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Congratulations Montrena Hadley: NCRGEA 2023 Lifetime Service Award Recipient

Patti Dukes on May 30, 2023

May 24, 2023

Congratulations to the NCRGEA 2023 Lifetime Service Award recipient, Montrena Hadley, of District 4.  NCRGEA honored retired local government employee Montrena Hadley for her combined 30 years of service to the city of Mebane as Planning Director. Upon retirement in 2020, Hadley was elected the same year to the Mebane City Council and is currently serving as its first Black female member. 

NCRGEA Executive Director, Tim O’Connell, presented her with the award in front of more than 100 members and staff of the North Carolina General Assembly, pictured below in Image 1 on right.  The Association’s President of the Board of Directors, Mike Taylor, was also on hand to present the award, pictured below in Image 1 on left.  Montrena was nominated by District 4’s David Ray and it was the decision of the Board of Directors to select Montrena as this year’s recipient.

We had a great turnout for the Public Service Recognition and Advocacy Day May 24th at Bicentennial Plaza; over 400 attendees were at our lunch catered by Parker’s BBQ of Wilson, including a good portion of the legislators and their staff.

Having broadband issues? We can hear you!

Patti Dukes on May 25, 2023

Tim O'Connell at broadband conference
photo: NCRGEA Executive Director Tim O'Connell and NC Secretary of Information Technology Jim Weaver

NCRGEA Executive Director Tim O’Connell attended the “Closing the Digital Divide Conference” with state and association leaders advocating for improved access to high-speed internet.  Expansion of broadband is an important legislative agenda item to our members for many reasons, including the expansion of telehealth opportunities.

Share your feedback with the state Broadband leaders by completing their Digital Equity survey.

NCRGEA Celebration of Public Service and Advocacy Day, scheduled for May 9, is now rescheduled for May 24.

Patti Dukes on May 5, 2023

NCRGEA was informed earlier today the legislators had made a calendar adjustment for next week. There will be no committee meetings until possibly the latter part of next week. For this reason, we are expecting a fair amount of the legislators to not be in the General Assembly Building next week as many will remain in their home districts.

What Do You Need to Do?

We want you to join us on May 24! Please register to attend on the 24th using this link: tinyurl.com/2p99fyy7. It is important to register so we get our lunch count correct.

What About Meeting with My Representatives?

Your advocacy work on this day will be so much more impactful if you take a moment to schedule your time with your representatives. You can find their contact information and the name of their legislative assistant here:  https://ncrgea.com/advocacy/findmylegislator/. Please book (or re-book) appointments with your legislators for the new date of May 24. Please use the registration form at the link tinyurl.com/2p99fyy7 and fill in the name and time of your appointment with your Legislator so our NCRGEA Lobbyists can be aware and help us with follow up!

What if I Cannot Attend on May 24, but my legislator is still willing to meet me on May 9?

By all means, if you cannot make May 24 and your legislator is still available on May 9, you are welcome to keep your appointment. If you would like a member of the NCRGEA lobby team to join you on a May 9 visit, please email tim@ncrgea.com.

We thank you for your willingness to be an advocate for governmental retirees. We sincerely hope your schedule will allow you to participate in the Celebration of Public Service with us and your legislators on May 24! Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact our office at 919.834.4652.

Public Service Week May 22to26

NCRGEA On the Road with Community Engagement Meetings

Patti Dukes on May 4, 2023

Good news! North Carolina Retired Governmental Employees’ Association’s Community Engagement Meetings are growing and Josephine Lanier, the Association’s Insurance Director and Human Resources Outreach Coordinator is on the road again and coming to a town near you!
Her latest meetings in Selma, New Bern, Franklin and Wilmington were well received with attendance at each meeting growing and lots of questions being asked and information on the needs of our members being passed to the leadership of the Association. Lanier believes that sharing information and programs thru social media, emails, and the Association’s website is important, the opportunity for face-to-face meetings is more important, especially to members who may not be using social media and computers.
“It’s so good to meet our members and public service retirees one-on-one and let them share their concerns,” said Lanier. “As one retiree in New Bern told me, she was so happy to attend the meeting and she now understands what NCRGEA is all about and how it champions for the Public Service Retirees.”
While the General Assembly is in session, and with several bills and issues being discussed and voted on, these meetings allow Lanier to update the retirees and field questions. Josephine believes that sharing information and programs thru social media, our website NCRGEA.com, Facebook and Twitter is very important, the opportunity for personal meetings are so very import to reach all our members — some who may not be using social media and computers.

In May and June, Lanier is ready to travel the highways and byways of North Carolina to meet more NCRGEA members and their guests. She has nine meetings scheduled.

