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Rep. Jeffrey Elmore: NCRGEA’S First Legislator of the Year

Tracie Eubank on March 21, 2024

Winter 2023/2024, Living Power Magazine

Rep Jeffrey Elmore

The executive board and staff of the North Carolina Retired Governmental Employees’ Association (NCRGEA) is proud to award Wilkes County State House Representative Jeffrey Elmore as our 2023 Legislator of the Year. Elmore is the first legislative member of the year named by the association.

Elmore serves the 94th House District, representing Wilkes and Alleghany counties. In his 11th year in the North Carolina General Assembly, Elmore serves as a House appropriations chairperson and also serves on the House Pensions and Retirement Committee, among other appointments.

Elmore worked tirelessly to secure bonus money for TSER retirees. In addition to his role in the legislature, Elmore also works as an educator in his 23rd year of teaching and has also served as president of the Professional Educators of North Carolina (PENC), a nonpartisan group of 7,000 teachers in North Carolina. Prior to serving in the state legislature, Elmore was a planning board member, commissioner in North Wilkesboro, and he served as chairman of the town’s board of adjustments.

A native of Wilkes County, Elmore has deep roots in the region. He resides in North Wilkesboro with his wife and two children, where he’s also a member of First United Methodist Church.

“We are grateful to Rep. Elmore for his service and for championing North Carolina’s public service retirees,” said NCRGEA Executive Director Tim O’Connell.

UNC Healthcare and ECU Health Weaken Pension

Tracie Eubank on November 9, 2023

November 8, 2023
by Tim O’Connell

dollar bills

The decision to no longer extend State pension and health plan benefits to new employees of UNC Healthcare and ECU Health is detrimental to all North Carolinians.

NCRGEA will continue to work with elected officials to move to a more fiscally sound solution to protect the pension and health plans so as not to increase the risk of retirement insecurity among healthcare workers and their retirees, especially its lowest-paid.

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Changing the General Assembly Takes Time and Patience: How You Can Help

Tracie Eubank on June 22, 2023

NC Legislative Building
The General Assembly meets biennially and all members are elected for two-year terms. The House consists of 120 members and the Senate has 50 members. It meets in the North Carolina Legislative Building, shown here, located at 16 West Jones St., in Raleigh.

Congratulations! You are a member of the largest association of retired government professionals in the United States. Now more than a half century old, we were then, and are today, the primary voice and advocate for North Carolina’s local and state governmental retired public servants.

As you may well remember, when we founded in 1972, our country was headed into troublesome times. Gas prices and inflation were gearing up for history making highs, we were fiercely engaged in the Cold War, and societal unease was tense across the country. Yet we remained focused on our purpose: you.

Fast forward to today, and while the past may be prologue, our focus remains the same: you.

What does that mean for you? In addition to our life impacting benefits, we have a daily presence at the North Carolina General Assembly, boards of trustees overseeing our retirement systems, and other bodies relevant to retiree matters. Our bipartisan, four member lobbyist team and NCRGEA executive leadership work with elected and appointed officials, fighting to protect the quality of life that you rightfully earned.

As our purpose is you, you are what matters most to our elected officials. You are the constituent, the fellow church member, the neighbor our elected officials are charged to serve. You are also the women and men who are the girders of a safe, well educated, prosperous, and clean North Carolina. You kept our roads maintained, educated our children, put the bad guys away, helped people in perilous times, and made our environment safe. You are, truly, the backbone of what is today one of the most desirous states to live, work, and play.

With the NCRGEA, you have a family of almost 67,000 fellow retired public servants. We are mighty in scope and in size, and can have a unified, bellowing voice with our elected officials. We look forward to continuing to serve you and fight for your quality of life.

Our elected officials need to know you. Here is how you can better engage in the legislative process as a retiree advocate; click below to download or enlarge the infographic:

2023 Retiree Advocacy Steps