The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) will be having a Scientific Workshop on September 30th and October 1st to update the 2009 IACC Strategic Plan for ASD Research. This meeting will be held in Bethesda, MD, and more information can be found at http://iacc.hhs.gov/. The IACC was established as a result of the Combating Autism…
2009 Legislative Session Wrap-Up: Health and Human Services
On August 11th 2009, state lawmakers passed a $19 million state budget and adjourned a long and difficult legislative session. Gov. Beverly Perdue signed the state’s $19 billion budget into law with “serious reservations”. The Governor is not alone in her reservations about the final state budget. There is no question that the deep cuts…
State Budget Passes – Thoughts and Observations
Earlier this week, after a rather long and certainly difficult time, our state legislators ended their business and adjourned until the state of the short session next year. Our state legislators and Governor were certainly confronted with preparing a budget in what certainly many are calling the most difficult economic times our state government has…
State Budget Update – Continuing Resolution Passed, Committees to Work Through Weekend
Continuing Budget Authority Today legislators approved a third continuing budget resolution to keep state government operating in the absence of a budget. This latest stopgap budget resolution has no expiration date and sets spending at 84% of the current 2008-2009 budget. State Budget Update Perhaps this resolution will be the last of this session. It…
Request for Information (RFI): Updating the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee Strategic Plan for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Research
On behalf of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC), the Nation Institute of Mental Health is seeking comments to inform the annual update of the IACC Strategic Plan for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Research, as required by the Combating Autism Act of 2006 (P.L. 109-416). The purpose of this RFI is to solicit input from…
Final State Budget in Sight
The Senate and House Democrats have reached agreement to raise nearly $990 million dollars in revenue to restore some of the most harmful budget cuts in Health and Human Services and Education. The revenue plan calls for a 1-cent increase in the sales tax, a 2 percent surcharge on personal and corporate income tax, a…
As we work to keep the needs of people with autism and their families in front of our state legislators this session; we are also working on federal autism legislation. This week, staff were invited to meet with Sen. Hagan’s NC State Director, Deputy Director and her DC Health Policy staffĀ (who joined the meeting by…
The Case for Raising Revenue
Without additional revenue, let’s review what is at stake: (The Autism Society of North Carolina supports this analysis from the Arc of NC.) LME services cuts ($65 million ): This includes a $50 million dollar cut to services without specifics, a $16 million cut to services to people with DD who also have a CAP…
Federal Autism Legislation
While ASNC staff are advocating at the N.C. General Assembly on behalf of people living with autism, we are also monitoring federal autism legislation. Once the N.C. state budget is finalized, we will be visiting with our N.C. Congressional Delegation members to solicit their sponsorship and support for several federal autism bills (listed below). Please…