The N.C. House passed its budget proposal this week, including massive vacant position cuts, an inadequate employee raise, and a bonus for retirees who desperately need actual cost-of-living adjustments.

The proposal calls for cutting jobs across the state government, which are now vacant. The exact number of job cuts or where they would be cut remains unclear, as it is not explicitly laid out, but it could be as high as 3,000.

The House did improve on the Senate and the Governor's pay plans, granting a 2.5% raise for the first year only. That figure is still woefully inadequate to keep up with inflation and an expected State Health Plan premium increase this year that will decimate the increase in paychecks. Retirees would receive a 1% bonus in year one of the proposal and a 2% bonus in year two.

In this week's SEANC View podcast, we discuss the budget plan and the havoc that cutting 3,000 jobs will cause on public services in a state already dealing with a huge vacancy crisis.

The budget debate now moves to conference. The House and Senate will appoint conferees to hash out their differences in their plans and send a final compromise to Gov. Josh Stein for his signature. Stein and House Democrats signaled their support for the House's plan this week, while some Senate Democrats supported the Senate's plan.

Now is an excellent time for you to contact your House and Senate lawmakers and tell them to support state employees and retirees. You can click here to contact them.