Page 11 - FINAL EAST FOP BlueNote 2017 July August

PBA’S EFFORT TO GAIN SEAT ON STATE TREASURER CONDUCTING

STANDARDS COMMISSION FAILS STATE HEALTH PLAN DEPENDENT

By Jeff Gray – Legislative Agent ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION AUDIT

House Bill 395 would have given the Police Benevo- By Jeff Gray – Legislative Agent

lent Association an appointee to the Criminal Justice Ed- Those of you who are active State employees of, or
ucation and Training Standards Commission. It passed retirees from, a North Carolina law enforcement
in committee, but failed on the House floor in a vote of agency, should have received by now a request to
52 in favor and 64 opposed out of a total of 116 votes verify the relationship of family members on your
(with four non-voting or absent).
State Health Plan. At the Spring Board Meeting in
The Commission is comprised of 34 appointed mem- Lexington, State Treasurer Dale Folwell spoke and
bers drawn from chiefs of police, district attorneys, the shared with the Trustees some of his changes de-
heads of various State law enforcement agencies, and signed to provide Health Plan members -- including
representatives from law enforcement officers and crim- retirees -- with stability and predictability in their
inal justice associations. Its duties include determining benefits. These changes begin the task of lowering
the criteria for initial and in-service mandated training,
certifying all North Carolina officers except deputy sher- the state’s $43 billion in unfunded liabilities for re-
iffs and detention officers, certifying instructors and dis- tiree health benefits.
ciplining officers. It also has related duties such as the
mandated training for the citizen concealed carry and re- Without question allowing ineligible dependents
tired officers pursuant to HR 218. Neither the Fraternal to participate in the Plan increases the overall costof
Order of Police nor the Police Benevolent Association North Carolina’s Plan to members and taxpayers. As
had a strong presence in North Carolina when the Com- an important step towards reducing costs and elimi-
mission was first established in the early 1970’s. nating waste, the Plan is conducting an audit to verify
eligibility of dependents covered by the Plan. This

Beginning about 20 years ago the FOP first attempted audit will focus on all subscribers with dependents
to secure a designated seat for its members. Each at- under the age of 75 as of April 19, 2017.
tempt has met opposition, and on only one occasion -- in
In order to ensure continued coverage under the

the 2015-2016 Legislative Session -- were we even able Plan for those dependents, members must respond
to have the bill heard in committee. For the first 10 or with the required documentation by July 31, 2017.
12 years, the PBA took the position that they did not Failure to respond and produce the required docu-
want an appointment, but in later years joined in with the mentation will result in termination of dependents’
FOP in seeking legislation to allow both associations to coverage under the Plan effective August 1, 2017.
obtain a seat. Between the two organizations, more ac- You should have already received a letter with a
tive and retired officers are represented than by all of the request to provide documentation of your depend-
other law enforcement associations combined. For some ents, which will need to be provided by July 31, 2017.
of the associations with a current seat on the Commis- Members of the State Health Plan will need to upload
Continued on P. 13
sion, only a scant few officers are members.

RETIREE BUDGET ITEMS NOW BEFORE SPEAKER AND PRESIDENT

PRO TEMPORE OF THE SENATE

By Jeff Gray – Legislative Agent

At the time of the deadline for this issue of The Blue Note (Friday, June 16th) the House and Senate had yet
to agree on a State Budget. Supposedly, they are just down to “a handful of items” they disagree on, but one is
the amount or method of paying a Cost of Living Adjustment (“COLA”) for State retirees.

I have written updates this Spring on the continuing saga of this important financial decision.
The Budget is projected to come out early next week. Still unresolved is whether State retirees will get a
bonus and whether new hires in 2018 will have retiree health care. (See, article elsewhere in this BlueNote
edition.) These two issues (and the handful of others) will be addressed by the leader of the Senate, Phil Berger,
and the leader of the House, Tim Moore. Teachers and State retirees received a 1.6% bonus in the House budget
and all advocacy groups for government employees are urging the Senate’s leader to support this 1.6% bonus
for members of TSERS.

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