The SEANC View

Hosts Jonathan Owens, Ardis Watkins, Suzanne Beasley, and Sammy Cline discuss the latest on the state budget, workforce reforms, and staffing challenges across North Carolina government.

Also, we discussed 'Pension Fight Club,' a first-of-its-kind investigative documentary about the threat to public pensions across the country, which features Watkins among dozens of pension leaders, board members, and advocates demanding greater tr...

Hosts dive into North Carolina’s budget stalemate, including the controversy over large raises for correctional officers and the resulting wage compression and staffing problems, stalled projects like the zoo’s Asia expansion and major hiring delays, and the ongoing debate over hospital consolidations and pension concerns.

Then, in an interview, SECU outlines changes to payroll deduction and previews a new mobile app wi...

Hosts Jonathan Owens and Suzanne Beasley break down the latest at the legislature, including proposed budget raises, a looming income tax constitutional amendment, retiree COLA concerns, and SEANC’s new vacant-jobs dashboard. They discuss the staffing crisis across state agencies and how pay compression is driving vacancies.

Guest Tammera Hill, Chief Operating Officer of the Department of Adult Correction, details the planned...

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 turnover costs, health c...

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 Service Recognition Week, the budget de...

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 well as her long career in public ...

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, the recruitment of younger workers...

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 long-running Lake retiree heal...

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), and upcoming work on hurricane long-...

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 results, and plans to negotiate better pr...

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, and infrastructure fu...

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 what to expect in the shor...

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 antitr...

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.

Charles details how he fought against pa...

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 on mental health, homel...

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% threshold to help fun...