Attn: Soap Box, I propose a crowdsourced in-house analysis of the entire budget combined with the effects from SL2011-145 (Appropriations). The Soap Box has been (mostly) good for discussion and news about the actions of our State but maybe you're like me and you're feeling the urge to DO something. At some point, you can think you know all that you need to know but you can't stop there. I know some of you already do something but I don't (other than law school) and this is something I'd like to see through regardless if I get help or not but I'd love to see us come together.

Proposal:
- Split up the 343 pg. Budget and the 342 pg. Appropriations law into groups of about 25 pages each. This requires a little less than 30 contributors (less if people finish and feel like taking on another section which I will gladly do). The budget itself really only has 6 subjects (Education, General Govt, Health and Human Services, Justice and Public Safety, Natural and Economic Resources, and Transportation).
- Develop a standard form for notes on each section. Besides the facts, I think thinking of it in terms of Winners (more funding) vs. Losers (less funding or defunding), Reorganization...things that stand out or can be easily put into infographs later for the final version. We should be clearly able to see where money is coming in, going to, and where the savings are.
- Condense and convert as much as possible into plain language. This will be the bulk of the project because NC has taken zero steps to make government documents readable. I suggest visiting plainlanguage.gov to educate yourself on the impact this can make.

The Final Products:
One large summary report (however large that is even after condensing it down)
One small highlights report (even the OSBM's 99 pg. powerpoint is crap)
A complete diagram of the State Govt including responsibilities and positions. This will probably take the 2nd longest to complete.

Another consideration is citation. Obviously everything should be cited but in this day and age there's no reason that we shouldn't take advantage of the digital formats to reduce wasting space and redundant citations. Hyperlinks are helpful but ugly up the page and break the reader's concentration. I personally like the look of footnote type citations in superscript [1].

Tentative deadline could probably be December 2011 if not sooner depending on how much help there is.

Let's start the discussion...

[Edited on June 19, 2011 at 3:05 PM. Reason : http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2011&BillID=H200&votesToView=]

[Edited on June 19, 2011 at 3:05 PM. Reason : http://data.osbm.state.nc.us/pls/pbis/dyn_osbmweb_libtopicgroups.show?p_arg_names=context&p_arg_valu]

6/19/2011 3:03:38 PM

tldr;

6/19/2011 3:10:43 PM

iop1..?

6/19/2011 3:24:52 PM

and for those people, ill repeat, since you won't get a chance to read, that i said i was going to do this myself if i had to anyway as a matter of personal interest

6/19/2011 3:50:58 PM

I just looked through it. I am actually kinda pissed about something and have a question? Are all state employees on the step system?

On page 305 it shows the teacher step system. I was under the impression that "no employee is getting a raise" as it has been reported in almost every paper. Does that mean they are not increasing a step or does it mean they do not receive some type of merit or cost of living increase that had been previously awarded?

I am a local government employee and have not received a raise in a couple of years because our Shitty Council uses the justification if the state isn't doing it, it wouldn't be appropriate for them to authorize it for us.

6/19/2011 5:15:41 PM

I'm going into my sixth year as a teacher this fall. I haven't had a raise of any kind (step, cost of living, etc.) since my second year.

Additionally, veteran coaches in our system are getting first-year coaching supplements, which can be a significant difference for coaches who have been around for a while.

Take that as a simple answer to your question, not an editorial comment (of which I have plenty that I'm not willing to get into here).

6/19/2011 7:59:24 PM

I think most people have been having bad raises the last 5 years or so, excepting early career people

6/19/2011 9:54:13 PM

I'll tentatively say I'll do the natural resources section. Or I am atleast going to be taking a look at it since I know it got slammed. How do you propose we keep individual politics out of each of the summary reports?

[Edited on June 20, 2011 at 8:24 AM. Reason : well maybe just part of the natural resources section if its really long]

6/20/2011 8:23:45 AM

the second link, which I can only assume is the budget link, says bad request. I have downloaded the appropriations and will look for a section of interest.

6/20/2011 8:43:22 AM

Yea I have been wondering about if teachers get their years of experience increase every year as well. Formerly working in a school district as a classified employee (IT) it was always a weird relationship with teachers. Many of the teachers thought they were better than classified employees and felt entitled due to their education to extra benefits above the classified people who at a school district were mainly cafeteria staff, bus drivers, and secretaries that did not require much education. I was one of the rare exceptions to their disdain as I was a more "professional" classified employee in terms of job requirements and skills, but it was very weird.

Regardless at the school district in 4 years I received a promotion and that put me on a different salary grade, but I never got scaled up or anything. Got a raise this year but that is because I went from a local school district to the university system and a totally different job.

6/20/2011 9:55:06 AM

There is a supposed step system but every year the pay for each step is lowered to the step before it, which pretty much makes teachers get no pay increase from year to year over the last 4ish years.

6/20/2011 10:31:02 AM

those links don't work for me to look at the budget.

6/20/2011 10:39:58 AM

this link should work
http://www.osbm.state.nc.us/ncosbm/osbm_library/superpubs/budget1113.shtm

6/20/2011 1:04:45 PM