February 2020 • Vol. 37, Issue 2
THE
REPORTER
State Employees Association of North Carolina
SEANC CONTINUES TO FIGHT Democratic senators chose to toe the party line and support Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of the state budget in a one-day session on Jan. 14, leaving thousands of state employees and retirees without an increase in pay. A veto override on the legislature’s budget would have meant funding for UNC system raises, as well as funding for community college and school personnel increases and a 1% bonus for retirees. After the legislative budget plan was vetoed this summer, legislators passed a “mini-budget” bill to fund the largest two-year pay increase for most state employees in a decade — 2.5% in each of the next two years — as well as five bonus leave days. It also funded supplements for correctional personnel who work at high-vacancy prisons. UNC system, community college and non-certified school personnel raises,
and retiree bonuses were included in a separate bill that passed the legislature but were vetoed by Cooper. SEANC lobbied for education employees to receive the same 5% raise as the rest of state employees. The retiree bonus that was in the legislative budget was barely a bonus at all. Poor choices by previous state treasurers have made a true COLA unavailable. SEANC is grateful to Treasurer Dale Folwell for the work he is doing to dig the pension system out of the mess created by his predecessors. SEANC pushed for legislative leaders to honor the service and sacrifice of our retired state employees with a bonus of at least 2%. The fight is not over. The legislature is set to return in April to wrap up unfinished business ahead of the short session. SEANC will continue to lobby for UNC system, community college and non-certified school personnel to receive
District 25 members met recently with Rep. Graig Meyer (D-Caswell) and Sen. Valerie Foushee D-Chatham to discuss raises for UNC employees. Pictured with Meyer and Foushee are SEANC Second Vice President Kirk Montgomery, District 25 Chairman James Holman, and UNC-Chapel Hill Employee Forum Chairwoman and District 25 member Shayna Hill.
the same 5% two-year increases as other state employees, as well as a 2% retiree bonus. We will also advocate for making those raises retroactive to July 1, 2019, so those employees and retirees will receive the full amount this year.
SEANC demands price transparency in health care SEANC is keeping the heat on hospitals in the effort to end deceptive billing practices and bring transparency and savings to the State Health Plan. We recently launched a series of television ads shedding light on the secret contracts that drive up costs in the State Health Plan in Asheville and Wilmington. The ads urge the public to support State Treasurer Dale Folwell’s Clear Pricing Project, which would end secret contracts and make hospital bills more transparent and fair for State Health Plan members. More than 25,000 providers signed on to the Clear Pricing Project this year. However, all of the state’s major
hospitals, like New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington and Mission Health in Asheville, boycotted the plan. Currently, State Health Plan members pay up to eight times Medicare rates for some services. SEANC has called for reference-based pricing — tying reimbursement rates to Medicare rates — since 2011. We expect the issue to be a hot topic in the 2020 State Treasurer’s race. Folwell, who is endorsed by EMPAC in the 2020 election, is leading the charge for transparency and lower costs. SEANC will continue this fight until every hospital in the state signs on to the
Clear Pricing Project. Together, we can end secret contracts and have both quality and affordable care for state employees, retirees and their families. Take action! Follow us on Twitter and Facebook, share our ads with your community, and urge your local hospital to join the Clear Pricing Project.