Page 12 - East BlueNote July August 2018

BlueNote Information and Submission Dates for 2018

By Terry Mangum – Executive Editor

There are only two opportunities left for you to submit an article or photograph for 2018. And we need to hear from
you and your Lodge.

I personally thank everyone who contributed articles and Lodge activities for this issue. Your articles and photos
are what we need in order to provide the BlueNote to you as a beneficial and useful publication. Anyone can submit
an article. All you have to do is write the article and send it to us. If it is necessary, we will make it publication
worthy. It is just that simple.

Remember, this is your publication but we need your help. To help us all you need to do is contribute an article
and/or a photograph. Every Lodge has some type of activities throughout the year to write about for the BlueNote.

So please begin now preparing for the September/October 2018 BlueNote issue and let our members across North
Carolina read about you and your Lodge.
Please e-mail your articles and photos to my e-mail address TerryMangum@frontier.com by the due date.

Below are the remaining Article Submission Due Dates for 2018. Please understand that you can always send your
articles well before the due date for the upcoming issue of the BlueNote.

Article Submission Due Dates for 2018:
September/October issue: Due by August 17, 2018
November/December issue: Due by October 19, 2018

As always, I am here to serve you and our membership. If I may be of assistance to you, or if you have any questions
or concerns, please contact me.

25 Year Retirement Option Passes General
Assembly, Signed by Governor

By Jeff Gray – FOP Legislative Agent

Two bills were introduced this Session, both pur- Session and had numerous conversations with the pri-

porting to allow a law enforcement officer to retire after mary sponsors of both bills, but only the House version

25 years of service. Neither bill was a version of a 25 saw movement.
year retirement with unreduced benefits which has been House Bill 284, “25-Year LEO Retirement Option,”

introduced in the House and Senate six to seven times by was approved by the General Assembly on June 14, 2018

the FOP over the past 15 years. One of these bills, Senate and has been signed by the Governor. It is effective for
Bill 199, “Law Enforcement Officer Retirement/25 any retirement from the Teachers and State Employees’
Years,” was endorsed by the State Lodge Fraternal Order Retirement System or the Local Governmental Employ-

of Police. The second bill, House Bill 284, was not. ees Retirement System on or after July 1, 2019.
I authored an article for a March 2017 “special edi- House Bill 284 will give law enforcement officers the

tion” of the BlueNote comparing Senate Bill 199 and option to retire after completing 25 years of credible ser-

House Bill 284. Both bills were discussed at the 2017 vice. (Currently, officers need to complete 30 or more

Spring Board meeting in Lexington, NC and after much years of creditable service in order to maximize their re-

discussion and debate, the full Board affirmatively voted tirement benefit.) State law enforcement officers opting

to support Senate Bill 199. One of the main reasons the to retire after 25 years of creditable service would con-

FOP endorsed the Senate version was because it more tinue to use the current percentage of 1.82% of the of-
closely resembled the bill sought by the FOP in the past. ficer’s average final compensation to calculate their re-

I then provided an update in the BlueNote in the Feb- tirement pay. The number arrived at by multiplying this
ruary 2018 edition. I monitored both bills during the percentage by the officer’s average final compensation

Continued on P. 14

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