NC Republicans offer Amendment to Stop State Employee Salary Retention

Republican Joint Caucus discuss golden parachutes

June 9, 2009

NC NEWS -- In a Republican Joint Caucus press release from Republican Joint Caucus Leader, Senator Eddie Goodall, Republican Senate Leader Phil Berger, and House Republican Leader Paul Stam, briefly discuss salary retention in North Carolina State University (NCSU) and an amendment (s202v1.pdf) which they will offer to stop the "golden parachutes" paid to high-ranking university officials after leaving or resigning positions.

The news release begins:

The light is now shining into some of the cracks and cavities of academia -- and it's high time. The taxpayers of North Carolina, in good times or recession, must not be forced to fund lucrative golden parachutes paid to high-ranking university officials.

Recent revelations of pay retention for NCSU Provost Larry Nielson and now for Chancellor James Oblinger cannot stand as historically tight budgets for education and other essential human services go wanting. Earlier this year NC A & T Chancellor Stanley Battle received an equally sweet deal upon his resignation. Most people outside the tight university family have no idea of the university "standard" of maintaining separated officials' salaries for duties they are no longer performing as they "retreat" back to teaching positions.

We will be offering an amendment this week to stop this practice and restore fiscal sanity to state government. This provision will apply to all state employees, not just those in our university system. Specifically, our provision will prohibit a separated state employee voluntary or otherwise -- from being paid for work he or she has stopped doing.

"At a time when we are experiencing unprecedented reductions in state program spending, teachers and other employees are losing their jobs, and tuition for college students is being significantly increased, we cannot allow this irresponsible waste of taxpayers' dollars to continue," said Representative Paul Stam of Wake County, North Carolina.