Community Outreach

May 16th – Tea and Cookies – 2:00pm-3:00pm
Currituck County Center
120 Community Way
Barco NC 27917

May 17th – Coffee and Donuts – 10:00am-11:00am
NC Cooperative Extension-Pasquotank County Center
1209 McPherson St
Elizabeth City NC 27909

May 18th – Coffee and Donuts – 11:00am-12pm
City of Rocky Mount Senior Center
427-S Church St
Rocky Mount NC 27804

May 23rd – Tea and Cookies – 2:00pm-3:00pm
Roy B Culler Senior Center
921 Eastchester Dr., Suite 1230
High Point NC 27262

May 24th – Coffee and Donuts – 10:00am-11:00am
Brown Recreation Center, Room 101
302 E. Vandalia Rd
Greensboro NC 27402

May 25th – Coffee and Donuts – 10:00am-11:00am
Kernodle Senior Center, Room A/B
1535 S Mebane St
Burlington NC 27215

June 6th – Tea and Cookies – 2:00pm-3:00pm
Cabarrus County Government, Milestone Facility
4855 Milestone Ave
Kannapolis NC 28081

June 7th – Tea and Cookies – 2:00pm-3:00 pm
The Enrichment Center of Lee County
1615 S. 3rd St
Sanford NC 27330

June 21st – Coffee and Donuts – 10:00am-11:00am
Passmore Center/Orange County Department on Aging
103 Meadowlands Dr.
Hillsborough NC 27278

If you would like to attend, please RSVP to Josephine@ncrgea.com or call the NCRGEA at 919-834-4652.
The Association would love for members to join us and encourages them to bring a friend who is a public service retiree. Refreshments are provided and a $25 gift card is given away at each meeting.

LGFCU extends the date of Independence

Patti Dukes on May 4, 2023

April 28, 2023

A message from CEO Dwayne Naylor

In recent months, we’ve heard from many of you about our plans to become an independent credit union, and our goal to build a better experience that meets your needs. We have carefully considered your thoughtful input, and your ideas about in-person service, cash management, and new products and services.

We’ve decided that we need more time to innovate, to ensure that you receive the exceptional service you deserve. So, instead of introducing our new Credit Union platform to members in March 2024, we have extended our timetable for independence from State Employees’ Credit Union (SECU) to 2025. SECU is supporting us fully through this transition.

This will give us time to apply all that we’ve learned from those of you who attended our summits, Annual Meeting, and small group meetings we’ve hosted throughout the state, and the scores of you who reached out to us by phone and email.

Full story here: tinyurl.com/38xuz92x

NC House Includes 2% COLA for State Retirees in 2023 Biennium Budget

Patti Dukes on March 30, 2023

By Tim O’Connell, Executive Director of North Carolina Retired Governmental Employees’ Association | March 30, 2023

On behalf of our association’s close to 66,000 members, we want to thank the efforts of both the executive branch and our House legislative leadership for including a 2 percent recurring cost of living adjustment for state government retirees and retired educators. If fully approved, the recurring adjustment will be distributed one percent per biennium year. Government retirees are the unsung heroes of our North Carolina, building a state that remains prosperous, safe, clean, and desirable for families to lead healthy, high-quality lives.

Today, the State House of the North Carolina General Assembly released its anticipated budget, an almost $30 billion budget providing raises for active state government employees and educators and rainy day funds to protect against our challenging, unbridled current inflationary economic environment.

While we have made tremendous progress, we at the NCRGEA will continue to fight for these dedicated women and men, both our local and state government retirees and stay a resource for executive and legislative leadership in providing this most critical relief.  

Our elected officials recognized the plight of retirees and have also provided raises to help our future retirees have a better quality of life in retirement.

Letter to the Editor | State government retirees drowning in inflation

Patti Dukes on March 23, 2023

Tim O’Connell, Executive Director, North Carolina Retired Governmental Employees Association – March 9, 2023

More than 320,000 local and state government retirees are drowning in inflation. With a likely probability of another multi-billion-dollar surplus for the state, it’s time to do the right thing and provide inflation-fighting cost-of-living adjustments for these dedicated women and men.

The fact that everything costs more today is common knowledge. Over the past decade, individual purchasing power has declined by 29 percent. The basket of basic goods bought 10 years ago for $100 now costs $129. During this same period, cost-of-living adjustments totaled just 2 percent for state retirees and less than 1 percent for local government retirees.

This widening gap of lack of cost-of-living adjustments related to inflation hurts not only the retirees but the entire North Carolina economy. This is particularly true in North Carolina’s rural counties, where a higher percentage of retired public servants live compared to urban counties.

And yet retirees are good for the state’s economy. The National Institute of Retirement Security reports that in North Carolina, public pensioners support more than 49,477 jobs across all 100 counties and across a breadth of industries, from hospitality to healthcare to real estate. The value of this to the North Carolina economy is $8.1 billion a year and excludes the $1.2 billion this group pays in taxes to the state and federal government. The continued stagnation of cost-of-living adjustments will reduce this impact if not addressed.

While retirees remain grateful for the one-time bonuses the North Carolina General Assembly and Retirement System Trustees have provided over the past decade, such appreciated efforts will not abate the issue of short and long-term inflation. With the average retirement payment of approximately $1,650 monthly for retired public servants and the current 29 percent reduction in buying power adjusted for inflation, North Carolina has not seen this significant disparity in nearly 50 years.

Public sector retirees are forced to make hard decisions at the grocery store and at the pharmacy, and some struggle to maintain their own homes. Governmental retirees are our neighbors, friends, and parents. They educated our children, maintained our roads, cared for our loved ones, provided our families with clean drinking water, and were the first responders who put in long and often dangerous hours to keep our communities safe.

As we look at ways to bolster the resiliency of the North Carolina economy, serious consideration must be given to how it can be done in a way that provides dignity and quality of life to governmental retirees. As our legislators and elected officials make decisions in what is projected as another year of surplus revenues, they cannot forget our retired public servants.

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