December 13, 2011
State Health Plan Listening Tour coming to a town near you!
For years we’ve said the State Health Plan needs improvement. Now because of SEANC’s advocacy in the General Assembly, for the first time state employees are voting members and in control of the SHP Board of Trustees. This is our chance to make a difference!
SEANC District 22 Chairwoman Michele Shaw, a member of the SHP board, along with North Carolina State Treasurer Janet Cowell have embarked on a LISTENING TOUR to get input on how the plan is working and what changes need to be made to the plan. You need to be a part of that discussion.
> If you or your family members are covered by the plan but don’t always get the care or medicine you need because you can’t afford the deductibles or copays, the trustees need to hear from you.
> If you have dependents going without insurance because the premiums are too high, the trustees need to hear from you.
> If you have any ideas or concerns that you’d like to share about the State Health Plan and the way it is administered, the trustees need to hear from you.
This process could result in real improvements to the plan, but only if we all get involved. The trustees need to do their part and the General Assembly will need to vote on the funds. But the FIRST step is to make a record of what needs to be changed, and your participation is key.
Jamestown – Jan. 17 at the Percy H. Sears Applied Technologies Center at Guilford Technical Community College, located at 601 High Point Rd.
Wilmington – Jan. 31 in the McLeod Building at Cape Fear Community College, located at 411 North Front St.
Lenoir – Feb. 8 in the J.E. Broyhill Civic Center at Caldwell Community College, located at 1913 Hickory Blvd.
Winterville – Feb. 28 in the Goess Student Center at Pitt Community College, located at 1986 Tech Rd.
Charlotte – March 1 in Tate Hall in the Overcash Building at Central Piedmont Community College, located at 1206 Elizabeth Ave.
Download the flyer here
November 18, 2011
SEANC President Charles Johnson and
District 40 Member Johnny Hawkins Sworn In to
N.C. Criminal Justice Commission
Today, SEANC President Charles Johnson and District 40 member Johnny Hawkins were sworn in to serve on the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission. The commission is responsible for establishing standards for criminal justice officers and helping plan criminal justice education. Their terms end on June 30, 2014.
Johnson and Hawkins were appointed to the commission by Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger.
November 17, 2011
Mr. Cope Goes to Washington - Urges Affordable Health Care for N.C. Families
SEANC Executive Director Dana Cope is in Washington, D.C. today
advocating for affordable dependent care coverage for state employees before the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Internal Revenue Service at a
hearing. The IRS has proposed a rule that would deny state employees’ families access to affordable health care by blocking the premium tax credits for which they would otherwise qualify to use in health benefit exchange for their families. The premium tax credits are associated with the Affordable Care Act.
Affordable dependent coverage was the primary reason that SEANC supported the Affordable Care Act. Cope is calling on the Obama administration to make affordable health care tax credits available to working families in North Carolina. Currently, state employees’ dependents would be denied tax credits under the definition of “affordable” if health care costs for self-only coverage exceed 9.5 percent of that employees’ gross income. Self-only coverage with the N.C. State Health Plan is considered affordable under this rule because the premium is $260 per year. However, if an employee elects SHP family coverage, the premiums can rise to $7,714 per year and are not affordable since the average employee would have to spend 21% or more of gross income to purchase insurance.
Cope is requesting the Obama administration change the definition of what is “affordable” to amend the proposed rule to base affordability of health insurance costs on two separate measures: (1) the cost of self‐only insurance and (2) the cost of family and dependent coverage. If left unchanged, the proposed regulations would effectively deny state employees the premium tax credits available through health benefit exchanges. This unfortunately, would make the Affordable Care Act the Unaffordable Care Act for state employees and their families.
November 16, 2011
SEANC Continues to Stay Out of Presidential Elections
Dear SEANC Members,
You may have seen in the news today that the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in Washington, D.C. has announced their endorsement of President Barack Obama for the 2012 election.
SEANC has a unique affiliation agreement with SEIU that allows us to be in total control of North Carolina’s political endorsements. As you know, our history and tradition as an association is that we do not engage in presidential endorsements. Our focus has always been on advocacy and protecting vital public services in North Carolina.
During our last Board of Governors’ meeting, SEIU International President Mary Kay Henry addressed the presidential endorsement process and stated that SEIU will continue to respect and uphold SEANC’s independent decisions by EMPAC. She said that SEIU will always look to SEANC’s Board of Governors for leadership on what is and is not to be done here in North Carolina.
At the same time, we continue to respect what our brothers and sisters wish to do in their own states and jurisdictions. As always, SEANC’s independence in this regard will allow maximum choice and involvement for our members to support or defeat candidates of their choosing in the U.S. presidential election.
Thank you,
Dana Cope
SEANC Executive Director
September 13, 2011
SEANC Annual Convention Takes Pride in Carolina
More than 800 convention delegates raised their voice and re-elected the association’s officers during the 28th Annual “Take Pride in Carolina” SEANC Convention held Sept. 8-10 at the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro. The officers begin their one-year terms on Oct. 1.
- President – Charles Johnson of Raleigh, a correctional captain with the Department of Correction’s Central Prison, with 19 years of state service
- First Vice President – Sidney Sandy of Indian Trail, retired Department of Transportation maintenance engineer, with 33 years of state service
- Second Vice President – Doranna Anderson of Raleigh, a 15-year state employee and Oral Health and Promotion branch head for the Department of Health and Human Services
- Treasurer – Marilyn Jean Martin of Salisbury, a correctional captain with the Department of Correction’s Piedmont Correctional Institution with 30 years of state service
President Johnson fired up the crowd with his enthusiasm for SEANC. “Can we change the course of politics in North Carolina? I really think we can!”
Convention Highlights
- Ranking SEANC’s 2012 Policy Platform Objectives.
- Hearing from SEANC Executive Director Dana Cope, SEIU Executive Vice President Tom Woodruff and special guests - state Treasurer Janet Cowell, Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, Gov. Bev Perdue and Sen. Tom Apodaca - winner of the EMPAC Lisa B. Mitchell Legislator of the Year Award.
- Celebrating SEANC member activists Debi Grzeslo and Stanley Gales who kept their jobs in this year’s budget due to SEANC action.
- Giving back to our communities with more than $8,000 and numerous baby shower items including: strollers, travel systems, pack-n-plays, diapers and clothing to benefit Operation Homefront of North Carolina.
- Hosting EMPAC-endorsed legislators and SEANC members during the annual legislative dessert reception.
- Honoring new officers and members during “A Night with the SEANC Stars” Banquet.
·
July 7, 2011
The State Budget's REAL Impact - Exclusive SEANC Briefings
Now that the new budget is in place, some misinformation has crept into state government about what its actual impact will be. SEANC has worked throughout this legislative session to communicate about bills passing through Jones Street, state jobs and benefits being protected and policy changes that may affect you.
We understand that the budget can sometimes be difficult to make sense of. For that reason, SEANC is holding three exclusive budget briefings across the state – one in each region – in the hopes that this will be a good opportunity for state employees to come away with some real answers.
At these budget briefings, SEANC staff will set the record straight about the following issues:
- changes to the State Health Plan
- your reduction in force (RIF) rights
- retirement system funding
- the truth about job cuts
- state personnel privacy rights
- challenges to SPA protections
Please bring a colleague and join SEANC staff for one of the budget briefings listed below. Food will be served at each event.
Western Region:
Thursday, July 14, 6 p.m.
