Educators who dedicated decades to teaching say they deserve an increase, too.
"It's really an appalling thought to say that you served North Carolina for 30 plus years, and you are struggling," said retired Wake County Schools teacher, Marrion Dunn.
Dunn spent 32 years in the classroom before retiring. She works a part-time job to supplement her income, just as she did when she was teaching.
Dunn says while her bills keep going up, her pension payout is going down.
"The promises they made when we started working was yes, your salary is low, however, the fringe benefit package was such that we knew that when we retired we knew that we'd be able to make a decent living and not have to struggle as hard as we did when we were actively working," said Dunn.
Teachers are among the 240,000 retired state employees currently receiving benefits in the Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System (TSERS).
Each year, the General Assembly sets the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA).
Many count on the extra help to make ends meet, but since 2009 the state has approved a single COLA -- 1% in 2012.
"There are retirees who are only getting $1000 a month," said North Carolina Association of Educators lobbyist, Marge Foreman.
Governor McCrory is proposing a 1.9% COLA in next year's budget.
The NCAE says retirees should get at least a 5% increase.
"Even if you gave them the raise that the Consumer Price Index indicates, it would not make up for the 5 years when they did not get adequate compensation," said Foreman.
As the fight over teacher pay heats up in the legislature, retirees like Dunn say they don't want to be left out.
"Things have gone downhill, and the more that legislators whack at us, the lower our salary incomes are."
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