Legislation to bail out the State Health Plan is expected to be back before House members Thursday, and several proposed amendments will be taken up that could further delay its passage., the N&O reports.

RALEIGH, N.C. – A university official says North Carolina State could lay off as many as 150 people by July 1 and cut 2009-2010 class offerings by 3,000 seats because of state-mandated budget reductions.

University Provost Larry Nielsen said departments on the Raleigh campus already are trimming costs, The News & Observer reported Thursday. The university expects a 5 to 7 percent budget cut for the fiscal year that starts in July.

Officials already told 31 employees last week they will lose their jobs, said Charles Leffler, vice chancellor for finance and business.

Leffler said if the university has to make a 5 percent cut it would mean 75 people in all will lose jobs. A 7 percent cut would total 75 to 150 jobs.

“We’re trying to find the balance between the realities of the budget and the best learning environment we can offer,” he said.

Nielsen said cuts have been planned for a while to avoid bad decisions made in a panic.

The adjustments will include faculty members teaching more classes and classes increasing in size.

Nielsen said the 3,000 classroom seats to be cut are about 1 percent of current offerings. The chancellor said the university is trying to protect its teaching mission and classes needed for graduation.

Faculty members are waiting to see what will happen.

“I think everyone realizes class sizes are going up and they’ll have to teach more sections, and I don’t think anyone is saying universities should be exempted from what everyone else is suffering through,” said James Martin, chairman of the faculty senate and a chemistry professor.

The State Health Plan has never audited the company it pays about $100 million annually to process members’ claims to make sure that the company’s expenses are appropriate, the plan’s executive administrator said Thursday.

The Senate Appropriations Committee received a damage report Tuesday from UNC-system President Erskine Bowles.

If the governor’s proposed budget passed with the current campus cuts at $171 million, President Bowles promised as many as 500 employees would be out of work.

Bowles asked lawmakers to hold the university cuts to $125 million and make them nonrecurring so the length of cuts match the duration of the economic downturn.

Bowles said the governor ignored his request to make the cuts nonrecurring.

“Ninety-two percent of our cuts our permanent and that’s a real mistake,” said Bowles.

He asked lawmakers to give him the ability to furlough, he estimated that would save the system $8 million dollars a day.

Senate leadership is buying in.

Both Senators Mark Basnight and Tony Rand told NBC17 News they’ll consider the furlough issue as a way to help ease the university cuts.

On the house side, a furlough bill was introduced Monday night giving the governor authority to mandate unpaid time off for state workers making less than $30,000.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Gov. Bev Perdue could soon have another weapon to help close the state’s multi-billion dollar budget gap for the next fiscal year.

State representatives introduced legislation Monday allowing state employee furloughs.

House Bill 708 gives the governor the power to mandate unpaid time off to save money and balance the budget.

The bill limits the furlough to 20 days.

Workers who make less than $30,000 a year would be exempt.

“I think it is far better to have a job than it is to be on the street,” said bill co-sponsor State Rep. Ray Rapp, (D – Madison County). “Until the recession turns around the possibility of laying off employees is very real. I want to try to soften the position by providing furloughs.”

Dana Cope, who oversees the State Employee Association of North Carolina, doesn’t see it quite the same way.

“Quite frankly furloughs and layoffs are not something the state of North Carolina can afford or absorb in this economic emergency,” said Cope.

He’s urging state workers to call their lawmakers to make sure they vote against mandatory time off.

“We are willing to temporarily sacrifice longevity checks, and we’re already sacrificing — look at all the vacant positions that are open.” said Cope.

But lawmakers said the furloughs would be rotated so agencies may be short-staffed, but no department would have to shut down.

Also, in an effort to keep permanent positions, Rapp said a furlough in no way affects benefits.

The furlough could also include legislative and judicial employees.

It allows the Legislative Services Commission and Chief Justice Sarah Parker the authority to furlough.

RALEIGH, N.C. - Gov. Bev Perdue today announced that she will work with Attorney General Roy Cooper to increase the transparency of state mental health, developmental disability and substance abuse facilities by making more information in death records public.

“In North Carolina, the welfare of our citizens always comes first,” said Gov. Perdue. “Ensuring that important information in death records is public will make state facilities more accountable for the people in their care, restore public confidence and rebuild public trust.”

Gov. Perdue made the announcement today in a Sunshine Week video presentation to the North Carolina Open Government Coalition.

Perdue and Cooper’s proposal would require the following information regarding deaths in state facilities to be public information:

The name, sex, age and date of birth of the deceased;
The name of the facility providing the report;
The date, time and location of the death;
A brief description of the circumstances of death, including the manner of death if known; and
A list of all entities to whom the event was reported. 
 
“Patients must receive quality care in state facilities that are safe,” Cooper said.  “The law should be changed because more public input and scrutiny can help fix the problems.”

“It is important that we have the ability to be open and transparent in dealing with issues within our facilities,” said DHHS Secretary Lanier Cansler.  “While we want to make sure we protect the rights of the individuals we serve, we also want to make sure the public has access to information about problems in the facilities and our efforts to correct them.”

Gov. Perdue’s other ongoing efforts to make state government more transparent include:

• Enabling the public to track the use of North Carolina’s $6.1 billion in federal recovery funds online through NCRecovery.gov.
• Launching NC Open Book so taxpayers can track all state contracts and grants more than $10,000.
• Developing State Stat, a web site that mathematically measures the efficiency and effectiveness of state agencies.
   

“When taxpayers are footing the bill, they have the right to know what they are paying for and if it is working,” said Perdue.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina donated $643,000 to state politicians from the 2000 election cycle through 2008, the N&O reports.

By Kim Genardo
NBC17

RALEIGH, N.C. — State agencies continue to slash budgets and it could have an impact on keeping our highways clean.

The community work crew program could get eliminated to help the Department Of Correction meet its 2009-11 budget cuts.

“We’ll make every effort to try and keep those community work crews in place because they are so valuable to counties, cities and towns that use them for labor,” said department spokesperson Keith Acree.

The move would cut costs by $4.7 million and eliminate 127 correction officers’ jobs.

The DOC must reduce its 2009-11 budget by 7 percent or $90 million.

Other options include closing as many as seven minimum security correctional facilities, including Umstead in Butner.

The town’s Mayor Tom Lane said the correctional facility is a vital part of the community.

The inmates provide labor for state and local institutions.

“Our local water and sewer authority depends very heavily on their workers,” said Mayor Lane.

RALEIGH, N.C.  – Budget cuts confronting state politicians could inhibit the ability of the twice-a-year furniture trade show in High Point to promote itself to furniture industry insiders.

North Carolina is considering eliminating the nearly $900,000 the state contributes toward marketing the High Point Market each year. The state gave the event an extra $500,000 for promotional spending last year.

In all, North Carolina taxpayers spent more than $2.5 million to support the market last year.

High Point Market Authority president Brian Casey doubts the cuts will become a reality because lawmakers understand the market’s economic impact.

A UNC Greensboro economic researcher estimated the market has a $1 billion impact.