On July 15, 2022, NCRGEA enjoyed learning about resources available at Humana Neighborhood Centers to State Health Plan Medicare participants. In the photo from left to right are Tim O’Connell, NCRGEA Executive Director; Lisa Nannini, Humana; Nichole Arnott, Humana; and Deryl Fulmer, NCRGEA Community Liaison.
For more information on the neighborhood centers, visit https://www.humananeighborhoodcenter.com/.
Don’t forget to participate in this month’s Trivia for a chance to win a prize. To enter, use the July form link.
Due to an increased number of phone calls this month, North Carolina Retirement Systems requests NCRGEA members and any other contacts to use the “Callback assist” option offered immediately after the anticipated hold-time message.
The Callback option keeps the member’s call back request in the queue — and the call will be returned when that slot comes up in the order in which it was received. Most issues, such as EFT bank change, tax withholding, addresses, beneficiaries, etc., can be changed by the member in their ORBIT account, eliminating a need to call altogether.
NC Retirement Systems expects the issue to be resolved in a couple of weeks.
Governor Roy Cooper signed the state 2022 budget Monday, July 11, one day before it would become law without his signature. The $27.9 billion budget provides pay increases for teachers, state government workers, and raises per hour wages for non-salaried state workers. The budget also provides an additional 1 percent state retiree bonus to an already appropriated 3 percent bonus that will hit bank accounts and mailboxes in October.
While legislative leadership and the governor worked together more closely than any other year in Cooper’s tenure, the session did not come without hiccups. Two of the anticipated larger pieces of legislation expected to see light in this year’s summer short session, Medicaid expansion and medical marijuana, hit obstacles that sent lawmakers home without resolution.
Although these major efforts may be postponed for now, legislative leadership praised the budget as both bipartisan and fiscally responsible.
“I’m pleased to see the governor finally signed the budget,” Sen. Joyce Krawiac (R—Forsyth) said. The healthcare, DHHS appropriations, and pensions chairwoman added, “This is a fiscally responsible budget that had bipartisan support. It continues the sensible spending that has guided our state for more than a decade.”
In December 2021, state retirees received a 2 percent bonus. In October 2022, retirees will receive a 4 percent bonus, totaling 6 percent in all for the 2021-2022 biennium. The Local Government Retirement Board of Trustees approved a 2 percent bonus in January that will reach local retirees this October.
The budget also provides ample rainy day fund increases to abate inflation, additional mental health support for public schools, and a substantial increase in public works funding for rural areas.
House Speaker Tim Moore issued a statement regarding the governor’s signature.
“We are pleased Gov. Cooper signed this responsible spending plan into law. Moving forward, we are committed to working together to improve healthcare, access and expand Medicaid, while providing the necessary safeguards to preserve the state’s fiscal health,” Moore said.
I am honored to have been elected the new Board President for NCRGEA.
In NCRGEA’s 52-year history, I do not believe the organization has been better positioned to move forward than we are now. I base that optimism on five facts:
1. We have a very receptive audience in the current NCRGEA membership, which is just over 50,000. Our members, who are more engaged in their community and other activities than any previous group of retirees, want their organization to be more engaged as well. They want us to offer more benefits and activities for them and to be a
louder voice on their behalf in the corridors of power in Raleigh. If we do this for the current membership, we become more attractive to the other 300,000 plus state and local retirees in our state.
2. Our strategic plan offers us a road map to a better, stronger NCRGEA. All points in this plan are designed to improve our services to current members and to expand our reach with new members.
3. Financially, NCRGEA has the resources to implement our strategic plan. We must use our balance sheet to better meet the needs of our current membership, who helped grow our budget, while reaching out to new members.
4. With a new Executive Director and our long-serving staff in Raleigh, NCRGEA has the human capital to move us forward like never before.
5. Finally, with our current board and the most recent additions, the NCRGEA Board of Directors gives the organization the leadership to work with the new executive director and our staff, use our financial resources, and follow our strategic plan road map to focus on growing the organization by better serving our current membership while reaching out to thousands more.
These points are the source of my optimism for the future of NCRGEA and lead me to conclude, like the title of the 1980s song says, “The future is so bright, you gotta wear shades.”