Western Piedmont Community College
Leviton Auditorium, Moore Hall
1001 Burkemont Avenue, Morganton
Eastern Region:
Tuesday, July 19, 6 p.m.
Brody Medical Science Building Auditorium
600 Moye Boulevard, Greenville
Central Region:
Tuesday, Aug. 9, 6:30 p.m.
SEANC Central Office
1621 Midtown Place, Raleigh
SEANC is your exclusive source for information about the budget and how it may affect you. We are here to promote the truth about any forthcoming changes in state government, and look forward to seeing you at the briefing in your area.
If you have any questions about these events, please contact Kevin LeCount at
or 800-222-2758.
May 24, 2011
Senate Budget Proposes Performance Pay»
Dear SEANC Members,
Little changed for SEANC members in the $19.4 billion Senate budget released this morning. Like the House budget, the Senate proposed a spending plan that closed a more than $2 billion budget gap. The big exception is that Senators included $328 million for a performance pay plan in the second year of the budget (2012-2013) for state employees.
After years of budget gaps and no pay raises, this merit pay plan is certainly a welcome development. SEANC welcomes performance pay, if legislators find a way to eliminate politics and favoritism from the system.
The Senate budget restores some funding for the university system compared to the House budget, would hire more than 1,000 teachers and eliminate teachers’ assistants except in kindergarten classes.
The Senate budget also contains different tax priorities than the House and governor’s budgets. While the governor proposed substantially lowering the corporate tax rate, the Senate budget cuts taxes for individuals in every tax bracket and the first $50,000 for small businesses.
The Senate is expected to debate their budget in committee before bringing it for a vote on May 31.
Right now SEANC lobbyists are entrenched in the General Assembly continuing to meet with lawmakers and speak out in committees to get the best possible outcomes for state employees. How can you help? If you are affected by the Senate budget, the best way to influence budget policy is to let your lawmakers hear from you. Our office is available to help you lobby in the General Assembly and strongly welcomes and encourages your participation in the fight to preserve vital public services in North Carolina.
Sincerely,
Dana Cope
SEANC Executive Director
May 4, 2011
House Passes Budget»
Dear SEANC Members,
As expected, the state House of Representatives passed their
$19.3 billion budget for the next biennium and closed a more than $2 billion budget gap. Little changed in the House budget between when it left the appropriations committee and was debated in the full House.
Overall SEANC members fared better in it than the governor's budget. House Speaker Thom Tillis told The News & Observer “Natural attrition is higher than the number of employees who would be laid off, so there will be opportunities for people who lose their jobs to find others within state government.”
In contrast on Feb. 14, Gov. Beverly Perdue laid out her budget priorities and her preference for cutting general government over education in her State of State address. In her speech, she promised to maintain all teachers and teaching assistants while
at the same time bragging that her budget would “sheds thousands and thousands of state positions.”
According to the Fiscal Research Division of the General Assembly, the bill cuts 2,569 state government jobs of which 1,365 are vacant positions. Hardest hit in the bill was the education budget which mathematically makes sense given that education receives more than 60 percent of the state budget. K-12 jobs would lose 11,750 positions, and the UNC system/community colleges would be given “management flexibility” to reduce their budgets resulting in additional job cuts. Given the 10 percent turnover rate, it’s highly likely that the vast majority of those displaced will be able to take another state government job.
The House budget is $600 million less than Gov. Perdue proposed and contains $500 million less for education funding in it. So while both bills cut public service jobs, the House budget makes it clear that the job cuts would be shared by education and general government, while the governor’s budget focused her job cuts on state employees while funding all teachers and teacher assistants at 100 percent.
The other major difference for state employees between the House and the governor’s budget was in retirement system funding. The governor’s budget included only $115 million – less than half of the Annual Required Contribution, while the House budget fully funded the retirement system at $297 million. If passed, the retirement system would be fully funded by the legislature for the first time in 10 years.
What was interesting about the House budget vote was that it was bipartisan and had a veto-proof margin at 72-47. Five Democrats joined with the Republicans to pass the budget bill.
If House Democrats continue to vote with Republicans on bills, the governor will have considerably less negotiating power in the legislature (the Senate already has a veto-proof majority in their chamber). Only time will tell, but this is an interesting development which could have far-reaching implications for SEANC members.
If this bipartisan voting trend continues, then we will possibly avert a government shutdown. Otherwise the conventional wisdom is that no matter what budget bill the General Assembly sends the governor, she will veto it. This could potentially set up a shutdown of state government, with the exception of certain essential services. If a shutdown occurs, many SEANC members would likely see a wage reduction as a result for FY 2011-12, with likely no retroactive pay when the government reopens.
SEANC is committed to working with legislators to
“Take Pride in Carolina” and pass a common sense budget that supports working families. Items contained in both the House budget and our “Take Pride in Carolina”
report include the diversion of $67 million in Golden LEAF funds and an increase in court fees. We are appreciative that the House included some of our suggestions in their budget.
Left untouched in the budget process thus far is any shared sacrifice from corporations and their millions in tax loopholes—even worse both the governor and House budgets set aside millions to lower the corporate income tax.
SEANC will continue to fight tirelessly to preserve vital public services in the Senate, but we need your help. SEANC lobbyists are entrenched in the General Assembly continuing to meet with lawmakers and speak out in committees to get the best possible outcomes for state employees. How can you help? If you are affected by the House budget, the best way to influence budget policy is to let your
lawmakers hear from you. Our office is available to help you lobby in the General Assembly and strongly welcomes and encourages your participation in the fight to preserve vital public services in North Carolina.
Sincerely,
Dana Cope
SEANC Executive Director
Last Saturday, SEANC completed its statewide Take Pride in Carolina (TPIC) Hometown Rally tour with a simple message: state employees asked lawmakers to “Take Pride in Carolina” and pass a common sense budget that supports working families and protects middle class jobs.
With the state facing a nearly $2 billion budget deficit, legislators are currently deciding which measures will fill the gap.
The hometown rallies are part of the TPIC campaign that strives to make government smarter by implementing ideas from a report containing more than $10 billion in budget-saving ideas that were collected directly from state workers. The full report can be accessed
here.
Examples from the report include:
- End tax breaks to alcohol and tobacco wholesalers for filing their tax reports on time: save $8.8 million.
- End two major corporate giveaway funds: save $622 million.
- Eliminate full-time State Health Plan benefits for part-time legislators: save $723,000.
We can make government smarter by implementing the recommendations of SEANC members. Legislative leaders need to pass a budget that continues to make North Carolina a great place to live.
Rallies were held in Morganton on April 9, Greenville on April 16 and Raleigh on April 30.
Get involved in the solution!
SEANC website
Take Pride in Carolina campaign
Facebook -
SEANC and
Take Pride in Carolina
Twitter -
SEANC and
Take Pride in Carolina
YouTube -
SEANC and
Take Pride in Carolina
Mobile updates - text TPIC to 68753
Sincerely,
Dana Cope
SEANC Executive Director
Dear SEANC Members,
Last night the House leadership took their first step in the budget dance and unveiled a 333-page proposed budget,
House Bill 200, for the next biennium. With a more than $2 billion budget deficit in the state, we knew it was going to be a bad year when the governor released her budget which shed thousands of public service jobs. The House bill also sheds public service jobs, but makes it clear that the job cuts would be shared by education and general government.
