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OBSERVATIONS
January 7, 2021 |
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 Wingate Lassiter |
State's Legislature needs to step up
and put those surplus funds to work
The North Carolina General Assembly convenes next Wednesday for its every-other-year "long session." Boy, do they have some work to do!
And it ought to start with coronavirus relief.
The latest report I've seen shows State Government has accumulated $4.38 billion --- yes, BILLION --- in its General Fund that hasn't been appropriated. And that's in addition to $1.1 BILLION in the state's so-called "rainy day" fund.
Why hasn't some of that money already been directed to individuals and businesses who are hurting because of state-ordered shutdowns and job-robbing restrictions put in place to lessen the spread of COVID-19?
John Shallcross gave us a compelling example of those needs when he asked the County Commissioners this week for some relief in paying property taxes now due on his movie theater, Smithfield Cinemas. Since the state, by order of the Governor, shut down his business for 245 days this past year (and now restricts his operation to 25% of capacity), shouldn't he and others in the same boat be compensated by the government for depriving him of income for no fault of his own?
If not tax relief, then why not a state grant to cover at least a portion of his losses?
Another example of state aid being withheld was District Attorney Susan Doyle's request for the county to pick up the cost of two temporary employees in her office that had been funded by the state through December 31 to address a caseload logjam resulting from a coronavirus-caused slowdown in judicial proceedings.
The commissioners agreed to fund the positions through June 30 --- all of them except Fred Smith, who argued that the state, not the county, bears responsibility for funding the DA's Office and has plenty of money just now to do it.
So where's the help, General Assembly, for local governments compelled to make up for the state's withholding of money that ought to be spent on vital public services?
And there are plenty of examples of that. One that comes immediately to mind is restricted state aid to local public school systems for the mounting expense of accommodating "exceptional children" with special needs. Johnston County Public Schools has been drawing down millions of county taxpayers' dollars in recent years to make up for that shortfall from the state.
The list goes on and on. And it's an issue that has been around for decades, summed up this week by County Commissioner Tony Braswell when he talked about "mandate after mandate after mandate" coming down from the state for delivering an array of local services --- without the funding to carry out those obligations.
Yes, there's much work to be done in Raleigh. And it goes well beyond COVID-19 relief measures.
DECORATIONS LEFT STANDING FOR "OLD CHRISTMAS"
Inflatable Yuletide decorations were still standing in this yard on Smithfield's Riverside Drive this week --- perhaps waiting for "Old Christmas," traditionally observed by some Christian sects on January 6. Or perhaps folks simply aren't ready to take down symbols of the season's joyfulness, especially during these tough times of economic and political distress.
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