“North Carolinians deserve to know that their pension fund is working as hard for them as they worked for their state,” said Briner. This bill “will put us on a path to maximizing returns, and I am honored this was not only a top priority of mine — but that leaders on both sides of the aisle share our vision of strengthening the pension fund.” 

Currently, the North Carolina Retirement Systems administers benefits for eight separate systems and funds representing over 1 million members, distributing about $640 million in monthly benefit checks. 

North Carolina law enforcement officers are eligible for the “special separation allowance” after serving 30 years or reaching age 55 with at least five years of service. Once they retire, they typically receive thousands of dollars per month until age 62. However, if they continue working, they lose access to the benefit, but the new bill will allow the benefit to be paused rather than forfeited.

“We have fallen short on the investment side,” said Briner. “That has come at a cost to our taxpayers, that has come at a cost to our retirees, and this legislation allows us to fix that problem. It will have profound differences for our state over long periods of time. If we can deliver 1% more, we will be able to deliver $2 billion a year more to our state budget, and that is why we’re doing this.”

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“Currently, our state investment decisions are made by only one person, our state treasurer,” said Gov. Stein. “Very few states have this system of what we call a sole fiduciary for making decisions about the hard-working state employees’ pensions … this process will be stronger when more voices are involved.”