Today, the House Appropriations Committee is holding a marathon, daylong budget session. SEANC lobbyists are in the meeting representing you and have already been able to restore 20 chaplain positions in the Department of Correction. We expect more changes to come as the bill progresses.
SEANC is committed to working with legislators to
“Take Pride in Carolina” and pass a common sense budget that supports working families. Items contained in both the House budget and our “Take Pride in Carolina”
report include the diversion of $67 million in Golden LEAF funds and an increase in court fees. We are appreciative that the House has included some of our suggestions in their initial budget.
Unfortunately, the House budget includes job cuts because there is no political will to keep our state tax rates at current levels. Solving our state’s budget crisis will require shared sacrifice – pairing common sense budget cuts and building or retaining revenue.
Left untouched in the budget process thus far is any shared sacrifice from corporations and their millions in tax loopholes. In fact, the budget sets aside $130 million to lower the corporate income tax, which will be taken up in a separate bill.
We strongly urge the House leadership to maintain the current sales and corporate income taxes which could halt many budget cuts. Citizens are eager to support this.
Case in point – earlier this month an Elon University
poll revealed that 60 percent of North Carolina voters oppose eliminating state employee jobs and the public services that they provide in order to close the budget gap.
It is imperative for state employees to realize that we have a long way to go in this budget dance. The House is holding their hearing today on the bill where we can expect some changes with voting expected in the full House next week. The Senate will then come up with their version of the budget, and a compromise budget will be sent to the governor before a bill is signed into law. The conventional wisdom is that no matter what budget bill the General Assembly sends the governor, she will veto it. This could potentially set up a shutdown of state government, with the exception of certain essential services.
Now more than ever, it is important for SEANC members to stand together to remind state leaders of the vital public services that you provide and to ask the legislature and the governor to avoid a train wreck by shutting down government.
Join your SEANC family at the “Take Pride in Carolina” rally this Saturday at noon in Raleigh and ask lawmakers to pass a common sense budget.
SEANC lobbyists are entrenched in the General Assembly continuing to meet with lawmakers and speak out in committees to get the best possible outcomes for state employees. How can you help? If you are affected by the House budget, the best way to influence budget policy is to let your lawmakers
hear from you. Our office is available to help you lobby in the General Assembly and strongly welcomes and encourages your participation in the fight to preserve vital public services in North Carolina.
House Budget Key Points:
Jobs/Reorganization:
- Cuts fewer state employee positions, outside of education, than the governor’s budget
- Agrees with governor’s budget to reorganize state government human resources, IT, purchasing, budget and financial management functions
- Agrees with governor’s budget to consolidate the Departments of Correction, Crime Control and Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention into the Department of Public Safety
- Agrees with governor’s budget to transfer the Employment Security Commission to the Department of Commerce
- Agrees with governor’s budget to close Bladen Correctional Center, Cabarrus Correctional Center, Durham Correctional Center and Haywood Correctional Center
- Transfers several DENR functions to other state agencies
- Agrees with governor to provide for “Management Flexibility Reduction” in UNC and community college systems – the Department of Public Instruction also provided with authority
- Eliminates teachers’ assistants in 2nd and 3rd grades
- Permits UNC system to furlough employees who earn more than $25,000 – community colleges and local school systems would also be permitted to furlough employees
- Authorizes a state employee pay plan study supported by SEANC
Retirement:
- Fully funds the Retirement System Annual Retirement Contribution at $297 million for FY 11-12 and $404 million in FY 12-13
State Health Plan:
- More information pending a new bill in the General Assembly
Sincerely,
Dana Cope
SEANC Executive Director
April 26, 2011
Maintain Your SPA Protections - Call Your Legislators Today
Dear SEANC Members,
SEANC’s
No. 2 policy platform objective – to oppose legislation that would remove state employees from the protections of the State Personnel Act (SPA) – is under attack. Tomorrow a Senate committee is scheduled to hear Senate Bill 575 which, if allowed to become law, would remove nearly 22,000 university employees from the SPA. What does that mean? It means that nearly 22,000 university workers would become at-will employees with no guarantee of job security, and those in favored positions would reap the benefits while others do without.
Go to the
SEANC website to find your elected leaders or call the N.C. General Assembly at 919-733-7928, and ask them to oppose SB 575.
Although representatives from the UNC System are asking for input from current SPA employees, they have already made their decision. The UNC Board of Governors is the only cheerleader behind
Senate Bill 575, and with its passage they will be the only winners.
If we don’t stop bills like SB 575 now, legislators will surely move to strip others of these important protections. The students and university employees of this state deserve better than sweetheart deals made behind closed doors to reverse decades of workers’ rights history. The universities of North Carolina have been there from suffrage to civil rights. Now is not the time to turn its back on those that made the UNC System what it is today.
Also, we would like SEANC members and other state employees and retirees to join us Wednesday, April 27, at the General Assembly. Meet
Tony Booe in the lobby by 8:30 a.m. The committee room will fill up quickly but the more blue legislators see the better. We understand that some of you may arrive at a later time. No matter what time you come, we will work to ensure that everyone gets a chance to do some grassroots lobbying!
If legislators don’t hear from university workers now, they will take that silence as permission to strip you of rights. Once gone, they will never be back.
Sincerely,
Dana Cope
SEANC Executive Director
Dear SEANC members,
Yesterday at 5 p.m. Gov. Bev Perdue called me to a meeting and informed me that she would be
vetoing Senate Bill 265, the State Health Plan (SHP) reform bill because the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) wanted the Basic 70/30 plan to be premium-free.
Our SEANC members are also in agreement to maintain a premium-free health plan, it’s in our
Top Ten Policy Platform. That’s why SEANC opposed premiums and unfair cost-shifting to employees in four legislative committees.
However, I also expressed our number one policy platform priority,
to move SHP oversight from the part-time General Assembly to a government agency. Our concern was that if this bill is vetoed then Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina wins another round for their no-bid, cost-plus SHP contract, and more importantly, we may lose important reforms that will keep the SHP sustainable for the future including:
1) Transferring oversight of the SHP away from the General Assembly - SEANC’s No. 1 legislative priority in the General Assembly as voted on by our 2010 convention
2) Establishing a board of trustees with major representation from active and retired state employees
3) Ending cost-plus profit SHP contracts
4) Abolishing punitive BMI and tobacco penalties
5) Forcing the current SHP contract to become a public record
Currently the SHP is running a $515 million deficit, which is one of the reasons why moving oversight is so important to its future. The plan desperately needs to be moved away from the politics of the General Assembly.
The fact of the matter is that Gov. Perdue wants to have it both ways. The governor put a premium on the 80/20 health care plan in her own budget for the first time. She also offered the 70/30 plan with its higher out-of-pocket expenses premium-free, but she did so in her budget with no reform measures whatsoever that will make the plan sustainable for the future.
I asked the governor if this veto was worth placing the SHP at risk, jeopardizing reform measures and $90 million in federal grant money for the SHP, which we will lose if funding for the SHP isn’t secured soon.
She obviously thought so because at 6:30 p.m. she vetoed the bill. Now
we know that the legislature said they met with Perdue last night to reduce charges on the 70/30 plan, but not throw away the entire reform bill. She rejected their offer!
So now we ask, what is the real reason the governor vetoed the bill? Was it because she is really protecting big insurance companies, hospitals and doctors?
SEANC takes great offense that the governor is using the SHP as a partisan political weapon to put our health plan at serious risk. We will continue to lead the efforts by working with the legislature to make sure we have a sustainable health plan and that one day we will no longer worry which politician is trying to score points with their supporters with or pay back their political pals at our expense.
