Rep. McNeill receives Inaugural ‘Order of the Keeper of the Public Purse’ Award

State Treasurer Dale R. Folwell, CPA, and the Boards of Trustees of the Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System today passed a resolution honoring Rep. Allen McNeill, R-Randolph, for his contributions to the retirement systems of North Carolina. Rep. McNeill announced his retirement from the North Carolina General Assembly in December of 2021, after serving five terms. As chairman of the House Pension and Retirement Committee he has been instrumental in making the state’s retirement system one of the best in the country. Rep. McNeill has introduced 39 retirement policy bills as a primary sponsor, 21 of which have become law.

“It’s hard to say in words the contributions that Rep. McNeill has made to the retirements of those that teach, protect and otherwise serve the people of North Carolina,” Treasurer Folwell said. “But for his leadership as pensions committee chair, our benefit plans wouldn’t be as secure. Not just his constituents in Randolph County, but nearly 1 million current and future generations of public service workers are indebted.”

The resolution cites “the implementation of regular stress-testing for the State system, the modern processes for employing agencies to begin and end participation, the standardization of service purchases, the establishment of the State’s Unfunded Liability Solvency Reserve, and the ability of the Board of Trustees for the Local system to authorize a one-time supplemental payment to retirees,” as just a few of his major accomplishments as chairman of the House Pension and Retirement Committee.

The resolution honors Rep. McNeill with the first ever “Order of the Keeper of the Public Purse,” highlighting his critical role in making improvements to preserve the North Carolina Retirement Systems and maintain its sustainability for current and future public employees.

The “Order of the Keeper of the Public Purse” is the highest recognition that can be granted by the State Treasurer of North Carolina. The award is being established by Treasurer Folwell as a way of recognizing achievements that heed the clarion call of former Treasurer Harlan Boyles in his 1994 book, The Keeper of the Public Purse, to guard fiercely the purse of the citizens of North Carolina.

The North Carolina Retirement Systems is the ninth-largest public pension fund in the country, with a current estimated valued of nearly $113 billion. It provides retirement benefits and savings for more than 950,000 North Carolinians, including teachers, state employees, local government employees, firefighters, police officers and other public workers.