It turns out that thousands of teachers, teacher assistants and other rank and file state employees won’t be the only people laid off by the Republicans in the General Assembly this year.

A few members of House Speaker Thom Tillis’ staff soon may be looking for work too. Tillis told the News & Observer recently that he plans to reduce his staff in the next few weeks and that his final payroll costs for the year will be roughly 17 percent less than his predecessor, Democrat Joe Hackney, spent in his last year in office.

Who would have thought that you could qualify for a public pension and not be a public employee?

Some goings-on during the final days of this year's regular session of the North Carolina legislature exposed that fact, although certainly a few state government insiders were aware of it.

A provision appeared in a piece of legislation that would have added the employees of the N.C. Sheriff's Association to the state's Local Government Retirement System, the pension fund that pays retirement benefits to local government workers.

I would like to take this opportunity to let your readers know of an unprecedented move by Eddie Caldwell (Executive Vice-President of the NC Sheriff’s Association).

Earlier this year, the North Carolina Police Benevolent Association, worked with Rep. Shirley Randleman, to introduce legislation to close a critical loophole for officers and deputies who become disabled as the direct result of an incident while performing their duties and then have to medically retire. Officers and deputies were eligible for this benefit after one year of service.

Linda Suggs, chair of the board of trustees of the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching, last Friday announced that due to a 50% reduction in the organization’s operating budget, NCCAT will be reorganizing and shifting resources to best serve the teachers and schools of North Carolina.

Due to the resizing and restructuring, between 35 and 40 positions were eliminated, but both the Cullowhee and Ocracoke campuses remain open.