Sincerely,
Dana Cope
SEANC Executive Director
SEANC Executive Director Dana Cope provided key testimony this morning as members of the Senate Appropriations Committee considered and passed
Senate Bill 265 (SB 265) – legislation that will make several significant changes to the State Health Plan (SHP) that provides health insurance coverage for over 663,000 active and retired state employees and their family members. The legislation was also passed by the Senate Insurance Committee yesterday, March 22.
“This reminds me of my favorite Chinese foods – sweet and sour shrimp. SB 265 contains elements that are both sweet and sour for state employees and retirees. This is a big policy step forward for state workers, and I’m looking forward to working with the bill and making more improvements as it continues through the legislative process – particularly in terms of co-pays and other out-of-pocket expenses,” said Cope during a presentation before senate members and other visitors to the committee.
The Sweet
- Makes cost-plus contracts, like Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina’s secret deal for the SHP, unlawful for the state
- Moves oversight of the SHP away from the General Assembly and into the N.C. Department of State Treasurer
- Establishes a SHP Board of Trustees that has half it’s membership (4 out of 8) comprised of active or retired state employees
- Abolishes the BMI and tobacco cessation penalties within the SHP
- Maintains rate for generic pharmacy benefit co-pays ($10)
The Sour
- Establishes monthly premiums within the SHP – following through on Gov. Perdue’s initial suggestion to balance the budget on the backs of state employees
- Increases co-pays for medical visits – such as visits to primary care physicians in the Standard 80/20 plan (from $25 to $30) and urgent care visits in both the Basic 70/30 plan and the Standard 80/20 plan (from $75 to $87)
Gov. Bev Perdue began this process by establishing a monthly premium for state employees and retirees in her budget. Unfortunately this legislation followed her lead. SB 265 proposes a monthly premium for the Standard 80/20 plan of $21.72 for state employees and non-Medicare eligible retirees, $16.72 for Medicare-eligible retirees and $10.86 for the Basic 70/30 plan.
When the bill was being debated, legislators spoke in favor of and in opposition to the BMI and tobacco cessation penalties.
Sen. Linda Garrou tried but failed to slide in a grossly anti-worker amendment that would keep those penalties in the legislation. Her attempt was shot down and defeated by several other senators who recognized that it was an invasion of privacy to dictate that a worker’s health plan would test for BMI and tobacco use at the worksite.
In particular, Senate Rules Committee Chairman
Tom Apodaca defended state workers by telling about a recent conversation with a state employee who was living a healthy lifestyle after going through gastric bypass surgery – but March 23, 2011 who still had a BMI that would exceed the limits in the plan. All of the discussion about penalizing state workers for tobacco use through penalties in the SHP is ironic, given that many legislative leaders
oppose increasing the cigarette tax by $1 per pack. This cigarette tax increase was just one idea of more than $10 billion in cost-saving proposals by SEANC in the
Take Pride in Carolina report – an effort to encourage legislators to pass a common-sense budget that protected public services and the people who provide them.
SEANC is committed to working with the General Assembly leadership to reduce the increases in medical benefit copays. The association has and always will work to oppose additional out-of-pocket expenses for state employees and retirees – such as the increase in co-pays for medical benefits in this legislation.
There are positive parts to this bill, however. The number one priority in the Top Ten Policy Platform voted on by 2010 SEANC delegates is contained in this bill:
“Seek legislation to remove oversight of the State Health Plan from under the auspices of the Majority Leaders of the Senate and House to a government agency.”
As SB 265 continues moving through the legislative process, SEANC will be there every step of the way to advocate for lower costs for members in the SHP.
With North Carolina facing a $2.4 billion budget shortfall, legislators could bring hundreds of millions of dollars in savings to the state’s coffers by moving oversight of the SHP, which continues to need additional investment just to keep afloat. It is still early in the process for this bill. Now having passed the Senate Appropriations Committee, the bill will be brought before the full Senate for consideration.
As a start to the usual dance between state leaders, Gov. Bev Perdue this morning released her budget recommendations for the 2011-2012 fiscal year. Unfortunately, Gov. Perdue’s recommendations fail to make sense in terms of prioritizing vital public services that taxpayers expect.
This morning’s recommendations reinforce that Gov. Perdue has chosen to side with wealthy corporations over working families – and that she isn’t interested in common sense solutions to our budget crisis. Earlier this week, SEANC offered up over
$10 billion in solutions to the budget crisis that didn’t cut a single state job. Perdue’s budget recommendations show that she wants North Carolina to enter into a race to the bottom by cutting public services and setting up a government rewards system of corporate tax loopholes for the super rich.
Listen to more of SEANC’s immediate reaction on the show "People & Politics with Donna Martinez" this Sunday at 5 p.m. on WPTF 680 AM in the Triangle, or live at that time at
www.wptf.com.
It is important to remember that this morning’s recommendations are only significant in the fact that they begin the budget process. Perdue’s recommendations will soon be contested and negotiated with budget plans from House and Senate leaders – and of course – a fight from state employees.
Perdue’s recommendations included the following measures.
Jobs:
- Cut 10,000 non-teacher state employee jobs – 3,000 of which are currently filled.
State Health Plan:
- Place all state employees in the 70/30 health plan. Active employees and non-Medicare retirees who wish to remain in the 80/20 Plan would have to pay a monthly premium of $21.50 for individual coverage and nearly $600 for family coverage.
- Medicare retirees who wish to remain enrolled in the 80/20 Plan would pay a monthly premium of $16 for individual coverage.
Retirement:
- Implement an Employee Retirement Incentive Program that will offer buy-out packages to eliminate 1,000 positions statewide.
- Contributions to the Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System would only fund approximately half of what the actuary says the plan needs.
Now, more than ever, it is important for you to stand with us to remind state leaders of the vital public services you provide. Join us for the fight during an upcoming Lobby Day or Hometown Rally.
Dana Cope
Executive Director
On Tuesday,
SEANC Executive Director Dana Cope and members gathered in front of the General Assembly to release “Take Pride in Carolina,” a report of strategies to close the budget deficit and protect quality public services and the people who provide them. Options that were presented in order to close the projected more than $2 billion budget gap included expanding the revenue base, eliminating corporate tax loopholes and stopping corporate welfare.
Speaking in front of 40 SEANC members and a large media presence, Cope said "Let's share sacrifice and make sure companies pay their fair share."
The report provides a stark choice for legislators to make when addressing the budget crisis: the state will support either working families or wealthy corporations. The release of the report comes shortly before Gov. Bev Perdue’s announcement of her budget proposal.
Suggestions from the report include:
- Terminating the secret Blue Cross contract for the State Health Plan
- Ending special corporate tax breaks for the film, alcohol, tobacco and motorsports racing industries
- Eliminating State Health Plan benefit for legislators
To read the full report click
here.
News & Observer Editorial»
Budgeting is a bottom-line business, and the bottom line from an in-depth exploration of the pluses and minuses of laying off state employees in Sunday's N&O is that mass layoffs are an expensive, inefficient way to fill the $3.7 billion hole in North Carolina's budget.
Why? Because the cost to the state of laying off an employee - particularly the first-year cost - is so high. And though longer-term personnel-cost savings are, arguably at least, desirable, it's a "first-year" crisis that stares the General Assembly in the face.
