North Carolina shifts pension control to new board
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein signed a bill into law Friday that would change how the state picks investments for its $127 billion pension plan.
Why it matters: The new law fulfills a campaign promise for Brad Briner, a Republican recently elected state treasurer, to move the pension plan's management from a sole-fiduciary model to a model where a board votes on the decisions.
Up until now, North Carolina was one of the few remaining states where the state treasurer made the final investment decisions on all public investment funds in the state.
Driving the news: House Bill 506 creates the North Carolina Investment Authority, which will be made of a board of five people: the state treasurer and four other members appointed by the House speaker, the Senate leader, the governor and the treasurer.
Board members, who will need at least 10 years of experience in pension, endowment or investment management, will make final decisions on investments and risk tolerance.
What they're saying: "This bill puts North Carolina in line with the rest of the nation and allows us to make responsible decisions investing our state employees' hard-earned pensions. I applaud Treasurer Briner for his leadership in modernizing our state's investment system," Stein, a Democrat, said of the bill in a statement.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Boston Globe
DOGE gets failing grade
1: The DOGE numbers don't add up. Calculating how much DOGE has saved is difficult, but it's not at all hard to see that it didn't deliver what was promised. After Musk revised down his own early projection of DOGE savings from $2 trillion to $1 trillion, the department's website now estimates it has found more than $170 billion in taxpayer savings — Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up But even that figure should be taken with a grain of salt, given that past examinations of DOGE's ' Advertisement DOGE moved to correct the error, as well as change the website to make such errors harder to find. But a Advertisement And though it may seem counterintuitive, cutting jobs doesn't actually translate to savings if it results in less productivity — if fewer IRS workers means less tax revenue is collected, for instance. An And even some Republican lawmakers have expressed unease with backing many DOGE-recommended cuts in a $9.4 billion legislative 'rescissions' package to claw back previously approved funding. House lawmakers 2: DOGE has roiled the job market. According to the latest jobs numbers, DOGE cuts contributed to a 50 percent spike in layoffs in May over the same period last year, Exacerbating the damage the firings alone have created is the chaotic way in which they were implemented. Federal agencies like the State Department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Food and Drug Administration, National Weather Service, and the IRS are among those rushing to rehire terminated employees. That's because many of the estimated 135,000 DOGE-axed positions are for critical functions, like approving drugs and forecasting weather disasters. The layoffs' often-disorganized manner has confused dismissed workers and overtaxed remaining ones, many of whom have been asked to work overtime, volunteer to take on additional roles, or be pushed into new positions, Advertisement One former FDA worker That's not to mention the blow to communities in states where the largest percentages of federal workers are located, as well as government contractors that face secondhand profit and job losses due to the cuts. Outside of the greater Washington, D.C. region, which includes Virginia and Maryland, the hardest-hit states when it comes to canceled government contracts based on anti-DEI initiatives alone include Texas, California, North Carolina, Georgia, and Colorado — affecting politically red communities as well as blue. DOGE's harms know no partisanship. 3: The incalculable costs. On Monday a 'This was a breach of law and of trust,' wrote Judge Denise Cote in issuing the temporary injunction. 'Tens of millions of Americans depend on the Government to safeguard records that reveal their most private and sensitive affairs.' Whether some or all of DOGE's efforts to gain access to Americans' most sensitive information through agency databases will be declared unlawful is still uncertain. Challenges are still being litigated, and in a lawsuit involving DOGE access to Social Security data, the Advertisement According to Some DOGE staff have been granted temporary 'edit-access' to data, which means the information can be altered or deleted entirely within the federal system. That says nothing of the broader global impact, particularly through the dismantling of agencies like the United States Agency for International Development, which once provided critical life-saving humanitarian aid across the world. DOGE has The government claims that shuttering the agency saved Americans nearly $60 billion, or less than 1 percent of the federal budget. According to Advertisement Musk is already back to playing with his cars and rocket ships as the federal government picks up the pieces from his DOGE tantrum. But the global ripple effect is a reminder that some of the damage can't be undone. Editorials represent the views of the Boston Globe Editorial Board. Follow us
CNN
an hour ago
- CNN
Why McCain and Obama are causing marital tension
