Minutes 03-11-2019 Legislative Breakfast

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2 Commissioner Bedford said (after the meeting she sent a letter to the BOCC about this subject) the Secretary of NCDHHS has requested that NCACC coordinate and facilitate a process, including consultation with LME-MCOs, to develop recommendations to NCDHHS related to the establishment of regions for Tailored Plans; also that each LME-MCO has been asked to appoint a county commissioner to serve on the committee. Once the committee is fully constituted, it will begin work soon, as NCDHHS requests recommendations by June 1st. This is an opportunity for all our counties to provide input on an important decision for our counties and state. Commissioner Bedford said it would be best for Orange County to be aligned with Durham and Wake counties, instead of going to places like Charlotte. Commissioner Price said the tailored plan shows Orange County in region 4 and that includes Wake and Durham. Representative Insko asked if Commissioner Price would forward that information (which Commissioner Bedford provided to all after the meeting via email). Commissioner Price said the maps came from the NCDHHS. Commissioner Price said she will send the letter about the maps to the group (which she did after the meeting). Chair Rich asked Commissioner Bedford to please bring forth a petition anyway. Bonnie Hammersley said staff will look into this as well. Senator Foushee said her committees are healthcare, state and local government, IT, etc. She said they do not have a coverage gap bill in the Senate, and it is clear there will not be any movement on that bill — and it is likely an expansion bill will pass the House. She said the Senate will be passing small bills that relate to insurance coverage to force compromise in the budget about Medicaid expansion. She said it will be probably be influenced by Carolina Care, if it passes the House. Senator Foushee said she is working on calendar flexibility and both the GOP and Democrats are filing these bills, as this affects a large number of counties. Senator Foushee said in terms of the environment, there are no huge improvements to report, but a general feeling of some negotiations in this session. She said there is more engagement from residents, and she has seen the GOP reaching across the aisle for the first time in her tenure. She said she has been asked to support two GOP bills lately, and she hoped that the budget will be more advantageous for NC residents this coming year. Chair Rich said in reference to the flexibility for the school calendars, she did look toward the Visitor's Bureau for support, but the hotel industry, etc. is not supportive of it. Senator Foushee said it will be a struggle over this bill, and hopefully they will see some positive results. She said her bill aligns with the schedules of the community colleges. Representative Insko said she asked some Republicans if they put the Medicaid bill in the budget, and they said not yet, but it will probably end up in their budget. Representative Meyer said he is glad Senator Foushee is optimistic. Representative Meyer said he is less so, and to him, the Medicaid expansion is a 50-50 shot. He said his inclination, as of now, is that they may not even have a budget this year and everything would stay at current funding levels. Representative Meyer referred to the school funding issues, and he thinks HB 251 will pass. He said this is an agency bill from the State Board of Education asking for flexibility with the class size mandate, and would add two provisions for flexibility: one around the facilities, and one around the availability of qualified teachers. He said if these two provisions are added, the bill becomes neutered for every school district in the state. He said this will be voted on in the next week or two. Representative Meyer said they are working extensively on the Broadband bill. Senator Foushee said there is also a county caucus that is comprised of past County Commissioners, and they are working on a non-partisan bill for broadband.