The SEANC View

Hosts Jonathan Owens, Suzanne Beasley, Artis Watkins, and Samantha Cline and special guest Wendell Powell break down the legislature's new budget framework — including raises and one-time bonuses for state employees, teachers, law enforcement, and retirees — and debate who benefits and who is left behind. The episode also covers pension concerns and the Pension Fight Club documentary, hiring and t...

This episode examines the controversial Atrium-WakeMed merger, the Wake County commissioners' 90-day pause, and concerns from state leaders that hospital consolidation will drive up health care costs. Hosts discuss reactions from the state treasurer and auditor, corporate pay and nonprofit tax exemptions, and the potential impact on the state health plan. Also covered: SEANC lobby day, Public Serv...

Hosts Jonathan Owens, Ardis Watkins, and Samantha Cline discuss the state legislature's short session, debates over tax cuts and a cost-of-living adjustment, looming budget and job cuts, and an upcoming state employee rally. We then sit down with Secretary of State Elaine Marshall to discuss her agency's staffing shortages amid a surge in new business formations and the need for better funding, as...

On a special 100th Episode of The SEANC View Podcast, we sit down with House Speaker Destin Hall on opening day of the legislative short session for an extended discussion on the state budget, proposed pay raises for state employees, retiree COLA, and health plan costs. The conversation covers staffing shortages in public services such as state troopers and corrections, the use of lapsed salaries,...

On this episode of The SEANC View, the hosts and lobbyist Flint Benson break down the upcoming legislative short session, focusing on whether lawmakers will finalize a budget and how it could affect pay, pensions, and the state health plan. They also discuss Treasurer Brad Briner’s expansion of AI tools and the transparency and privacy concerns tied to public-sector use. Other topics include the l...

State Auditor Dave Boliek joins the SEANC View podcast to discuss the January lapse salary report, the need for transparency and truth in budgeting, and how audits inform hiring, corrections funding, DMV operations, and contract oversight. He also discusses the auditor's office use of technology and AI, plans for a bonds dashboard and periodic audits (including the $650M Charlotte stadium bond), a...

Thomas Friedman, Executive Administrator of the State Health Plan, joins The SEANC View podcast to explain the Lantern program, a new preferred-provider and tiered-access model designed to lower costs for members while improving quality and access. We also discuss the recently approved preferred tiers by the State Health Plan Board of Trustees, efforts to protect rural access, early program result...

Hosts Jonathan Owens, Suzanne Beasley and producer Samantha Cline discuss the week’s biggest story: Senate leader Phil Berger’s surprise primary concession to Sam Page and the ensuing scramble for Senate leadership. We also break down new revenue forecasts that trigger a personal income tax cut, the resulting budget gap, and what a compressed short session could mean for state services, pay raises...

Hosts Jonathan Owens, Ardis Watkins, and Suzanne Beasley discuss Governor Josh Stein’s proposed critical needs budget and its impact on state employees and retirees; the sustainability and transparency issues facing the State Health Plan; debates over Aetna and Lantern’s surgery network; and rising prescription costs. They also cover upcoming veto override votes, primary election recounts, and wha...

Jonathan Owens, Ardis Watkins, and Sammy Cline break down North Carolina’s unresolved Senate District 26 recount, Governor Stein’s new “critical needs” budget targeting raises for correctional officers, teachers, and state staff, and the $319M Medicaid rebase request. We also discuss expanding the Lantern surgical program for state employees, Gen Z’s shifting political identity, the Ticketmaster a...

Close races and upsets in Tuesday's Primary Elections could affect the balance of power in Raleigh — and potentially the debate over raises, cost-of-living adjustments, job cuts, and other issues important to state employees and retirees in the upcoming short session. This week the SEANC teams examines the results and what they could mean for state employees and retirees.

This week on the SEANC View Podcast, we check in with Past President Charles Johnson. Charles served as SEANC President from 2010 to 2012. He also served on the State Health Plan Board of Trustees and on statewide boards for the pension system and criminal justice. He retired from state service, primarily in prisons, where he rose from an entry-level correctional officer to Associate Warden. Charl...

