Your weekly legislative updates from Jackson Cozort, RGEA Director of Government Relations
June 20, 2025
It was another week of bill after bill going through both House and Senate committees, but with little to no budget negotiations occurring. Both chambers still plan to work through the end of next week and then take a break for the entire month of July. A date for their return has not been set yet, but we may be able to provide a more concrete estimate of their expected return date next week.
A positive thing to note is that, for the six months the legislature has been in session, only seven bills have reached the Governor Josh Stein’s desk—one of which was HB 506, the 2025 State Investment Modernization Act. The Governor signed HB 506 into law last Friday after the House and the Senate unanimously approved the bill. A key component of this bill was transitioning from a sole fiduciary model, in which only one individual, the Treasurer, made the final decision on investments, to an investment authority board with five members participating in the process. As you may recall from our previous FB posts—there are now only two other states still operating with a sole fiduciary model—New York and Connecticut.
RGEA views this change for North Carolina and other components of the Investment Modernization Act as a positive step towards more consistently reaching the pension’s investment return target, thereby improving the opportunity for the pensions to deliver COLAs for local and state retirees. RGEA would like to thank Treasurer Briner and his staff for including RGEA in the dialogue in the drafting of this bill, as it is a very relevant piece of legislation to our members.
On another note, RGEA would like to thank everyone who came to our conference in Wilmington this week! Despite the scorching heat, the conference was absolutely filled to capacity and was one of the best and most productive events that RGEA has hosted in recent memory. We look forward to seeing everyone again at our fall conference in the mountains in September! More details coming soon.
It was a busy week down at the legislative building as both the House and the Senate frantically try to pass as many bills as possible before both chambers go home at the end of this month. Originally, the House and the Senate expressed they would have a budget completed by the end of June, but that seems unlikely as far as the Majority budget leadership in each chamber cast different visions for North Carolina with their budgets. As a reminder, only the House budget has included a pension supplement for retirees while the Senate’s budget does not. To quote Senator Ralph Hise, the Senate’s lead budget negotiator, “I’ve never gone into a conference process feeling like we were further apart than we are at this point.” Both the House and the Senate plan to take the entire month of July off and come back in August to re-start budget negotiations. Let’s hope the old saying “Distance makes the heart grow fonder” rings true, because just like in 2024, if they cannot put together a final budget, teacher raises, state employee raises, retiree bonuses, and many other things might never see the light of day.
The legislature hit the ground running this week, following a one-week break after the House passed its version of the budget on May 22nd. On June 3rd, the House voted 113-0 to concur with the Senate on HB506, the 2025 State Investment Modernization Act. The primary objective of this bill, which was publicly endorsed by RGEA, was to transition the State’s investment model from a sole fiduciary model to an appointed investment board. North Carolina now joins the forty-seven other states that operate with an investment board model, rather than having a single person with all decision-making power on investments. RGEA believes that this soon-to-be-appointed investment board will foster a more robust decision-making process, bringing more stability to investment decisions, increasing the likelihood of pensions meeting their targets, and making COLAs more the norm than the exception over time.
We would like to thank Treasurer Briner for teaming up with RGEA to host a fantastic webinar earlier this week, during which he discussed local and state government pensions, COLAs, and other related topics. If you missed it, the link to this week’s webinar is listed below. Stay tuned for more updates as the House and the Senate begin what could be a lengthy negotiation process to finalize a budget.
Jackson Cozort became the Director of Government Relations at RGEA after 12 years as a contract lobbyist. Besides representing our retirees, he also represented numerous municipalities and counties, non-profits, large corporations such as Dell computers, and even the Rockingham Speedway. Jackson’s favorite part about his new role here at RGEA is hearing the questions and concerns of the individual retiree. So, if you have any questions or concerns whether it be legislative, government, or otherwise, do not hesitate to reach out to him! A fun fact about Jackson, before he was a lobbyist he was a professional musician based out of Charlotte, NC.