From the Capitol: An Advocacy Update

Winter Edition 2025 | Living Power Magazine

The North Carolina Legislature adjourned without agreement on a proposed budget, leaving several key areas unfunded, including inflation relief for government retirees. There was early optimism that with the Office of State Budget Management reporting a $987 million surplus, some vehicle for budgetary items would go through; however, none of that came to fruition in 2024.

State budgets operate on a two-year cycle, and general statutes do not require an adjusted budget to be approved in a short session, though it is highly uncommon for the legislature not to do so. Since April of 2023, Republicans have held enough seats in the House and Senate to override a gubernatorial veto, which means the power to pass a budget was entirely controlled by the General Assembly. Not passing a budget came down to this divide between these two chambers. The differences were budgetary and, to some extent, philosophical—ultimately, leadership could not find consensus and adjourned.

The House’s budget included a pension supplement for state retirees and additional employee raises, while the Senate’s budget did not. In terms of dollars, the House and Senate budgets were approximately $287 million apart in their roughly $31 billion budgets, with the Senate’s budget taking a more conservative spending position.

Some key funding decisions were passed through “mini budgets,” which are utilized to fund specific initiatives when a budget is not passed. Bills passed with this legislative procedure addressed education funding, broadband access, health and human services, and agriculture agency funding. The education funding included the controversial addition of $250 million in private school vouchers, which the governor vetoed before being overturned by the legislature.

Several bills were sponsored to provide COLAs and bonuses, but they died in committee due to a lack of bipartisan support. Those bills included Senate Bills 805 and 896, and House Bills 597, 930, and 934. You can learn more about these bills by going to NCRGEA.com/advocacy.

The latest actuarial valuation reports provided through the Office of the Treasurer reported that the cost of a COLA or bonus would have been the following in 2024:

With the long session just beginning, the RGEA lobby team is already working to ensure that government retirees are remembered in the new biennial budget for 2025. Click here to view RGEA’s 2025 advocacy goals.