That is, the budget for fiscal 2011-12, beginning July 1, must balance - either through spending cuts, revenue increases (from tax hikes, mostly) or some combination of the two.
A close look at the costs to the state of laying off a worker shows the difficulty of, as reporter Mandy Locke's article put it, balancing the budget on the backs of laid-off employees. It's worth noting that layoffs, in the traditional sense of the word - where someone is laid off for a spell, then called back to work - are not what's going on in the economy these days. These employees would, in effect, be fired.
Minimal savings
Take an average state employee, paid $42,000 (retirement contributions and benefits bring the compensation cost to $54,400). According to information from the General Assembly's Fiscal Research Division, the cost of providing required severance pay, health benefits for a year and unemployment benefits for this employee would run to $32,800. There's also a projected loss of $3,200 to the state in tax revenue. Bottom line: the net first-year saving is $18,400.
That's a painfully small sum, or saving, whether you compare it to the $3.7 billion budget gap, to the loss of public services that mass layoffs would likely produce or to the pain driven home to the fired employee and his or her family.
And here's another way to look at it: The state could cut an unthinkable 75,000 jobs (out of 255,000 total, most of which are in the public schools, since teachers in North Carolina are state employees) and still get only a slightly greater first-year benefit than by retaining the "temporary" tax hikes, including a 1-cent sales tax increase, adopted by the legislature two years ago.
So, keep paying those modestly higher taxes or lay off 75,000 more North Carolinians? The answer should be obvious to legislators properly concerned about the all-around ill effects of high unemployment.
Vacant? Lose it
Still, isn't there some way to make headway against the state's personnel costs?
There is, and it comes, as key legislators point out, from attrition. Eliminating a position that's vacant - most likely because the employee moved on and the job couldn't be filled because of a hiring freeze - is far less costly than a firing. And, as of Jan. 1, more than 9,000 state jobs were unfilled. And about 10 percent of employees leave their jobs each year.
Not filling any of these jobs - a tough order, since many are front-line positions such as teachers and prison guards - would save hundreds of millions of dollars. Good management would be required to deal with the consequences of losing many of those positions, but yes, it would be a step toward closing the gap.
The ultimate bottom line is that the problem looming before the legislature and Gov. Beverly Perdue demands a mix of solutions. North Carolina's budget gap can't reasonably be closed by giving its employees the boot.
http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/02/02/961647/firing-line.html#ixzz1CohWAy8J
Letter to the editor, Winston-Salem Journal, Jan. 26, 2011»
Your editorial "Salary cuts could save jobs" (Jan. 19) made misguided claims about where North Carolina leaders should find large savings as the state faces a $3.7 billion shortfall. Instead of giving a critical examination of the budget, you employed the lazy and tired perspective on Budgeting 101 — that our overworked and underpaid state workers should be scapegoats in the forthcoming budget cuts. You also failed to add that the bulk of this shortfall is due to losing $1.6 billion in stimulus funds and $1.1 billion in missing revenue should legislators allow a temporary 1 percent sales tax to expire.
Instead, how about a transparent look at North Carolina's taxpayer-funded corporate welfare tab? If the state is so eager to continue offering cash benefits and tax incentives to for-profit corporations, it shouldn't cower when it comes to investing in its responsibility to provide quality public services. N.C. leaders gave nearly $280 million in taxpayer funds to bring Dell to Forsyth County; those same leaders approved a cost-plus, no-bid contract with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina to manage the state health plan. Executive bonuses and sports sponsorships have nothing to do with administering the state health plan.
We all understand that cuts will have to be made, but let's be realistic. Lawmakers need to work on their game faces if they expect to attempt cutting the pay of correctional officers, public-health nurses and teachers while also continuing to hand out buckets of money to for-profit corporations.
Jan. 7, 2011
Dana Cope corrects misguided pension editorial from Fayetteville, Morganton and Charlotte»
Calling any faction of North Carolina’s state budget “too rich” shows profound disrespect to our collective economic problem, both within the state and in the nation as a whole. The actual richness in state and federal governments has been, unfortunately, corporate welfare, loosening regulations and the continued creation of banks and insurance companies that politicians in D.C. and Raleigh describe as “too big to fail.”
Your inadequate editorial tried but failed to stand on a tired notion that public employees are to blame for our state’s economic crisis. Or in the least, it tried to assert that one swift cut to state worker benefits can pull us out of the crisis. Even when printed on the relative safety of the opinion page, this piece was a poor excuse for journalism.
Declaring the benefits of overworked and underpaid state workers “lavish” is a slap in the face to each Department of Transportation laborer who thanklessly clears snow at 5 a.m. so that you can enjoy a safe commute, the mental health care aides who look after our most vulnerable citizens and every correctional officer who know that it’s all in a day’s work to stand face-to-face with convicted murderers and rapists.
Your assertion that hard working state employees and retirees are somehow to blame for skyrocketing health care costs is both careless and malicious. An enormous target of inquiry and criticism should instead be Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina and their no-bid sweetheart contract for the State Health Plan. Our organization has taken repeated action to try to open this contract for bid.
As it is currently written, the cost-plus contract allows Blue Cross to charge the taxpayers of this state for everything from CEO Brad Wilson’s bonus to professional sports sponsorships – costs that have nothing to do with providing health care to our state’s workforce and everything to do with cheating taxpayers. This fraud of an agreement represents the lion’s share of blame for a system that needs continued and unanticipated financial support to remain afloat. An independent study commissioned by the N.C. General Assembly last year revealed that we have the lowest cost per state employee or family member insured of all states in the report. Revoking Blue Cross’ existing contract and opening the process for a new bid will save taxpayers millions of dollars while simultaneously reigning in health care costs and preserving the quality public services that our state’s workers so tirelessly provide.
Your allegations of a retirement system that is “killing” the state budget is not only misguided, it is plain incorrect. The Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System is funded by three sources: employee contributions (6 percent of the employee’s salary), investment returns, and employer contributions. Individual employees are the greatest and only consistent contributors to the state pension system, while the state contribution has been either nonexistent or severely lagging. In the last decade, the average state contribution was 2.29 percent, far less than the 6 percent that an employee pays to fund their own pension.
The irony in this debate is that the pension system is in trouble not because state funds were used to contribute to the pension, but because the state of North Carolina didn’t contribute funds during time of economic prosperity. This negates your argument that slashing the modest pensions promised to our state’s workforce is a magical panacea for the budget gap.
Make no mistake that the budget will be cut. The unique opportunity in front of lawmakers is where those cuts should come from. We stand ready to work with the N.C. General Assembly to make that happen.
Dec. 09, 2010
SEANC's reaction to Gov. Perdue's reorganization and privatization proposal»
Today Gov. Perdue issued an initial proposal for the General Assembly to consider – a proposal that moves a few departments into different boxes on an organization chart and privatizes some state services. State employees look forward to working with the governor and legislature to make state government more efficient. However, from the get-go it seems that privatization efforts of IT will cost the taxpayers a great deal more money than they will save. For example, we are curious how North Carolina will succeed to privatize IT services when Texas, Indiana and Virginia IT privatization efforts have failed.
As the governor has said, “The devil is always in the details.” State employees continue to focus on providing the best quality public services to the taxpayers of North Carolina. We will welcome the opportunity to see the details. After all, we know that education funding is 60 percent of the state budget and the governor has done nothing today to tackle the real issue of our budget deficit which has been the explosion of education and Medicaid expenditures.
