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House adopts conference report allowing Catawbas to join police retirement; conferee objects to dropped return‑to‑work language
Summary
The House adopted a conference report that allows the Catawba Indian Nation to join the state police officers’ retirement system, while a conferee criticized the conference text for dropping a broader return‑to‑work provision.
The House adopted the conference report on Senate Bill 127, a measure that permits the Catawba Indian Nation to participate in the state’s police officers’ retirement system, but one conferee declined to sign the agreement and spoke on the floor about a dropped provision.
Representative Gilda Cobb‑Hunter, a conferee on the bill, explained she supported the core change — allowing the Catawbas to hire off‑duty police and join the retirement system for roughly six officers — but refused to sign the conference report because the House language that would have allowed retired or off‑duty law enforcement to return to work under defined conditions was not included in the final text. Cobb‑Hunter told colleagues she believed the broader return‑to‑work language would help sheriffs’ offices and rural departments struggling with staffing shortages and that omitting it missed an opportunity to offer a tool lawmakers had repeatedly sought.
“She has followed in the footsteps of her grandfather... I support the idea of the Catawbas being able to hire off duty police for their facility,” Cobb‑Hunter said while explaining her position and urging further work next year. She said the Senate told conferees it would consider the change in the next session and pledged to work with conferees to pursue subcommittee review.
Representative Pope, who has long led efforts on return‑to‑work language, urged colleagues to back the conference report to deliver immediate relief to the Catawbas and to continue working next year on the broader return‑to‑work policy. The House adopted the conference report 92 to 15.
The action allows Catawba officers to be covered by the police retirement plan; it leaves unresolved a larger policy question about return‑to‑work rules for retired officers, magistrates, constables and other related public servants. Several members said they will pursue the issue with the Senate and in committees next year.
