Hidden changes
Published August 12, 2014
Editorial by Greensboro News-Record, August 12, 2014.
On the day the state Senate adopted the budget, Jeff Jackson from Charlotte stood to debate the bill. He complained that the 260-page spending plan had just been delivered to his office a few hours earlier.
“Folks, if you weren’t allowed to see this budget until this morning, I don’t see how you can vote on it in good conscience,” he said. “You can’t possibly know what’s in here. You can’t possibly know the intended effects of this budget, let alone the unintended effects.”
Jackson is a young Democrat, only 31, who was just appointed this year to fill a vacant seat. He’s a “new kid,” in his words, who had not been through a budget process before at the General Assembly. Maybe he’s naive.
But he’s right. Rank-and-file members of the Senate and House of both parties, and even some leaders, were not aware of all of the intended or unintended effects of the budget.
That became clear when reports surfaced, after both chambers hurriedly voted to approve the budget so they could break for a semi-adjournment, of a major policy change hidden within its weight.
It proclaimed that the state no longer will automatically pay for enrollment growth in public schools, sweeping away a funding mechanism in place since 1933.
Philip Price, the chief financial officer at the Department of Public Instruction, called it “the largest change in the budget in my lifetime.”
It was never publicly announced, explained or debated before the budget was enacted. Rep. Paul “Skip” Stam (R-Wake), the speaker pro tem in the House, said he didn’t know about it before he voted.
What’s the big deal? The chief budget writer in the House, Rep. Nelson Dollar (R-Wake), said it will help people better understand school funding.
He made a political point: School leaders often complain about receiving a funding cut when they actually get more money because they calculate spending based on enrollment. If enrollment grows but funding doesn’t, then spending per-student declines. That’s a cut.
Some legislators don’t want to frame the discussion that way, but it’s more than a matter of political parsing of terms. Enrollment is growing — by about 10,000 students in the next school year. That requires schools to employ more teachers, purchase more books and so on.
When they could count on funding to grow with enrollment, they could plan for staffing and purchasing needs. Without that certainty, they’ll have to wait until the budget is passed — ideally by July 1 but sometimes as much as a month later — before they can hire new teachers or make other adjustments. It’s unfair.
School administrators weren’t given a chance to respond to this change until it was too late. Legislators weren’t given an opportunity to debate the merits. A few insiders hid the provision in the budget and let it slip by. Not even Gov. Pat McCrory commented on it.
It demonstrates the need to open major legislation to public scrutiny for several days, not hours, before it’s enacted.
Even a “new kid” could see the wisdom in that.
