THE
State Employees Association of North Carolina, SEIU Local 2008 P.O. Drawer 27727, Raleigh, NC • www.seanc.org 800-222-2758 • 919-833-6436 • Circulation 55,000
September 2013
• Vol. 31, Issue 9
McCrory Signs Budget with No Pay Raises State employees receive five extra vacation days in spending plan By Toni Davis SEANC Communications Director
After months of debate, the General Assembly passed a state budget in late July that included five bonus leave days for state employees but no pay raises or retiree cost-of-living adjustments. The $20.6 billion spending plan was a compromise of proposals from the House, Senate and Gov. Pat McCrory. SEANC Executive Director Dana Cope said in a message to members when the compromise was announced that he was “disappointed” in the final plan. “Without a pay raise, a five-day vacation for the average employee becomes a staycation or an opportunity to work more at the second job in order to pay bills which keep rising while wages do not,” Cope said. “Don’t get me wrong, the vacation days are appreciated, but a modest cost-of-living adjustment was strongly advocated for by the association and warranted this year.” SEANC believes that $20.6 billion is a lot of money, and how lawmakers choose to spend it speaks volumes about their priorities. This year’s misplaced priorities became apparent when tax breaks for yachts became more important than healthy teeth for tots. The budget will close several prisons at the request of the Department of Public Safety and eliminates 685 positions, including Duplin Correctional, Robeson Correctional,
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2013-14 State Budget By the Numbers
One-time five additional days of annual leave to be used by June 30, 2014 $1 million for a statewide compensation study $1.1 million to fund 175 new probation officer positions $2.5 million to fill 69 state trooper vacancies $7.5 million to the salary adjustment fund $33 million for the State Health Plan $36 million to fully fund the Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System (TSERS) $56 million for a general fund reserve for increased contributions to existing benefit employee programs in fiscal year 2014-15
Bladen Correctional, Wayne and Western Youth Institution. Johnston Correctional Institution will be converted to a minimum custody prison and will shed 50 positions as a result. Many of the employees at these closed prisons were offered positions in other parts of the Department of Public Safety or other agencies in state government. The Department of Public Safety’s Youth Development Centers and the 90 people who work in the facilities also took a hit with closures impacting Lenoir, Richmond and Buncombe Detention Centers. Finally, the State Highway Patrol Communications Center will be consolidated, resulting in 30 lost positions. On the plus side, the budget fully funds the retirement system and creates new jobs within the State Highway Patrol and in Probation and Parole that persons displaced from prison closures
could apply for within the Department of Public Safety (DPS). The DPS budget allots 175 new probation officer positions and a new Western Multipurpose Group Home is funded with an unknown number of positions to support this facility. Two other prisons — Orange Correctional and the North Piedmont Correctional Center for Women — were under consideration for closure in previous budget drafts, but were restored in the final budget. After intense lobbying to maintain preventive oral health services in high-risk schools, employees at the Department of Health and Human Services Oral Health section will maintain 35 of the 50 employees. The Senate proposed eliminating all these positions, while the House fully funded these vital dental services.
tdavis@seanc.org