This week, SEANC First Vice President Emily Jones joined the team during Board of Governors week to discuss the growing staffing crisis across prisons and probation & parole, the use of lapse salaries, and the toll underfunding takes on morale and public safety. Emily shares frontline experiences — from inmate confrontations to challenges in community supervision — while the team also touches...

This week, we sit down with Department of Adult Correction Secretary Leslie Cooley Dismukes to discuss urgent challenges facing North Carolina prisons. The wide-ranging interview includes discussion of chronic staffing shortages and retention, the use of lapse salary to cover operating costs, rising medical and facility expenses, and safety priorities such as body cams, drone detection, and fire p...

In this episode, we interview Sam Watts, executive director of the state retirement system, about a recent board vote and what it could mean for cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for retirees. Sam explains the system’s funding history, the role of employer and employee contributions, how past policy choices created unfunded liabilities, and the board’s proposal to use investment gains above a 6.5...

The SEANC team discusses the recent winter storm and recognizes essential state workers who kept services running. We also address the Retirement System board meeting and the push for a COLA amid growing unfunded liability, staffing shortfalls that threaten SNAP funding and other services, UNC Chapel Hill administrative cuts, a reminder about early voting, and other local and cultural updates.

Hosts Jonathan Owens, Ardis Watkins, Suzanne Beasley, and Sammy Cline discuss an approaching Arctic storm, personal memories of snow, and practical safety advice while thanking essential state workers who keep roads, hospitals, and prisons running during extreme weather. The episode pivots to a deep dive on the state employee vacancy crisis and the DAVE Report on lapsed salary funds: how frozen po...

North Carolina Department of Public Safety Deputy Secretary William “Billy” Lassiter explains how the Division of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention serves youth through court counseling, community programs, detention centers, and youth development facilities, while addressing complex needs such as mental health and educational deficits. He details urgent challenges — roughly 40% facility...

This episode examines a report from State Auditor Dave Boliek on over $1 billion in lapsed salary dollars and the vacancy crisis facing North Carolina agencies, with discussion about potential job cuts, recruitment, and the impact on public services. Guest Junior Hulen, statewide chairman of EMPAC, explains how employees can get involved politically, how endorsements and interviews are decided, th...

In this first episode of 2026, we are joined by SEANC president Wendell Powell for a conversation about what 2026 holds for state employees and retirees: rising health premiums, stalled COLAs for retirees, staffing shortages in prisons and other agencies, and strategies for political engagement and member advocacy.

On this year-end episode of the SEANC View podcast, the hosts recap five top state stories from 2025: leadership changes in Raleigh, government efficiency efforts, ongoing recovery after Hurricane Helene, steep state health-plan premium increases, and the failure to pass a state budget with no raises or COLAs. The conversation examines how these issues impact state employees and communities, the r...

The SEANC View podcast addresses listener questions on state employee and retiree concerns, including the absent budget, the loss of retirement health insurance for hires after 2021, early December pay changes, and the $3.3 billion surplus. We discuss staffing and retention issues, why COLAs aren’t being issued despite strong investment returns, the role of EMPAC endorsements, Aetna vs. Blue Cross...

This week, we explore the State Employees' Credit Union's special program for state employees, offering up to $1,000 at a fixed 5% interest rate with up to six months to repay, created to bridge the gap caused by the December pay schedule change. We also highlight related SECU benefits, including a 90-day first payment grace period on qualifying auto loans, a 0.5% rate discount for state employees...

State Treasurer Brad Briner stated this week that State Health Plan premiums will likely increase again in 2027 for state employees and retirees. In this episode, we discuss the need for true transparency in hospital pricing to control costs. We also cover $14 billion in pension gains, but no COLA for retirees, the 2026 election filing window, and SEANC's political engagement. We then close with a...

The SEANC team discusses North Carolina’s stalled budget, upcoming candidate filing, and the political fallout of a late session. They delve into State Auditor Dave Bullock’s rapid report on DHHS, which reveals $386 million in lapsed salary funds, the state’s high vacancy rates, and the debate over using lapse funds versus properly funding positions. The episode also covers the State Health Plan’s...