1. United States
2. N.C.
3. Letter

PETITION CLEAR Today, Governor Josh Stein released his proposed budget for North Carolina for 2025. The budget includes recommendations for the developmental disability community. The Senate and then the House will work on their budgets next. Governor Stein’s budget includes the following recommendations: • Over $37 million for 200 additional developmental disability Innovations Waiver slots and 75 additional Traumatic Brain Injury waiver slots (funding increase would occur over a two-year period); • $5 million in nonrecurring dollars for Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) to recruit and retain DSPs and allow NCDHHS to offer scholarships, paid apprenticeships, and related training programs to strengthen the DSP workforce; • $10 million to increase the pipeline of high-demand health professionals; • $1 million each year of the biennium to the NC Area Health Education Center (AHEC) to expand the nursing workforce; • Funding necessary to sustain the Healthy Opportunities initiative, expand to additional western NC counties where the program is not currently operational, and plan for statewide expansion; • Funding the Medicaid program to continue current levels of service; and • An additional $5.7 million to stabilize the vocational rehabilitation workforce and help reduce vacancy rates for counselors and other direct-service professionals and to sustain community provider rates. This recommended investment will enable the state to pull down an additional $21 million in federal vocational rehabilitation funding. I URGE YOU TO SUPPORT THIS FUNDING AND HELP THE DISABLED IN NORTH CAROLINA.