Public Health Budget: 2014 Appropriations Act - S.L. 2014-100 (S 744)
The 2014 state budget, S.L. 2014-100 (S 744), once again brought an overall reduction for the North Carolina Division of Public Health. While some recurring funds were added, more nonrecurring funds and seven FTEs were earmarked for reduction.
The 2014 state budget, S.L. 2014-100 (S 744), once again brought an overall reduction for the North Carolina Division of Public Health. While some recurring funds were added, more nonrecurring funds and seven FTEs were earmarked for reduction. In addition, the Division is expected to share in a $16 million dollar Department of Health and Human Services reduction in recurring contract and administrative expenses. The Department has been instructed to achieve the $16 million reduction by eliminating or reducing contracts, vacant or filled positions, and state-level administrative expenses, without reducing or eliminating programs that provide direct services. It is not yet known how much of this reduction will be allocated to the Division of Public Health or which programs it will affect.
New recurring funds were appropriated to the state Vital Records program ($350,000) and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ($1 million).
Recurring state funding was eliminated for the following specific programs or contracts:
- The NC public health incubator collaborative, a voluntary program in which local health departments work together to develop best practices and improve public health. The contract with the NC Institute for Public Health to provide support for the collaborative was discontinued, but the conference report on the budget (the “money report”) expressed the expectation that collaborations among local health departments will continue.
- The vector control program, which provided grants for mosquito control to some counties. The program had been the subject of previous reductions. The 2014 reduction terminates the program entirely.
- The school-based child and family support team program. The funding that was eliminated was described in the money report as start-up funding that is no longer needed, as the program has been established. Two FTEs associated with the program were eliminated.
Recurring funds for operating expenses were reduced for the following DPH units: State Center for Health Statistics, Purchase of Medical Care, Physical Activity and Nutrition, Chronic Disease Prevention, and Early Intervention. Five FTEs were eliminated for those units as well.
Additional reductions reflected adjustments that were not expected to result in reduced services. A recurring reduction of about $337,000 eliminated residual funds for Purchase of Medical Care, Early Hearing Detection and Intervention, and Tobacco Prevention and Control. A non-recurring reduction of about $5.8 million in the AIDS Drug Assistance Program reflected increased pharmaceutical and federal receipts and was not expected to change services to eligible participants or create waiting lists in 2014-15.
The budget included a provision to reflect increased receipts anticipated from the increase in well water testing fees described here. It moved $400,000 from the aid-to-counties budget to the state Food Protection Program to account for the increase in counties’ share of food and lodging fee receipts that was part of the 2013 appropriations act (described here). Finally, it rewrote the portion of the 2013 Appropriations Act that addressed the closure of children's developmental services agencies (CDSAs). The 2013 budget reduced funding for the agencies, eliminated 160 CDSA positions, and authorized the Department of Health and Human services to close up to four CDSAs. Section 12E.1 of the 2014 budget retains the elimination of the positions but deletes the language authorizing closure and instead instructs the Department to explore all options in order to achieve spending levels consistent with its reduced appropriation.