RALEIGH — The State Employees Association of North Carolina is launching an initial radio ad today in response to the N.C. House Republicans’ budget proposal, which breaks the promises in last year’s budget of much-needed cost-of-living adjustments for both active and retired state employees who are struggling to make the very difficult choice of paying for food or prescription medicine.

The first radio spot focuses on the Republicans taking away retirement monies promised during last year’s budget process.

“When you take money from grandparents you’re going to be held accountable. Seniors have spent their lives making North Carolina a safe and prosperous place to live,” SEANC Executive Director Dana Cope said.

The House’s proposal released Tuesday uses $63 million originally set aside in last year’s budget to help retirees keep up with the rising costs of food, medicine and housing to fund other parts of the state’s budget.

That $63 million amount resulted from investment gains made by the retirement system and would not require any additional taxpayer funding. It would translate to a modest 1.9-percent cost-of-living adjustment for the state’s retirees who haven’t received an increase of any kind since 2008.

The initial radio ads will air in the Raleigh market through the end of the week.

SEANC, SEIU Local 2008, is the South’s leading state emplseanc-promise.mp3oyee association with 55,000 members. With 2.1 million members, SEIU is the fastest-growing union in North America and includes over one million public employees who have united to improve their lives and the services they provide.