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State employee pay raises of as much as 5 percent for next year are being
discussed by the N.C. General Assembly.
And chances are good that tuition funds to boost faculty salaries also will be
approved by the legislature in its short session, now under way in Raleigh.
That's the word from two local legislators.
N.C. Gov. Jim Hunt's 2000-01 budget proposal calls for state employees to get a
3 percent pay raise. But raises could be more than that, according to Rep.
Verla Insko, a House Democrat whose district includes Orange County.
"Leadership in both the House and the Senate are trying to do better than the 3
percent recommended by the governor," Insko said June 6. She chairs the House
Committee on State Personnel.
One proposal would increase salaries by 5 percent, raise the multiplier in the
retirement formula from 1.80 to 1.81 and create a new 401K option whereby the
state -- at least in the first year -- would contribute $1,000 to each
employee's fund.
"Except for the truly miserly increase in the multiplier, this is a better
proposal than state employees have seen in a long time," Insko said.
Insko said legislative leaders have proposed that the money to fund such a move
come from a surplus in the state retirement system.
But she added that the package "may be too good to be true because other less
generous proposals are emerging."
One such proposal is to give state employees a 4 percent increase and look at
the other options next year, Insko said.
Regardless of what proposal is approved, she said, state employees should
insist that any excess money in the state retirement system be used to benefit
employees.
"These funds should not be put back into the General Fund for other state
expenditures," Insko said.
As for faculty, the state senator who represents Orange County said approval is
likely for tuition increases included in a UNC Board of Governors proposal to
fund salary increases across the UNC system.
"So far, no one has raised any objections," Howard Lee said June 6. A Democrat,
Lee co-chairs the Senate Appropriations on Education/Higher Education
Committee.
A central piece of the tuition increases at Carolina would be a $600 hike over
two years for undergraduate students, with $300 coming in 2000-01 and $300 in
2001-02.
Carolina administrators have said that revenue generated by tuition increases
would not necessarily go to across-the-board raises for University faculty
members but rather could go to faculty whose pay is most behind their peers at
other universities. About one third of the generated tuition revenue would go
toward student financial aid.
The Board of Governors proposal also calls for the legislature to pass an
"Excellent University Act" that would put $28 million in state funds toward
faculty salary increases. The $28 million would come over two years beginning
in 2001-02.
Lee said that lawmakers likely will propose that this go to the General
Assembly's Education Oversight Committee. That panel would decide whether the
Excellent University Act should be included on the agenda of the next
legislative session, which starts in January 2001.
Lee said any efforts using state funds to bolster faculty pay at UNC system
schools will have to be done in concert with raising North Carolina community
college instructors' salaries, now among the lowest in the country.
"We need to raise both these boats at the same time," Lee said.
While the Board of Governors proposal calls for the state to allocate $36.8
million for student financial aid, Lee said only some $5 million to $6 million
is likely for 2000-01.
He said legislators will try to get that amount closer to the Board of
Governors request.
"We'll keep chipping at it over a period of two to three years," he said.
According to Insko, House and Senate leaders are aiming for the legislature to
pass a 2000-01 budget by June 29.
"Although that may be too optimistic, we are on track for that date so far,"
she said.
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