April 2021 • Vol. 38, Issue 3
THE
REPORTER
State Employees Association of North Carolina
Cooper’s budget contains pay raises, bonuses, COLAS for retirees Expanding $15/hour minimum wage to school employees also included Gov. Roy Cooper outlined his state budget proposal on March 24 for the next two years that included truly meaningful pay raises for state employees and real cost-of-living adjustments for retirees. All state employees would receive a pay raise and bonus should the proposal pass, setting an optimistic tone for coming negotiations with legislators. However, the proposal does return to an old practice of raising teacher pay far more than most state employees. We don’t think this is fair. Our members have been on the front lines during the pandemic and should not be valued less than other groups. It’s time to end that madness and recognize all public employees for the valuable work they perform. SEANC President Jimmy Davis and Executive Director Ardis Watkins met with Governor Cooper on March 3 to discuss pay raises and cost-of-living adjustments for retirees for all members. Davis and Watkins discussed raising the minimum salary for non-certified public-school and community college
employees to $15 per hour GOV. ROY COOPER’S BUDGET PROPOSAL minimum wage. This group INCLUDED THE FOLLOWING: of employees were left out in 2017 when the state budget Most state employees set the minimum, which • 5% pay raise over two years equates to $31,200 annually. • $1,000 bonus in each of the next two years Thankfully, Gov. Cooper • Funds to address wage compression and recruitment/retention did include this increase for non-certified school personUNC, Community College, and non-certified nel. As we’ve seen in other school personnel state agencies since SEANC • 7.5% pay raise over two years worked with Senator Phil • $4,000 bonus over two years • Minimum $15 wage for non-certified school Berger and Speaker Tim personnel Moore to secure a $15 minimum wage for most Teachers state employees, this is a • More than 10% pay raise over two years • $4,000 bonus over two years necessary and life-changing move for working families. Retirees We will work with the • 2% COLA legislature to extend this $15 • 2% bonus in each of the next two year minimum wage to community college staff as well. It’s important to note that this is just early March with a compromise on the the Governor’s proposal. The House plan to reopen schools. Time will tell and Senate will make their proposals, on whether that spirit holds. and lawmakers will negotiate a final We will continue to work with the budget from those three plans. Legislalegislature and the Governor to ensure tive leaders and the governor signaled that state employees are represented some appetite for bipartisanship in throughout this process.
COVID reimbursement, transparency bill top health plan concerns The State Health Plan (SHP) has spent or plans to spend almost $200 million on testing and treatment for COVID for state employees and retirees in 2020 and 2021. SEANC continues to lobby for that money to be replaced with federal funds. The SHP has spent $72 million dollars on COVID testing and treatment as of December 2020, and is expected to spend an additional $122 million in 2021 on COVID testing and treatment. It was also required by the federal
government to pay for COVID-related items in order to deplete federal funds. SEANC is advocating for CARES Act funds to be used to replenish the State Health Plan. SEANC is also lobbying for passage of House Bill 169, which would give the State Health Plan access to the costs associated with claims it pays. It’s outrageous that the State Health Plan cannot see specifics on how much it pays providers. This bill has bipartisan support and has been called for by State Auditor Beth Wood for more than a decade.