House and Senate leaders released their compromise budget proposal Tuesday. With a few exceptions, the proposal fails to include important funding and policy changes, including Medicaid expansion, that are sorely needed to help children and families thrive in North Carolina.   Here’s a quick rundown of what we’re most concerned about:

Legislation introduced last week to expand Medicaid should be welcome news to the hundreds of thousands in North Carolina who currently can’t see a doctor when they need one. House Bill 5 was introduced by lead sponsors Reps. Gale Adcock, Carla Cunningham, Verla Insko, and Jean Farmer-Butterfield, and Senate Bill 3 was introduced by lead sponsors Sens. Ben Clark, Dan Blue, and Gladys Robinson – all Democrats. A Republican-led bill is expected soon in the NC House.

The KIDS COUNT Data Book, released on June 28 by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, shows that a stronger economy is producing better outcomes for parents and their kids. Federally-funded supports such as SNAP, Head Start, CHIP, and school lunches are helping drive child success. But those positive outcomes are in jeopardy as 73,000 North Carolina children are at risk of not being counted in the upcoming 2020 census.

A new report on school-based arrests in Wake County just dealt another blow to North Carolina’s outdated and counterproductive policy of charging all 16- and 17-year-olds as adults.