State employees desire to make government more efficient and maintain services that our citizens depend upon. Government funding of services for our citizens is a questions of our priorities. We need to view all aspects of government to find efficiencies – starting with opening up the no-bid sweetheart contract that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina has with the State Health Plan.
State employees are laser-focused on being a part of the solution to close the budget gap. SEANC is asking all state employees to go to seanc.org/sos, and provide ideas on ways to improve efficiencies in the workplace. When the General Assembly convenes, SEANC will provide a report to lawmakers to “Save Our State.”
Nov. 3, 2010
SEANC's Reaction to Elections Results»
Dear SEANC Members,
The State Employees Association of North Carolina, SEIU Local 2008 congratulates the new members of the General Assembly. We look forward to continuing to work with the legislature to make government more efficient while at the same time protecting quality public services.
SEANC is looking forward to working with the new leadership to open up the no-bid sweetheart deal with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina who administers the State Health Plan. Currently the insurance giant can charge almost anything they desire to the state as a “cost of business” including executive bonuses, buffets and sponsorships. SEANC also encourages the new General Assembly to eliminate the tax boondoggles given to corporations and Hollywood filmmakers.
No matter what party is in power, North Carolina’s taxpayers deserve and expect quality public services for their money. It’s at the peril of the party in power to short public services. State employees build roads, clean up after hurricanes, keep dangerous criminals off the street, take care of citizens in need and provide quality education and cultural opportunities.
SEANC is a non-partisan organization. This year state employees decided not to endorse any candidates in the General Assembly because state employees were unhappy with the current legislative leadership. Legislators took a walk on state employees and retirees when they chose Blue Cross over working families.
Sincerely,
Dana Cope
SEANC Executive Director.
Nov. 3, 2010
SEANC Wins Accountability Campaign Against Holliman»
In SEANC’s last TV commercial, voters in Davidson County were asked if “
Ten years was long enough” for Majority Leader Hugh Holliman (D-Davidson). On election night, voters answered “yes” by knocking Holliman out of office and electing Republican Rayne Brown by a wide margin – 57 percent-42 percent.
“Holliman’s defeat allows new leaders to emerge. Leaders that can stop protecting Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s no-bid, sweetheart health plan contract and make the health plan more efficient,” said SEANC Executive Director Dana Cope.
Holliman’s defeat comes on the heels of a flood of SEANC ads on TV and radio. Prior to the 10 years commercial, SEANC unveiled a
TV campaign on Oct. 6 targeting Holliman and his bad leadership on the state budget. The TV and
radio advertisements blanketed the airwaves on stations in Holliman’s district and focused on his role in the state budget and a $40 million cut to community services for the mentally ill and disabled. Those cuts and other misguided efforts by Holliman have led to mental health patients being housed in long-term adult care facilities already servicing elderly patients.
This is the latest in a series of ads against Holliman. In May 2009, the Board of Governors approved SEANC’s accountability campaign. Previous radio ads highlighted Holliman’s mismanagement of the State Health Plan.
These ads are paid for by the SEIU Committee on Political Education, SEANC’s Federal PAC.
On Wednesday, Oct. 6, SEANC unveiled a
TV campaign targeting Majority Leader Rep. Hugh Holliman (D-Davidson) and his bad leadership on the state budget. TV and
radio advertisements are running on stations in Holliman’s district focusing on his role in the state budget and a $40 million cut to community services for the mentally ill and disabled. Those cuts and other misguided efforts by Holliman have led to mental health patients being housed in long-term adult care facilities already servicing elderly patients.
“Hugh Holliman is responsible for dangerous conditions that have put thousands of North Carolina seniors at risk resulting in violent and in some cases deadly results,” said SEANC’s Political Director Kevin LeCount.
This is the latest in a series of ads against Holliman. In May 2009, the Board of Governors approved SEANC’s accountability campaign. Previous radio ads highlighted Holliman’s mismanagement of the State Health Plan.
These ads are paid for by the SEIU Committee on Political Education, our Federal PAC.
Nearly 850 delegates elected officers during the annual convention of the State Employees Association of North Carolina held Sept. 9-11. The officers will begin their one-year terms on Oct. 1.
- President – Charles Johnson of Raleigh, a correctional captain with the Department of Correction’s Central Prison, with 18 years of state service
- First Vice President – Sidney Sandy of Indian Trail, retired Department of Transportation Maintenance Engineer, with 33 years of state service
- Second Vice President – Cheryl Moon of Knightdale, a retired Department of Motor Vehicles hearings offi cer, with 30 years of state service
- Treasurer – Marilyn Jean Martin of Salisbury, a correctional captain with the Department of Correction’s Piedmont Correctional Institution, with 29 years of state service
Convention speakers included Gov. Bev Perdue, Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton, U.S. Senate Candidate Elaine Marshall, SEANC Executive Director Dana Cope and Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union.
For the annual community service project, SEANC members raised more than $23,000 and contributed 1,500 pounds of food to be evenly distributed between North Carolina’s six major food banks.
SEANC is holding it’s 27th annual convention Sept. 9-11 in Greensboro. Nearly 850 SEANC members will be in attendance to elect 2010-2011 officers, determine the 2011 Top 10 Policy Platform Objectives and vote on bylaws amendments.
Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton, SEIU’s International President Mary Kay Henry, EMPAC-endorsed U.S. Senate candidate Elaine Marshall and Gov. Bev Perdue are expected to speak on Friday.
SEANC members, don’t forget to bring an item from the food drive list for the community service project!
Edited to add: SEANC members donated 1,500 pounds of food and $11,585 dollars to food banks serving North Carolina!
August 27, 2010
EMPAC Endorses Elaine Marshall in U.S. Senate Race»
Dear SEANC Members,
On August 21, the State EMPAC Committee enthusiastically voted to endorse the candidacy of Secretary of State and SEANC District 20 member Elaine Marshall for the U. S. Senate.
Marshall is a long-time SEANC member who strongly supports state employees and working families. Her priorities at the national level will be priorities of the state's working families: employee rights, health care and protection of social security. Marshall stands with us in favor of working family issues. We have worked with her for years and know her commitment to working families is real.
EMPAC decided in the spring, after months of discussion, to consider endorsement of candidates for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Richard Burr.
There are three candidates in this race: incumbent Richard Burr (R), Elaine Marshall (D) and Dr. Michael Beitler (L). All three were invited to interview with EMPAC. Beitler and Secretary Marshall accepted our invitation to be interviewed by a team of SEANC members while Burr did not.
Despite multiple attempts to work out an interview with Sen. Burr, his campaign would not agree to meet with us. We even offered Burr the option of a telephone interview and gave him a chance to respond to the questions in writing.
We look forward to Marshall joining us at the 27th Annual SEANC Convention in September where EMPAC will make a presentation to her.
Now it's up to all of us to help her get elected. It's going to be a tough race since she is running against an incumbent senator. Thousands of SEANC voters across the state showing up at the polls to vote for Marshall will certainly give her candidacy quite a boost. Please tell your family and friends to vote Marshall as well!
We appreciate your continued support of EMPAC and urge you to consider voting for Elaine Marshall to be our next U.S. Senator.
Sincerely,
Mark Dearmon, Chairman
State EMPAC Committee
August 26, 2010
State Employees Can't Afford to "Pay-to-Play"»
Dear SEANC members,
Last night I joined more than 30 of my fellow SEANC members in a protest in front of the home of Ken Eudy, where Senate Democrats were gathering with donors for a fundraiser in their honor. Who's Ken Eudy, you ask? He's the CEO and co-founder of Capstrat, a lobbying and public relations firm in Raleigh.
