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1 <br /> 2019 ORANGE COUNTY PRIORITY LEGISLATIVE ISSUES <br /> Broadband/Digital Infrastructure — Support legislation, funding, and other efforts that provide counties with <br /> flexibility and opportunities to support options for increasing access to high-speed internet connectivity and <br /> expanding digital infrastructure/broadband capability to the un-served and under-served areas of the state. Access <br /> to high speed internet connections will reduce disparities, enhance quality of life for all the State's residents, and <br /> broaden opportunities in areas such as education, jobs creation, small business development, health care, civic <br /> participation, and growth in farm enterprises. <br /> Priority School Issues— Support legislation to address the following issues related to schools: <br /> a) Provide local school systems with calendar flexibility, including the opportunity to align with nearby <br /> community college schedules; <br /> b) Provide full funding for State allotments including Average Daily Membership (ADM) growth, and support <br /> legislation to provide for an overall increase in funding based on average daily memberships outside of the <br /> current formula system; <br /> c) Impose class size reductions commensurate with State funding for staffing; and <br /> d) Provide additional revenue options, including a statewide bond and lottery proceeds, to equitably address <br /> statewide public school and community college capital challenges and meet identified needs. <br /> Expansion of Medicaid Program — Support legislation to increase access to the Medicaid program to make <br /> health insurance available to approximately 500,000 more North Carolina residents and as additional support for <br /> rural hospitals. <br /> Minimum Wage Increase — Support legislation to raise the minimum wage to enhance people's economic <br /> security, improve access to safe and secure housing, boost the economy with increased spending, decrease <br /> dependence on government assistance programs, and improve the lives of families. <br /> Mental Health Funding—Seek legislation that: <br /> a) provides adequate State-funded mental health, developmental disability, and substance abuse services and <br /> facilities at the local level, accessible and affordable to all residents and that sufficient state resources fund <br /> service provision costs inclusive of sufficient crisis intervention and treatment, and to structure appropriate <br /> county participation in governance; and <br /> b) provides funding to develop and implement a plan to reduce the number of people with mental health issues in <br /> county jails (See EXHIBIT A—National Association of Counties (NACo) Stepping Up Initiative); <br /> Non-Partisan Redistricting Process for Elections— Support legislation to establish a process for an independent, <br /> non-partisan redistricting process after each United States Census for the election of representatives from North <br /> Carolina to the United States House of Representatives, the North Carolina House, and the North Carolina Senate; <br /> Criminal Justice Reform/Juvenile Jurisdiction— Support legislation to develop and fund a plan to: <br /> a) help reduce unnecessary charges and arrests by expanding the use of pre-arrest diversion and the issuance <br /> of citations or summons, replace reliance on money bail with non-financial conditions of release such as <br /> written promises to appear, or the least restrictive available conditions, and restrict detention to the small <br /> number of people for whom no condition or combination of conditions can reasonably assure appearance in <br /> court and public safety, reduce disparity within the pretrial justice system; support the collection of local <br /> data regarding pre-trial release outcomes; and increased funding for pre-trial release supervision programs <br /> that utilize evidence-based best practices; and <br /> b) address developmentally inappropriate limits on juvenile court jurisdiction, demographic and geographic <br /> disparities, inadequate representation in juvenile court, unnecessary juvenile detention, lifelong collateral <br /> consequences stemming from juvenile court involvement, and punitive school policies and practices that <br /> push students into the court system. <br />