(LifeWire) -- Pamela Rainey Lawler and Denis Lawler of Philadelphia have handled the travails of being married 38 years without seeing eye to eye on a lot of things. The upcoming presidential election is no different. Pamela, a 58-year-old self-described "left-left" Democrat, will be voting for Barack Obama. Denis, a 60-year-old longtime Republican, plans to vote for John McCain. Although they joke about their situation, Pamela says it's hard to keep her sense of humor when the stakes are so high. Good thing they love each other. "It gets hard when things are getting down and dirty and there is a lot on the line," Pamela, the director of outreach and development at an educational company, says of her husband, a lawyer. But she adds, "The foundation of [our] relationship is so much bigger than politics, and tends to trump politics." Especially in an election season where emotions are running high, couples who don't agree on politics can keep the peace by being open and honest with one another. "Where couples get in trouble is not so much having a different opinion; it's how they communicate it," says Grecia Matthews, a couples therapist and social worker in New York City. Couples need to be honest about their arguing styles and tolerance for criticism, she adds. State your opinion Good communication skills are important, it's true, but as Lorraine Duval knows, it also helps to be married to a good-natured spouse. Duval, a 33-year-old music teacher and McCain disciple from Glens Falls, New York, admits that in the heat of the moment she has called her pro-Obama husband, Chris, by other, less loving names. "Sometimes you have to state your opinion," she says, though she emphasizes that Chris' easygoing nature diffuses the tension. She returns the favor at social gatherings where Republicans far outnumber Democrats. She'll "go off the deep end" in his defense if she feels McCain voters are ganging up on him, says Chris, a 34-year-old mortician. "We really didn't discuss our views until later on in the relationship," Lorraine explains. "It wouldn't have been an issue for me anyway." Besides, points out Andre Anthony Moore, the founder of Marriage and Couples Counseling in New York City, if spouses agreed on everything, "life would be dull." "But in the process of drinking in the other's opinion," he says, "you might get to be a bigger person." Embrace the difference Opinions always got a good airing in the Lawlers' home when she was growing up, says their daughter, Kristin, 37. "At our dinner table, if you couldn't be persuasive, you were toast," says Kristin, an assistant professor of sociology at the College of Mount St. Vincent in Riverdale, New York. But such debate wasn't divisive, it was healthy, she says. Even today, when the family gathers, they debate politics. "I do think that my parents would make a good model for others who vote differently and who are able to see their differences in a positive light," says Kristin. "Difference is a vital principle -- it keeps you on your toes. Having a good opponent makes you a better debater. And if you want your side to win, you have to know how to make a strong political argument." For the record, though, Pamela Lawler says the couple's three children tend to side with her. Agree to disagree "Elizabeth Leslie, 37, a Democrat from Sacramento, California, works hard to maintain the political peace with husband Troy Gassaway, 35, a Republican." "It's exceptionally challenging," she says. "We agree to disagree." Leslie confesses she can't help but try to sway her husband's allegiance -- as communications manager for the nonpartisan League of Women Voters of California, political persuasion is part of her job. Leslie, who was not speaking on behalf of the League, says she has persuaded her husband to vote her way on several proposals in the past two elections. She praised him for listening to her when he's on the fence about any legislation. But come November, he's sticking with McCain. "My advice is for couples to hear the other out," she says. "The passion that made up their mind -- at least consider it." And even if the debate gets ugly, consider the fringe benefits. All that emotion can stimulate friendlier activity, therapist Grecia Matthews points out: "There can be makeup sex." Keeping the peace Live in a house divided? Here are some tips for keeping the peace when you and your partner split the ticket: • If disagreements get too personal, consider keeping sensitive subjects like politics off-limits. • If you need to vent an unpopular opinion, talk with a friend who holds similar values. • Agree on a "safe word" signifying that a tense conversation needs to end, out of respect for one another. • After tensions peak, do an activity you both enjoy -- take a walk or go to the movies -- and remember why you love each other. • Establish firm guidelines on when and where it's OK to bring up the campaign -- if at all. E-mail to a friend LifeWire provides original and syndicated lifestyle content to Web publishers. Ron Dicker, a Brooklyn-based journalist, frequently writes about relationship topics. He previously covered sports for the New York Times. All About U.S. Politics • John McCain • Barack Obama
Axios
3 hours ago
- Axios
What to know about Minnesota lawmakers' shootings that killed Melissa Hortman
A manhunt was under way in Minnesota over Saturday night for the suspect in the shooting of two state lawmakers at their Twin Cities homes that Gov. Tim Walz called a "politically motivated assassination." The big picture: Minnesota state House Democratic Leader Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were killed and state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were wounded in the attacks by a gunman whom officials said was impersonating a police officer. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said at a Saturday briefing that the injured couple were receiving care in the hospital after undergoing surgery for their gunshot wounds. The suspect, whom officials identified as Vance Luther Boelter, 57, was still at large as of early Sunday and the FBI has offered a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to his arrest and conviction. What happened: Police said they responded about 2am Saturday to a report of a shooting at Hoffman's home in Champlin, about 22 miles north of downtown Minneapolis. Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said at a Saturday briefing that around 3:35am officers proactively checked on Hortman at her home some five miles away. Police exchanged gunfire with the suspect at Hortman's Brookyln Park home, but Bruley said he escaped. What they found: The suspect abandoned at Hortman's home an SUV that was similar to a police squad vehicle, investigators said.
