Winter Edition 2025 | Living Power Magazine
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.
The RGEA Government Relations Committee and Board have approved the following advocacy agenda for 2025:
- Secure inflation-abating cost-of-living adjustments or bonuses for all state and local retirees.
- Pursue opportunities to strengthen and protect the state’s defined benefit plans to attract and retain the best and brightest public servants.
- Defend public sector benefits so all public sector retirees may participate in traditional pension retirements.
- Seek increased or expanded tax exemption status for government retirees.
- Continue to ensure that the State of North Carolina will fulfill its constitutional obligation to fully fund North Carolina Retirement Systems and the State Health Plan.
- Monitor and provide expert analysis on the investment of funds by the State of North Carolina on behalf of retirees and future retirees to better ensure benchmarks are met.
- Explore opportunities to overturn the recent legislative decision to remove employees of the UNC and ECU healthcare systems from TSERS and oppose the removal of any additional employees from TSERS.
- Explore administrative opportunities to create a COLA account supported through pension formula adjustments.