Eudy stopped registering as a lobbyist in 2007 when ethics reform put restrictions on lobbyists' gifts and money to legislators. But he runs a lobbying company. Now he criticizes SEANC for calling him out as engaging in what looks an awful lot like “pay-to-play.” Capstrat was awarded a huge contract in April of this year by state appointees at the NC Ports Authority. While numerous state employees will receive pink slips this year, the state managed to find money for Capstrat’s public relations and advertising contract – a $375,000 a year contract renewable for five years. A surprising move considering the economic climate and the fact that the NC Ports Authority lost $6 million last year.
Worse yet, while the House leadership in the General Assembly wanted to prohibit state contractors from donating to politician's campaigns, the Senate Democrats refused to prohibit this practice, known by most as "pay-to-play." So now, a mere four months later, the CEO of Capstrat hosted a fundraiser at his home guaranteeing one-on-one access to Senate President Marc Basnight and Senate Majority Leader Martin Nesbitt. So Eudy thinks SEANC is wrong to call him out on this behavior? Come on! Capstrat got a rich contract. They hosted a huge fundraiser. This does not pass the smell test. And like Blue Cross' no-bid, sweetheart secret contract with the State Health Plan, state employees are not afraid to call you out on it.
Sincerely,
A.D. Hall
District 11 Member
Department of Transportation
SEANC Executive Director Dana Cope and SEANC members will protest Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina contractor Capstrat CEO Ken Eudy’s “pay-to-play” fundraiser for Senate Democrats on Aug. 24.
SEANC members are concerned about political influence over state contracts in light of Blue Cross’ no-bid, cost-plus sweetheart contract with the State Health Plan. The Blue Cross contract allows the SHP to be billed for everything from the CEO to public relations efforts. Capstrat also holds government contracts with the N.C. State Ports Authority, UNC-Pembroke and a multi-million dollar contract for a teen tobacco use prevention and cessation program.
“It’s hypocritical for politicians to take campaign contributions from government contractors while at the same time pounding their chests talking about the ethics bill and how they’ve cleaned up government,” Cope said.
Last week, Cope called on Sens. Marc Basnight (D-Dare) and Martin Nesbitt (D-Buncombe) and former Gov. Jim Hunt to cancel their participation in Tuesday’s fundraiser.
State employees and retirees are asked to join SEANC for the protest on Tuesday, Aug. 24, from 6 - 7 p.m. at 807 Harvey Street, Raleigh. Contact SEANC Political Director Kevin LeCount at 919-833-6436 or with questions or to let us know you’re coming.
Directions: From Capital Blvd. (downtown Raleigh), take the Wade Ave exit, take a right on St. Mary’s St. and a right on Harvey. Please note that Harvey Street is closed at Glenwood Ave due to construction.
August 19, 2010
SEANC Calls for Cancellation of "Pay-to-Play" Fundraiser, Plans to Protest Next Tuesdayr»
On Aug. 19, SEANC Executive Director Dana Cope spoke out in front of the General Assembly calling for the cancellation of a “pay-to-play” fundraiser with government contractor Capstrat CEO Ken Eudy. The fundraiser scheduled for next Tuesday will benefit Senate Democrats.
“This fundraiser gives state employees and the public the impression that this is a “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch your back” event,” Cope said.
Cope called on Sens. Marc Basnight (D-Dare) and Martin Nesbitt (D-Buncombe) and former Gov. Jim Hunt to cancel their participation in Tuesday’s fundraiser and announced that SEANC members will protest outside the event.
An Aug. 11 Wilmington Star-News article reported that Capstrat CEO Ken Eudy, a government contractor, was asked by a member of the North Carolina State Senate to host the fundraiser.
SEANC is concerned about political influence over state contracts in light of Capstrat client Blue Cross and Blue Shield of N.C.’s no-bid, cost-plus sweetheart contract with the State Health Plan. The Blue Cross contract allows the SHP to be billed for everything from the CEO to public relations efforts. This sends an alarming message that campaign contributions from government contractors like Capstrat unfairly influence who receives the state’s business – regardless of what’s best for taxpayers and the state’s working families. Capstrat’s government contracts include the N.C. State Ports Authority, UNC-Pembroke and a multi-million dollar contract for a teen tobacco use prevention and cessation program.
Cope also said he has heard from legislative folks in the General Assembly about possible lobbying by Eudy, who is not a registered lobbyist. On Wednesday, Cope sent public records requests to Sens. Marc Basnight (D-Dare) and Dan Blue (D-Wake) and Rep. Hugh Holliman (D-Davidson) asking for copies of any electronic and written correspondence between the legislators, their staff and Eudy between Jan. 1, 2008, and when the request is fulfilled.
State employees and retirees are asked to join SEANC for the protest on Tuesday, Aug. 24, from 6 - 7 p.m. at 807 Harvey Street, Raleigh. Call SEANC Political Director Kevin LeCount at 919-833-6436 with questions or to RSVP.
July 30, 2010
EMPAC - No 2010 Legislative Endorsements»
Dear SEANC members,
On July 24, the statewide EMPAC met and made an important decision to not endorse any legislative candidates for the November 2010 election. I want to share with you why that decision was made in a nearly unanimous vote.
In a budget deficit year where there was no money for raises, COLAs or benefit enhancements, legislators kept telling SEANC members they were supportive of state employees and working families – specifically supportive of moving the State Health Plan oversight away from control of the General Assembly to an executive agency. But no one had the courage to schedule a vote!
Lack of oversight by the General Assembly has allowed Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina to raise our health care out-of-pocket costs and reduce our benefits. It started with a no-bid, secret contract that allows Blue Cross to charge basically whatever they want to the state and to have us, the taxpayers, pay for it.
It would have cost legislators nothing to make the change—except for campaign cash from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. Legislators took a walk on state employees and retirees when they chose Blue Cross over working families. Now it’s EMPAC’s turn to take a walk.
Legislators never seem willing to ask Blue Cross to give up even a dime in tough economic times; they only look to state employees and retirees. When it came time to vote on transferring health plan oversight, the Democratic House and Senate leadership said it wasn’t the right time.
For the legislative leaders, it’s never the right time to fund the pay plan, provide affordable family health insurance and certainly not the right time for collective bargaining. I’ve been hearing this for 15 years – even in times of economic prosperity.
Isn’t it odd that it never seems to be the right time for legislators to do the right thing, except when it’s time to interview for an EMPAC endorsement?
We are aware that this decision may be controversial to our contributors who have built EMPAC into a force to be reckoned with in North Carolina. As a result of this decision, we should have more than $1 million to support our true friends in 2012, and individual legislators will have two years to decide who is more important—working families, big insurance or their legislative leadership.
Although EMPAC is making no legislative endorsements this year, we are encouraging the area EMPACs to provide opportunities for our members to get to know the legislative candidates in their areas through interviews or forums. In late August, the statewide EMPAC will be interviewing the candidates for North Carolina’s US Senate seat with plans to make an endorsement.
Thank you for helping to make EMPAC one of the largest political action committees in North Carolina. I hope you will support this bold decision and help us send a loud message to the legislative leadership in November.