This week, the legislative leadership rolled out a comprehensive budget addressing many current and anticipated matters, including recession and employee recruitment and retention. While doing so; however, the budget failed to support both active and retired government employees as had been hoped.
Retirees will receive an additional 1 percent bonus to an already scheduled 3 percent bonus this October. In all, retirees will receive a 6 percent bonus for the two-year 2021-2023 biennium, having received a 2 percent bonus in 2021, and 4 percent this fall.
This past January, local government retirees, who are typically not included in general fund appropriations, receive a 2 percent bonus from LGERS Board of Directors, to be distributed as required by law in October 2022. Investment returns from the local government retirement system funded the bonus.
“I’d like to thank our legislative leadership for the grueling work they’ve done to create the budget,” said NCRGEA Executive Director Tim O’Connell. “It’s clear to me, though, that our legislative leadership remains somewhat deafened to the needs of retirees. While we recognize the impact 6 percent in bonus money has and will have on retirees – and it’s a positive impact – we have yet to make up for the years of pension value loss retirees have suffered since the Great Recession.
“While we will continue to fight for our retirees, we do indeed recognize and thank legislative leadership for providing the largest bonus money seen in many years, and one of the largest in the United States. But we have more work to do.”
No budget sails smoothly, and this year’s budget may experience some bumps in the days to come. House Minority Leader Robert Reives said, “I think it’s going to be a fight,” while others are calling on Gov. Roy Cooper to veto the non-amendable conference report.
State Treasurer Dale Folwell praised the bonus and efforts by the General Assembly to provide additional money for retirees. “They’ve fully funded the pension plan and the state health plan, and given retirees one of the biggest bonuses in years. And paid for it.” (Will Doran, News and Observer).
Active employees will see increases starting July 1, with additional boosts from last year’s long session raises of 2.5 percent. In all, active TSERS will receive a 3.5 percent increase in pay. The average teacher pay increase will be 4.2 percent, with additional incentive bonus pay for teachers in underserved counties.
When questioned during the press conference yesterday by reporters, Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger said the budget, “was the right budget for North Carolina at this time.” Leaders said that the 2022 budget was built to help the state weather current and predicted economic trends and also provide needed infrastructure improvements in state government facilities, water and sewer, as well as the sale of several exhausted properties.
Staff and consultants for NCRGEA will continue to study the budget very closely for any additional items of interest to retirees.
You can find the bill of text of state budget here: H103-PCCS20003-MLXR-9 (ncleg.gov)
North Carolina Institute of Medicine Launches Task Force on Healthy Aging
MORRISVILLE (May 31, 2022) – The North Carolina Institute of Medicine (NCIOM) has launched a Task
Force on Healthy Aging to focus on policies and practices to support aging in place in North Carolina
Communities with funding from The Duke Endowment, the North Carolina Department of Health and
Human Services, and AARP North Carolina.
With the increasing older adult population in our state, this task force will specifically identify
recommendations related to social connections, nutrition, mobility, and preventing falls. Over 60 task
force members are engaged as experts in topics related to aging in place, as well as leaders in faith
communities, local and state government, academia, health care, and other sectors. Two co-chairs for
this work bring their expertise in aging – Dr. Tamara Baker, Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at
the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, and Dennis Streets, the retired former
Executive Director of Chatham County Council on Aging. The first task force meeting was convened on
May 10, 2022, and featured robust discussions of the current opportunities and challenges facing these
issues and the potential for improvements.
“We are excited to partner with leading experts in aging, public health, and community services to
identify the necessary strategies for healthy aging in North Carolina. We are confident that this task
force will help strengthen our state and local systems and services to provide healthy, supported aging
in our state,” says Kathy Colville, NCIOM President and CEO.
Ten task force meetings will take place through December 2022 and are open to the public. A final
report will be published in early 2023 with actionable recommendations to inform policies to support
healthy aging. To learn more, visit https://nciom.org/task-force-on-healthy-aging/.
The North Carolina Institute of Medicine (NCIOM) is an independent, quasi-state agency that was
chartered by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1983 to provide balanced, nonpartisan information
on issues of relevance to the health of North Carolina’s population. For more information, visit www.nciom.org.
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