RALEIGH, N.C.  — The North Carolina Police Benevolent Association is pleased to announce that at 1:30 PM today in the Old House Chambers of the State Capitol Building Governor Bev Perdue will sign SB 411(766) in to law.

SB 411, Amend Survivor’s Alternate Benefit, provides that the survivor and family of an officer killed in the line of duty may choose a life time pension benefit rather than a one time withdrawal of the funds the officer contributed to the state retirement system.

This bill was introduced at the request of PBA and filed in honor of Winston-Salem Police Sergeant and PBA member Howard Plouff who was shot and killed in the line of duty after responding to assist fellow officers on February 23,2007.

Sgt. Plouff was a 17 and 1/2 year veteran officer who left behind his wife and high school sweetheart, Ms. Joyce Plouff and two daughters.

Ms. Plouff will be joined at the bill signing by several PBA and police officials and bill sponsors Senator Pete Brunstetter, and Representatives Larry Womble and Earline Parmon.

RALEIGH, N.C.  – So many North Carolina residents are unemployed that the state has borrowed $13 million from the federal government in order to pay their benefits this week.

Employment Security Commission spokesman Larry Parker said Thursday that the money covered two days of payments and that the state may have to borrow again Monday. The state has a $540 million line of credit with the federal government.

The loans are interest-free if repaid by October.

North Carolina last borrowed money for the unemployment insurance trust fund in 2002, when it borrowed 23 times.

In December, the state had an unemployment rate of 8.7 percent, the highest since June 2003. Nearly 397,000 people were unemployed then, although not all receive benefits.

RALEIGH, N.C. – North Carolina has paid out so much in unemployment benefits that it may have to borrow from the federal government as early as next week to keep benefits flowing, an official said.

Deputy commission chairman David Clegg said the unemployment insurance fund had dropped to little more than $16 million Monday because more people can’t find jobs, The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Tuesday.
  
North Carolina has a $540 million credit line with the federal government. The state would have until October to repay the money without paying interest.
 
“We’re making the same type of decisions that any large corporation on this planet makes,” Clegg said. “You just have to make these decisions. This is not a time to get squeamish. You just forge ahead.”

The state paid $160 million in unemployment benefits in December.

North Carolina has nearly 400,000 unemployed workers. The jobless rate was 8.7 percent in December, the highest since 1983.
  
Clegg says not only are more people without jobs, but it’s taking them longer to find work.

State officials are processing $100 million in quarterly unemployment tax payments from about 200,000 businesses that will be used to pay benefits. Clegg said the state still may need to borrow from the federal credit line.

North Carolina last tapped the credit line in 2002.

If the state can’t repay the loan by fall, it would issue special tax anticipation notes to borrow money. Clegg said the state also will get more tax payments in April and July, noting that April usually is the largest.

Federal economic stimulus payments also may help the unemployment fund, he said

“I think they’re going to enhance unemployment insurance benefits because it’s the fastest way to get money into the economy,” Clegg said.