Thank you,
Mark Dearmon
State EMPAC Chairman
SEANC is perplexed that Gov. Bev Perdue, who says jobs are her top priority, is looking at
privatizing the state’s information technology infrastructure. Privatization will surely lead to job cuts, including the state’s 600 IT employees, and most likely will ship those jobs overseas, where many IT operations are outsourced. SEANC urges the governor to keep North Carolinians working and to rely on the experts already in state government to look for efficiencies and opportunities to streamline resources.
The 2010 legislative session finished Saturday, July 10, at 5:32 a.m. As legislators sought and passed ethics reform, SEANC successfully worked to maintain important employee protections and personnel information during investigations.
This session, in the midst of another budget deficit, SEANC was able to avoid broad-based furloughs, pay cuts and major layoffs for state employees. In addition, SEANC helped ensure that the university system makes quarterly reports of personnel actions and pay increases to OSP and OSBM, which will prevent favoritism such as Mary Easley’s 88 percent pay raise in 2008. SEANC was also able to prohibit privatization of prison maintenance staff and help the deaf and blind schools restore Sunday night services and staff for their residential students.
July 9, 2010
Legislators Set to Wrap-Up Session»
See Budget Provisions Affecting State Employees and Retirees Below»
Legislators are planning to finish up final business this weekend and are reportedly heading home Saturday. SEANC lobbyists are working long hours, continuing to push hard for employee protections through legislation and, as always, in defensive mode to keep harmful, last-minute provisions out of legislation at the eleventh hour. Look for more next week in a wrap-up of the session.
The House and Senate finalized the state budget on June 30, and Gov. Bev Perdue then signed the budget into law before the July 1 fiscal year began.
SEANC was able to fight off a mandatory 20-hour furlough for all state employees that legislators considered late last week. This would’ve been a blow to state employees who last year experienced double-digit increases in out-of-pocket State Health Plan costs.
Another victory includes SEANC’s work to ensure that the university system makes quarterly reports of personnel actions and pay increases to OSP and OSBM, which will prevent favoritism such as Mary Easley’s 88 percent pay raise in 2008.
SEANC is outraged by a proposed 1 percent budget cut to all agencies, giving managers flexibility to make these cuts. Managers need to cut administrative costs and vacant positions (except those that would jeopardize public safety) before sending North Carolinians to the unemployment line. These cuts would take place beginning July 1, 2010, even though Congress may provide $519 million to North Carolina that would make these cuts unnecessary.
SEANC was able to prohibit privatization of prison maintenance staff, however legislators are directing DOC to develop a pilot program on privatization of probation services.
Other issues of concern for SEANC include:
-Reducing retirement system contributions by $139 million, resulting in a lower employer contribution and jeopardizing the funding level of the pension fund
-Granting furlough authority at universities
June 17, 2010
Legislators Continue Stalling on State Health Plan Oversight Bill (video) »
Watch a video from the
June 17 House Insurance Committee, where Democratic legislators refuse once again to take action and move oversight of the State Health Plan away from the legislature.
Today
North Carolina’s Supreme Court reversed a July 2008 decision of the North Carolina Court of Appeals regarding SEANC’s public records lawsuit against former State Treasurer Richard Moore. SEANC initiated the public records request and subsequent February 2008 lawsuit after a March 2007 Forbes magazine article, “Pensions, Pols, Payola,” featured Moore, insinuating a “pay-to-play” system in the then-$75 billion pension fund.
“This ruling is a victory for state employees’ retirement security, open government and public accountability from its elected officials,” said SEANC Executive Director Dana Cope.
At issue was whether or not SEANC had filed “a claim upon which relief can be granted,” known as a 12(b)(6) from the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure when the association sued Treasurer Moore under the Public Records Act. On March 23, the Supreme Court of North Carolina heard oral arguments in SEANC’s public records lawsuit against Department of State Treasurer and former Treasurer Moore.
The case now heads back to the trial court where SEANC will continue to request the remainder of the documents sought and determine if investment decisions were made based on politics or the people of North Carolina.
SEANC was supported in its appeal by the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters (NCAB) and the North Carolina Press Association (NCPA) with Friends of the Court briefs.
SEANC continues to advocate in the General Assembly to end the sole fiduciary system where one person makes all the investment decisions. Less than a handful of states still use a sole fiduciary to oversee their pension fund. SEANC has been a leading voice to move North Carolina from a sole fiduciary system to one where a board makes investment decisions, thus eliminating the possibility of investment-related favoritism or political gain.
Mildred Bartley-Fox, who’s suffered debilitating effects from multiple sclerosis and is a former state employee herself, knows first-hand the value of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Vocational Rehabilitation and people like her rehab specialist Kim Stewart. She shared her story with
400 SEANC members, who rallied at SEANC Lobby Day in Raleigh today, to save Stewart’s job and other services that are in jeopardy due to the state’s budget deficit. Stewart’s job will end soon due to reduction-in-force cuts at DHHS if the legislature doesn’t act to save it.
“Because of these independent living services, I have freedom, I have hope,” Bartley-Fox said to a cheering crowd. “I’m no longer bound to the confines of my four walls.”
SEANC member Jimmy Davis, a surveillance officer, warned of the dangers of privatizing probation and parole. The House has a provision to study privatization of those services.
“Companies put profits over people,” said Davis, who told of two medium-security prisons that failed due to privatization because they were cutting corners to maximize their profits. “When you are a state employee, your loyalty is to the people of North Carolina.”
“I’m not a quitter, and neither are you,” Davis told SEANC members. “So ask the General Assembly to not quit on us, either – ask them to fix the problems, don’t privatize!”
N.C. State employee Marcelle Kennedy knows the strain of budget cuts – the cashier’s office where she works has already lost four positions over the past few years, while enrollment has continued to climb. And the university system is facing up to 1,700 more cuts this year.
“Our students are our customers and we want to provide them with the best customer service possible – it’s a matter of pride among employees,” said Kennedy, who said there is often a long wait on the phone or in the office because of fewer staff members.
SEANC Executive Director Dana Cope told members that legislators will say there’s no money this year. “Tell legislators to open up their secret contract with Blue Cross and ask them to stop paying out millions of dollars to private contractors,” said Cope.
The U.S. Senate may vote as early as this week on a bill allowing public safety workers across the nation the right to collectively bargain with public employers. The bill would have the most impact in North Carolina and Virginia, where collective bargaining of public employees is not allowed.
“The public safety bill could mean savings for North Carolina citizens who pay more than $500 million in annual turnover costs for public employees due to below market wages,” SEANC Executive Director Dana Cope said. “Less turnover in public safety jobs means more experienced professionals in these positions and safer communities which is the ultimate goal.”
To ask Sen. Hagan's support for the bill, you can call her office at 202-224-6342.
May 25, 2010
75% of Legislators No Show at Public Budget Meeting »
More than 250 people participated in the North Carolina House Appropriations Committee meeting Monday night at NC State University to provide their input into the House budget proposal due out in June. With the backdrop of $800 million in budget cuts to be made to balance the budget, several groups requested to keep spending cuts to a minimum.
SEANC Legislative Affairs Director Ardis Watkins attended the meeting, but noted that only about 25 percent of the budget writers had attended. “Asking for public comment is great,” Watkins said, “but people aren’t here to hear it.”
Watkins urged the House to reconsider proposals allowing the University of North Carolina system to furlough workers, while at the same time spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for a consultant to recruit a new UNC president. SEANC also spoke out against the proposal of a pilot program to study privatizing probation services – a waste of money that could put our communities’ safety at risk if privatization occurs.