not heard anything about this, but many people 4 <br />are in favor of having automatic voter registration based on social security. She said there are 5 <br />many ways to increase voter registration, and she is very pleased that 16 and 17 year old pre-6 <br />registration is back. 7 <br />Commissioner Rich said more and more states are doing automatic registration. 8 <br />Commissioner McKee said, given the less than warm reception he received in Raleigh 9 <br />last year over impact fees, he has a slight understanding of the uphill battle the delegates face, 10 <br />and he appreciates the effort put forth. He asked if the delegates would please give the BOCC 11 <br />a heads up if anything significant is expected to happen. 12 <br />Commissioner Jacobs asked the Chair if there is a specific process for this evening’s 13 <br />discussion, and whether the BOCC has additional topics to be added to the resolution regarding 14 <br />legislative matters. 15 <br />Chair Dorosin said suggestions can be solicited from the Board, the old list amended, 16 <br />and he and Commissioner Rich can come up with a working list to propose. 17 <br />Commissioner Jacobs said it is critically important that school impact fees be reinstated. 18 <br />He asked if the delegates would identify one thing that they would like to see accomplished in 19 <br />the upcoming short session. 20 <br />Representative Verla Insko said more funding for education is at the top of her list. She 21 <br />said teachers are spending their own money to buy supplies. 22 <br />Senator Valerie Foushee said the same, and that is the issue that will get the most 23 <br />traction, since it is an election year. 24 <br />Representative Graig Meyer said the Bright Futures Act should get done this year, and 25 <br />that will be a net positive on rural broadband. 26 <br />Commissioner Jacobs said there is a two-page spread in USA Today that discusses 27 <br />what teachers purchase for their classrooms. 28 <br />Representative Verla Insko said broadband is part of the education issue too. 29 <br />Commissioner Jacobs said the Board has asked OCS to try and enable its buses with 30 <br />Wi-Fi, but have had no response yet. 31 <br />Commissioner Rich said she heard that the buses do not have enough power for more 32 <br />than 2 hours of Wi-Fi usage, and asked if staff could find out if this is accurate. 33 <br />Chair Dorosin said typically the BOCC sends a long list of items, knowing most of them 34 <br />will not get passed, but also wants to provide support to the issues that are most useful to the 35 <br />delegates in achieving some successes. He said it sounds like broadband and education 36 <br />funding are the highest priorities. He asked if there are any other top priorities. He said he 37 <br />recalls the BOCC prioritizing the top 4 or 5 items last year. 38 <br />Representative Verla Insko said Medicaid expansion and mental/behavioral health 39 <br />integration with physical health. She said there has been a public system of the management 40 <br />of the mental health system, but the plan is to integrate the mild and moderate with the regular 41 <br />physical health, so that there will be one Medicaid card. She said those with more severe and 42 <br />persistent mental health needs would remain with Local Management Entity and Managed Care 43 <br />Organization (LME/MCO ), and ask for physical health to be integrated into that system. 44 <br /> Chair Dorosin asked if there are specific bill numbers for important issues: 45 <br />Bill #s 46 <br />• HB 68 (Bright Futures Act) 47 <br />• Carolina Care bill has already been rolled into the waiver that has gone to DC, and 48 <br />support for this waiver would be welcomed. 49 <br /> 50