The state's new payroll system has caused thousands to have problems.

Employees across North Carolina have spent months trying to resolve problems with paychecks that are sometimes more than $1,000 short. Pay stubs are confusing, and state workers say they cannot keep track of how much they're owed.

Officials have downplayed the problems, but the State Employees Association of North Carolina has heard from hundreds of angry employees about the incorrect paychecks. The system's call center has received 64,503 questions and complaints since December.

Some state employees say they're falling behind on car and mortgage payments, while others face eviction because of unpaid rent.

State Controller Robert Powell, whose office runs the new payroll and personnel system, said planners anticipated the problems.

"What we're experiencing is not unexpected," he said. "We're operating a new system that is paying about 90,000 people." (N&O)

The last big battle between the House and Senate this session may well be how to bail out the N.C. State Health Plan.

The House passed legislation that would provide $100 million from the rainy day fund to cover deficits in the plan, which legislative leaders say could be steep by early next year, Dan Kane reports.

But Senate leaders say they are considering raising co-payments or deductibles for the roughly 650,000 teachers, state employees, retirees and their families to cover deficits.

"I'm sorry that we have to be tweaking this right now, but we have to be prudent so we don't crash the system," said state Sen. Linda Garrou, a Winston-Salem Democrat and chief budget writer.

House leaders say they don't want to hit those on the plan with an increase at a time when gas and food prices are rising.

"It seems to me that this is the only choice among difficult choices," said Rep. Dan Blue, a Raleigh Democrat, after the House rolled out its plan.

More after the jump.

   Comments (0)

Gov. Mike Easley ended the suspense today and signed the $21.4 billion state budget bill into law.

"The governor has signed the budget and thanks legislators for their hard work," said a statement from Easley's office. "He looks forward to the General Assembly finishing work on important remaining issues including legislation on drought, home foreclosure and mental health."

The budget includes modest pay increases for teachers and most state employees, no tax increases and a record $857 million in borrowing without voter approval for construction projects.

Lawmakers approved the budget last week, but Easley has been negotiating for additional money for his Learn and Earn initiative that provides high school students with a four-year college degree tuition free.

He had until the end of Friday to decide whether to sign or veto the budget before it became law — if the legislature remained in session.

If they had left by then, Easley would have received another 30 days to make a decision.

Easley did not hold a public signing of the budget bill as he has in years past. 

State employees won't get their pay raises right away, but they will get them.

Because Gov. Mike Easley hasn't signed the state budget yet, some state agencies have not been able to include the 2.75 percent or $1,100 raises in the July paychecks.

Many state employees are paid monthly, so the delay means they will have to wait weeks to see their higher salaries. However, state agencies are on different schedules, so it may not affect some employees.

Spokeswoman Renee Hoffman said that the raises will be retroactive to July 1 and will be included in the August paychecks once the budget is signed. 

She also pointed out that it would not be the first time that raises were delayed, though in the past it was not because of Easley. Last year, the budget was not sent to the governor until July 30 and in 2005 it did not reach him until Aug. 11.

"This is an exercise that state employees who have been around for a while are used to," she said. 

More than 200 state employees rallied Tuesday for higher pay raises than are in the legislative budget proposals.

State employees are pushing for 3 percent raises, or $1,100, which ever is more, plus one time $1,000 bonuses, Lynn Bonner reports.

The budget proposal has 2.75 percent or $1,100 raises for state employees.

The higher base pay raises would cost an additional $8 million over what's budgeted, according to State Employees Association of North Carolina executive director Dana Cope, and the bonuses would cost between $20 million and $25 million.

The 3 percent raises would bring state employees' raises in line with those proposed for teachers.

"Why do we want to split off teachers and state employees?" Cope asked.

More after the jump.

   Comments (0)

The state Senate wants to ban driving while smoking — at least for state employees.

Senators voted 37-7 Monday to prohibit state employees from smoking inside a vehicle owned or leased by state government, David Ingram reports. The bill would also allow local governments to place similar restrictions on vehicles they control.

Violating the law would carry no punishment, though the person in charge of assigning the vehicle would be required to place a no-smoking sign in at least one "conspicuous" area inside.

It would apply to all vehicles assigned by the N.C. Department of Administration's motor pool division.

There was little discussion before senators voted for the bill, which is aimed at improving health. A final Senate vote could happen as soon as Tuesday. If successful, the bill would then move to the House.

State Lottery Commission chairman John McArthur said proposed 5 percent raises for lottery employees encourage a better-run state lottery.

The House proposed Wednesday limiting the lottery employees' raises to that of other state employees. Other state employees would get across-the-board raises of 2.75 percent or $1,100, which ever is greater. The state lottery employees receive merit-based raises and the commission approved a budget that would allow for an average 5 percent raise.

McArthur said the lottery was created by the legislature and it can do what it wishes, but he said he would recommend keeping the raises as the lottery proposed.

"Making individual merit salary determinations based on employee performance is a part of trying to increase lottery revenue by trying to manage it as a business," McArthur said.

Those 5 percent pay raises the state lottery commission recently approved for staff may soon be reduced.

The state House today adopted an amendment to its budget proposal that would require lottery staff be treated the same as other state employees with regard to pay raises, reports Dan Kane. The vote was 116-0.

If the amendment, offered by Rep. Ty Harrell, a Raleigh Democrat, becomes part of the final budget, lottery staff will likely see their raises decrease.

The House has proposed an increase of 2.75 percent or $1,100, which ever is greater. Easley has proposed a 1.5 percent pay increase, a $1,000 one-time bonus and an additional week off with pay.

Major pieces of the N.C. House's proposed state budget were released this morning, and they show more money for drop out prevention, a big cut for mental health community support services and a potential stumbling block for Gov. Mike Easley's More at Four pre-kindergarten education program.

The House would devote $15 million for drop out prevention grants to communities, more than double what is in the current state budget, Dan Kane reports. Nearly one out of every three students in North Carolina fail to graduate from high school, and state leaders are looking for ways to keep more students in school.

House budget writers also cut more than $86 million from the mental health community support program.

A recent News & Observer series on the state's mental health services reported roughly $400 million in waste in that program. The cut is $65 million more than Easley had sought in his $21.5 billion state budget proposal.

Easley's senior budget adviser, Dan Gerlach, said the governor will not sit for the way House members funded More at Four.

Correction: An earlier version of this post misstated the cuts.

More after the jump.

   Comments (0)

State employees' pensions are no longer public record?

Whoa, there.

That’s not what the authors of the law say they intended. Just the opposite, in fact.

Sen. Richard Stevens, a Wake County Republican, said today that he and other senators were trying to open public records regarding all forms of compensation for state employees when they passed a bill last summer clarifying state personnel records.

The impetus was opening the hidden records of officials at Carolinas Healthcare System in Charlotte. But Stevens said the bill was even broader.

"We all agreed that any state money given to an employee should be fully disclosed," he said.

Stevens did offer an amendment on the floor, supported by the committee, which made it clear some records are not public, including whom one chooses as a beneficiary or which funds one chooses for 401K investments.

He was surprised to learn that the Attorney General's office had interpreted the bill for the State Treasurer's office as making state pension records secret.

"It is either being interpreted incorrectly or we'll have to go back and fix it," Stevens said. "That clearly wasn't the intent."