SEANC scored a win this week when House Bill 549, which would remove State Human Resources Act protections from employees at the State Auditor’s Office, was amended before a Senate Committee vote.

Sen. Warren Daniel offered the amendment to remove portions of the bill that SEANC objected to before Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee meeting. This comes after SEANC members visited the Legislative Building last month to discuss the bill with lawmakers before the House’s passage. At that time, legislators assured us that changes were coming in the Senate.

This is an excellent win for state employees because protecting SHRA rights is essential for all members, not just those affected by a bill like this one. Once protections are removed in one agency, it’s only a matter of time before they come up in another.

This week’s episode of the SEANC View Podcast discusses changes to the bill on SHRA protections, the state budget delay, and a hiring and salary freeze at our universities.

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Senate Leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Destin Hall spoke again this week about the unlikelihood of a state budget compromise before the end of June.

In a News & Observer story, Berger said, “I just don’t think we should continue to give folks the impression that we’re working towards getting a budget done. It’s pretty clear that we are not going to do so.”

On state employees and retirees specifically, Hall said, “Folks are going to continue to be paid. I obviously think our position on the budget is much better. And I think that we need to try to get raises to folks as quickly as we can.”

“I think that every month that we delay, obviously, they don’t get those raises. And so historically, when we have passed a budget, (raises are) retroactive to July 1. And my hope is that we’ll do that this time around,” Hall said, adding that part of wanting to give “substantial” raises to teachers and state employees “is not making them wait on it.”

State functions and paychecks will continue without a new budget, but proposed raises will not be added until a deal is reached.

SEANC Executive Director Ardis Watkins appeared on Thursday’s Capital Tonight with Tim Boyum to discuss the delay and the State Health Plan. Watch the episode here.

With the two sides at odds, there is still time to contact your House and Senate lawmakers and tell them to support state employees and retirees. Click here to do so.