Page 11 - FOP BlueNote 2017 May June Issue East FINAL

Message from the President
By Randy Hagler
Greetings to my Brothers and Sisters.
The North Carolina Fraternal Order of
Police held our Spring Board of Direc-
tors Meeting in Lexington at the Rich-
ard Childress Vineyards on March 17-
19, 2017. Davidson County Lodge 97
hosted the meeting and they did an out-
standing job of making our Board of
Directors comfortable while we were in
Davidson County. Needless to say, the
Richard Childress Vineyards was a
beautiful location to hold our business
meeting.
Our Spring Board meeting is always
a busy one with many agenda items to
be discussed, such as the budget, legis-
lative priorities, legal aid update and is- ther than 30. All and all it is a good bill reason is that while HB 284 allows
sues, local lodge constitution and by-
laws amendments, and other matters.
Thankfully, with only a few minor ad-
justments the proposed 2017-2018
budget passed and is now set for the up-
coming fiscal year. We heard reports
from all of our State Lodge Officers
about issues/concerns they have been
involved with since our last meeting in
August 2016. We also honored one of
our own during this meeting by recog-
nizing Corporal Daniel Battjes who is
the recipient of our “2017 Officer of the
Year” award. Corporal Daniel Battjes
works for the Winston-Salem Police
Department and is a member of Win-
ston-Salem/Forsyth County FOP Lodge
8. He was present for the presentation
of the plaque recognizing him as our
Officer of the Year.
Since our Board of Directors Meet-
ing I have received many phone calls
and emails from members across the
State asking where the North Carolina
FOP stood on the two 25 year retire-
ment bills which have been introduced
in the North Carolina Legislature. Dur-
ing our Board of Directors Meeting our
Legislative Agent Jeff Gray reported on
both bills during his report and a great
deal of discussion followed.
Senate Bill 199 “Law Enforcement
Officer Retirement/25 Years,” is the
bill that gained the most support of our
Board of Directors. NCFOP has fought
for many years for a 25 year retirement
for our members with an unreduced re-
tirement benefit. SB 199 is very close
to that but an officer’s retirement would
be slightly reduced due to the number
of years’ service dropping from 30 to
25. However, the officer would still re-
ceive the Special Separation Allowance
for five additional years, again, it would
be slightly lower based on 25 years ra-
and one NCFOP strongly supports.
This bill was introduced by Senator Bill
Cook of Dare County and we truly ap-
preciate his support.
House Bill 284 “25-Year LEO Re-
tirement Option was introduced by
Representative Dr. Greg Murphy from
Pitt County and is similar to Sen Cook’s
bill but with some clear differences.
Rep. Murphy’s bill would reduce by 1/3
of 1% per month for each month prior
to age 55 if the officer retires between
the ages 50-55 with 15 years’ service.
HB 284 does not allow officers to col-
lect their Special Separation allowance
if they retire after 25 years credible ser- personal decision that each member and
vice. The bill does provide the State or
local government employer to offer a
payout to the employee for retiring
early but the payout cannot be greater
than the amount the employee would
have collected if they stayed the full 30
years. Again, this is allowed but not re-
quired and many believe it would be
very hard to collect. Under HB 284 if
an officer stays the full 30 years then
they would receive the special separa-
tion allowance just as they do now.
www.ncfop.org
This bill was introduced by Representa-
tive Dr. Gregory Murphy of Pitt County
and we also appreciate his support.
After a great deal of discussion a
motion was made and passed to support
SB 199 as the preferred retirement bill
of the two introduced. Of the two bills
introduced, SB 199 is the closest bill to
what our members and officers now
have at 30 years and would be the pre-
ferred option for a 25 year retirement.
The early reports from Raleigh seem
to be that HB 284 is looked upon more
favorably than SB 199 and may have a
better opportunity to pass. The obvious
members and officers to retire after 25
years of service, it also allows munici-
palities to not offer the special separa-
tion allowance for those who have not
reached 30 years of service. It also re-
duces slightly the retirement benefit for
members and officers who may have
started their law enforcement career a
little later and are between the ages of
50-55 with 15 years of service.
While the North Carolina Fraternal
Order of Police fully supports SB 199,
we clearly understand that for some
members and officers HB 284 could
also be a good option. This is clearly a
officer should make for themselves.
I would also like to add that the
North Carolina Fraternal Order of Po-
lice is grateful to both Senator Cook
and Representative Dr. Murphy for the
introduction of both bills and what they
offer our law enforcement officers
across the state. We look forward to
working with both gentlemen in the fu-
ture.
Stay safe and let me know if there is
anything I can do or the NCFOP can do
to assist you or your Lodge.
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