Autism Society of North Carolina Public Policy updates:
- NC Senate passes budget
- What IS included in Senate budget
- What is NOT included in Senate budget
- Other budgetary issues
- What’s next in the state budget process?
- Actions you can take now
NC Senate passes budget
The NC Senate released its budget legislation on Monday, April 14, 2025. After moving it through several Senate Committees, it was passed during Wednesday’s NC Senate session. Senate Bill 257 does not include many of the priorities being advocated for by the Autism Society of North Carolina (ASNC) including waiver slots, DSP wage increases, and modernizing education funding.
What IS included in the Senate budget
- Medicaid rebase funding will continue support for existing Medicaid programs and services, including 1915i, current waivers, current rate increases, and other health care programs.
- Funding for Community College programs that support job readiness for people with I/DD, including those with autism.
- A $30 million cut to state dollar funded services for developmental disabilities, mental health, and substance use services.
- 2.5% teacher raises.
What is NOT included in Senate budget
- New or additional Innovations Waiver slots to reduce the waiting list.
- Increased rates for Direct Support Professional wage increases.
- Housing assistance funds for people with I/DD.
- Increased support for EIPD (formerly called Vocational Rehabilitation).
- Additional special education funding.
- Removal of the 13% cap on special education funding.
Other budgetary issues
Paying for Hurricane Helene damage has had a significant impact on the state budget: $700 million in additional funds were allocated to Helene relief and rebuilding. With concerns that federal funding may not come through, North Carolina continues to shore up its rainy-day fund, anticipating the need for more funding to be dedicated to these efforts.
The budget special provisions include the requirement for the NC Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to report back to Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services and the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Medicaid. That report will focus on recent efforts by DHHS to address the inappropriate use of acute care hospital settings for the delivery of behavioral health services as well as gaps in our services system that remain despite those crisis response efforts. The report is due no later than October 1 of this year.
ASNC is concerned about crisis response because so many of those with behavioral health needs seen in emergency rooms have both mental health issues and I/DD, often with an autism diagnosis. We believe addressing those services gaps for people with autism, would go a long way toward addressing behavioral issues before they rise to a crisis level— services gaps including access to Innovations Waivers (aka reducing the wait list), fully staffing existing waiver slots, adopting a TEFRA waiver in NC for children with disabilities, and pushing for remaining private health plans not covered by state law to offer autism behavioral health coverage.
You can view all the budget documents on the left side of the NCGA home page, including the Committee Report, sometimes referred to as the “money report,” outlining spending allocations and reductions for each NC government department.
What’s next in the state budget process?
The NC Senate started the budget process at the NCGA this year passing the initial budget bill, SB 257, which now moves over to the NC House where they will write and pass their own version. Then both chambers will work out differences in a conference report before the final budget is passed, hopefully by June 30. The delays in the federal budget mean there is some uncertainty about federal funding to support programs in North Carolina. Legislators may need to return later this year to make adjustments based on what appropriations bills the US Congress passes. You can read more about the federal budget process in our March 24, 2025 policy update.
Actions you can take now
If you have not recently reached out to your NC House member or to Appropriations Committee Chairs, now is a good time to do so.
Who to email
- Your own NC House You can find out who represents you using your address in this map. Be sure to change the map view to “NC House” to find your North Carolina General Assembly House member. You have one NC House Representative and one NC Senator.
- Leadership of the House Appropriations Committee can be found using this link. The House Appropriations Committee controls the overall House budget process and drives the priorities of the state budget.
What to say
- Who you are, where you live, and that you care about and/or are someone on the autism spectrum.
- You are concerned about the lack of support for autism services in the NC Senate budget and hope the NC House will include this as a priority.
- Depending on what concerns you have (Innovations wait list, lack of DSPs/DSP wages, housing, special education funding, etc.) personalize your email by talking about what it would mean to have access to these types of supports.
- Ask the House to include funding for those services and supports in their version of the state budget.
For more guidance on what to say and who to say it to, please see our Advocacy 101 Toolkit and/or our tips sheet on our website here.
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