Linda Gunter will brief retirees on benefits, insurance, COLAs, and the state budget

North Carolina Retired State Personnel (RSP) Vice President Linda Gunter will speak to members of the Charlotte Mecklenburg RSP chapter on Monday, November 11, and deliver a training on the retirement system, health insurance, and cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) to members of the NCRSP Region 3 on Tuesday, November 12, at 11 a.m. at South Piedmont Community College, 4209 Old Charlotte Highway, Monroe. Retired state personnel and school district employees who are nearing retirement eligibility are invited to attend.

Gunter is a career-long NCAE member and leader whose advocacy has led her into public service beyond her community in Cary. After teaching social studies at Cary High School in Wake County from 1971 to 2002, she served NCAE as a UniServ Director and Government Relations Specialist from 2005 to 2015. As an active and retired leader in NCAE, Gunter is a past vice president of Wake NCAE, and past president of Wake Retired School Personnel.

In her career outside the classroom, Gunter served as president of the South Raleigh Civitan Club, and president of the Democratic Women of Wake County. She voted as a Presidential Elector in 2008, and she presently serves on the North Carolina Democratic Party's State Executive Committee. In 1992, she was elected to a term in the North Carolina Senate.
In 2019, she was appointed by Governor Roy Cooper to the Teachers and State Employees Retirement System (TSERS) Board of Trustees. As an NCRSP Legislative Committee member, Gunter continues to advocate for state retirees at the legislature. In that capacity, she authored the following legislative update this week.

"In the spring, Governor Cooper asked for a two-percent, one-time bonus for retirees in his budget. We had no idea we’d still be waiting for a final budget through Halloween, and now we're waiting to see if the Senate overrides Governor Cooper’s budget, or if a 'mini-budget' will be passed by the House and Senate. If there is no movement, the legislative majority might trick Pre-K public school employees and retirees by going home with no treat when we need it the most.

"Over the last ten years, retirees have suffered a loss in purchasing power due to an eighteen percent rise in inflation while they received only three one-percent COLAs (cost-of-living adjustments).

"The legislative session started normally with the House Budget including a proposed .05% one-time bonus for retirees sometime after July 1, 2020. Under that proposal, retirees would be the only group of educators and state employees required to wait until after January, 2020 for any increase in salary or COLA.

"The Senate’s original budget included no increase for retirees, which was a real slap in the face. But in late June, the House and Senate Conference Committee Budget included a .05 % (1/2 of one percent) one-time bonus, payable in October each year of the biennial budget: 2019-20 and 2020-21. This one-time bonus would amount to about $105-$125, which is ridiculous compared to the other spending priorities, and tax cuts, made by this General Assembly.

"Governor Cooper vetoed the budget and proposed a compromise budget which included Medicaid expansion, an 8.5% pay increase for educators over two years, five percent for state employees and non-certified staff, plus a two-percent COLA for retirees!

"Not wanting to negotiate with Cooper, the House majority in the General Assembly first scheduled numerous votes to override the Governor’s veto but didn’t call for the vote. The majority leadership tried to offer the Democratic legislators’ money (pork) for their districts to convince them to vote to override the veto. On September 11, the House tricked Democrats into thinking there would be no vote, then called for a surprise vote to override the veto.

"Now we await a vote in the Senate, where it is more difficult to trick Senators because Senate rules require a 24-hour notice of a vote.

"If Governor Cooper’s veto is overridden in the Senate, retirees will get a .05% bonus (1/2 of one percent) each year in 2019 and 2020. If the veto is sustained in the Senate, it is likely the legislators will focus on a 'mini-budget,' but they are playing both sides to reach their goal.

"The House majority has also been focused on a second track by releasing several 'mini-budgets.' So far, they have offered 2.5% increases to state employees, SBI agents, correction employees, and others. The only groups left are Pre-K public education employees, education support personnel, community college and university employees, and retirees.

"Will a mini-budget for these groups emerge, or will the General Assembly go home without acting on a pay increase? Will retirees get a treat of a 2.5% COLA, or will the General Assembly go home and leave us empty-handed? Every retiree needs to remember what happens and vote accordingly in the 2020 elections."

In additional to reviewing this chronology in her training on September 12, Gunter intends to discuss factors regarding the health of the state retirement system, including the total numbers of North Carolinians drawing from it, and their age groups; how (and how well) it is funded, and the challenges facing its funding in the near future, as there are fewer state employees to contribute to its maintenance.

She will also discuss recent strategies undertaken by the Office of State Treasurer to regain retirement system payments that have been lost due to fraud.

Lastly, Gunter expects to talk about the importance of membership in NCRSP. In her case, her present roles grew out of a career-long involvement with NCAE.

"My life has been like a train, and the engine of that train has been NCAE," she says. "I've been fortunate to do the things I've done, at every step, because of my involvement with NCAE."

Leaders at NCAE persuaded her to run for public office, she recalls, "and I won. I understand how to lobby, and how the General Assembly works. And when I retired, I worked for NCAE on endorsements and lobbying in the Government Relations office. It's how I learned so much about retirement, and how I was appointed to the state retirement board of trustees by Governor Cooper."

"The best decision I ever made as an educator was to join NCAE because it has provided so many opportunities for leadership growth and service throughout my entire life," she concludes.

At the September 4 meeting of the NCRSP, Gunter's experience with NCAE and in public service was recognized by Governor Cooper when she was awarded of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine. Its presentation was made by Senator Wiley Nickel. The Order is awarded to persons for exemplary service to the State of North Carolina and their communities, that is above and beyond the call of duty, and which has made a significant impact and strengthened North Carolina.

The Order was established in 1963 by Governor Terry Sanford, when it was awarded to Andy Griffith, Anne Jeffreys, Ava Gardner, and David Brinkley, a quartet of North Carolinians who had distinguished themselves in television, motion pictures, and journalism. Gunter was nominated by Nickel and retired NEA/NCAE Executive Director John I. Wilson.

As a recipient member of the Order, Gunter joins a company of North Carolinians (and distinguished guests to the state) who have achieved fame and represented the best of North Carolina in various fields of endeavors, including William "Bill" Friday, Maya Angelou, Tennessee Williams, Oprah Winfrey, Shirley Caesar, Charlie Daniels, Ronnie Milsap, Earl Scruggs, Randy Travis, Arthel "Doc" Watson, Harry Belafonte, Joan Crawford, Phil Donahue, George Jones, Sidney Poitier, Kenny Rogers, Tammy Wynette, Bob Timberlake, John Hope Franklin, Shirley Chisolm, Gerald Ford, John Glenn, Tipper Gore, Jesse Jackson, Coretta Scott King, Andrew Young, General Henry Hugh Shelton, General Colin Powell, Dale Earnhardt, Roman Gabriel, Jim "Catfish" Hunter, Junior Johnson, Michael Jordan, Gaylord Perry, Richard Petty, Dean Smith, James "Bonecrusher" Smith, Rod Carew, Mia Hamm, Curtis Strange, and Ted Williams.