Minutes 04-19-2021 Virtual Legislative Breakfast Meeting

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3 and knows some Republicans that are looking more closely at mental health issues. She said she has been working closely with some Republicans. Representative Meyer said there has been a good group of advocates working on involuntary commitments, and also the broader intersection of mental health and policing. He said he was been trying to work with them. He said Representative John Autry has drafted four bills at the request of the advocates, and he is shopping those bills to some of the Republican leaders in the House, but as of now there are no Republican co-sponsors on the bills. He said they will be filed this week, and does think it is possible that at least one of them will be a bipartisan bill. Senator Foushee said there is not much to report on the Senate side. She said the Senate's main focus over the last several years has been Medicaid transformation. She said there is not much happening besides what the Representatives shared. She said there may be some intersection between what is done for school children, as it relates to mental health, but she cannot see anything that expands beyond providing the services that are more needed because of the pandemic. She said there has to be some rectifying and ensuring the services needed at that level are appropriated. She reiterated that anything beyond rolling Medicaid transformation has not come up in the Senate. Representative Insko said she believed there would be a bill to increase Innovation Waiver slots. She said she and Representative Hawkins filed a bill to increase it by 1,000 beds. She said a Republican in the House filed a similar bill. She said there is interest on both sides of the aisle. Commissioner Bedford said within the County there is a Behavioral Health Taskforce looking at the specific issue of a crisis diversion facility, as part of needs that were exposed through Criminal Justice Resource Department. She said this group's work is trying to keep people out of jail and out of the criminal justice system. She said other counties have been able to [cut out due to technical issue]. Chair Price said several years ago, the National Association of Counties (NACO)was looking into keeping mental health out of jails and prisons. She said several of the Commissioners have been on tours in the State and across the country to facilities where people never see handcuffs or bars and there is a warm hand off to mental health. She said she visited a facility like that in Wake County. Commissioner Hamilton read the priority on Full Funding of the Leandro Remedial Action Plan: "Support equity and racial justice by fully funding the Leandro Remedial Action Plan, which details additional comprehensive, targeted education funding over the next eight years, predominantly to low-wealth and minority communities, in order for the State to come into compliance with its constitutional obligation to provide every student a sound basic education." She said based on her experience serving three terms on the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School (CHCCS) Board of Education, the state has not been keeping up with funding needs for public education, especially in the low wealth and minority communities. She said teachers need to be paid more, especially with the stresses of teaching online, but even before that there was insufficient funding for teachers, students, and facilities. Representative Insko said every time this issue goes to court it wins, but nothing happens. She said the last ruling was that the state needed to put in $8 billion a year for eight years. She asked and Commissioners with a law background to share what else they thought could be done. She said Democrats taking the majority would help, but besides that was unsure.