December 13, 1999
IMPORTANT!
MEMORANDUM
TO: Presidents
FROM: H. Martin Lancaster
SUBJECT: Special Session
1. The Governor has assembled an $830 million financing plan to assist in the
recovery of flood-ravaged eastern North Carolina. Included among the items
in the financing plan, within funds that the Governor controls under the
Executive Budget Act, are forced reversions and a 50 percent reduction in the
reserve for health insurance premium increase. I hope the following
information helps to clarify both of these items, and actions taken thus far by
the Governor:
A. Reversions
There is some confusion among members of the Community College
family about the reversions that have been forced thus far. To date, the
Governor has called back from the NCCCS one percent of our operating
budgets. This includes both the colleges and the System Office. You
have been asked to revert these funds to the Division of Business and
Finance, which in turn has been required to revert them to the Office of
State Budget and Management.
With the beginning of the “Special Legislative Session” called by the
Governor, newspaper and other media accounts suggest that the
NCCCS will have to revert $5.7 million. We already have. These are
not additional reversions, but represent the amount you have
already reverted. If during the course of the anticipated one-week
session we are called upon to do more, I will alert you immediately.
Presidents
Page 2
December 13, 1999
B. Reserve for Health Insurance Premium Increases
There is also some confusion among colleges about the 50 percent reduction
in funds allotted for the health insurance premium increase. As you well know,
the General Assembly approved both a rate increase to fund the “Teachers’
and State Employees’ Comprehensive Major Medical Plan,” and expanded
the benefits of the plan. The General Assembly appropriated $100 million for
1999-2000 to fund the rate increase. The Governor, in an effort to find funds
for hurricane relief, only released 50 percent of this reserve. This action
means that colleges must absorb the other half of the premium increase for
individuals from existing budgets. This information was communicated to you
in early November (CC99-306). To the best of our knowledge, this in no
way affects the benefit revisions made to the Plan made by the General
Assembly.
2. I am told that on Friday morning, at a called meeting of the NCACCP Finance
Committee, chaired by Dr. Bryan Brooks, the subject of appearances in the
General Assembly by presidents and others was discussed. The consensus opinion
of the conversations was that since we are not targeted for further reductions or the
beneficiary of new allocations, we should stay away. I completely concur with this
position. Unless and until we become a point of discussion about further budget
reductions, or new funding initiatives, we should avoid an appearance. Do not call
your Legislators and do not plan a special trip to Raleigh. I realize some of you
may be in Raleigh on other business incidental to the Session. If so, please drop by
and see us. But I do not believe we should be “walking the halls” of the Assembly
when we are a non-issue at this point.
3. While I was working on this memorandum, I got a call from the Governor with
regard to our building trades special classes. He had gotten wind from someone
other than me that we were not having much success in recruiting persons into these
programs. He is very grateful for the effort which has been made to set up the
classes, but now wants us to redouble our efforts to get people into those classes.
He indicated that with the hundreds of millions of dollars in housing funds that will
be approved between now and Christmas, that it is critically important that the state
have persons prepared to do the building which is being financed by this Special
Session. He wants for me to meet with him personally by the end of the week to
give a report on what each college is doing to recruit students into these programs.
If you are not already doing so, he wants you to put recruiters in the neighborhoods
bodily dragging people into your programs. If you do not have money for
recruiters, he wants to know what it would cost and he will then make a decision as
to whether or not to provide the funding for such recruiters. In the alternative, he
Presidents
Page 3
December 13, 1999
has suggested that you expect of everybody on your staff from the president to the
grounds keepers to spend at least two hours each week recruiting for the program.
He wants to know if the training stipend which was approved is high enough or
does it need to be increased as a recruiting incentive. Are community activists and
churches being enlisted to send unemployed and under-employed people from their
areas to you? Is ESC doing all it can to refer people to you? If not, he wants you
to name names. In short, he wants no stone left unturned to fill up these classes
beginning as soon as possible after January 1. He is willing to do whatever is
necessary to help you with this effort, but he expects us to produce! He reminded
me that he had not hit us as he had hit most state agencies because he expects us to
be a major player in the recovery. The implication from that statement was clear.
Please e-mail to me by Friday the specifics of your recruitment efforts and any new
recruitment efforts you intend to undertake between now and the end of the year.
CC99-337
FAX