Raleigh

It was apparent enough before Gov. Beverly Perdue pulled out her veto stamp.

Perdue nixed a Republican measure to rework the finances and structure of the health insurance plan for state employees.

Her decision made it even more clear that the state’s primary teachers’ union, the North Carolina Association of Educators, isn’t much interested in playing nice with the Republican majority in the legislature.

It’s more than willing to look to Perdue to be its political protector.

The other big state employee labor group, the State Employees Association of North Carolina, isn’t hitched to Perdue or to legislative Democrats, ­continuing a trend that began a decade or so ago.

Perdue acknowledged that the teachers’ group played a role in her decision to veto the legislation. She said its leaders weren’t included in the original negotiations as the plan was put together.

Translation: The NCAE doesn’t like a ­provision of the legislation that would require state workers, for the first time, to begin paying a monthly premium of $12 to $20 for their coverage.

SEANC decided that it could live with the employee premium, maybe figuring that other costs — dependent premiums, co-payments and deductibles — would rise otherwise.

Supporters of an employee premium say it will do two things — keep the costs down for taxpayers and help make the plan more competitive in other respects.

But after the veto, House Republicans decided to roll out a new version of the plan without an employee premium.

The change would mean that the plan would cost taxpayers another $16 million over two years. The figure is small potatoes considering that the other changes would help close a $515 million projected shortfall over the next two years.

Senate Republicans, though, weren’t ­willing to give.

So the legislature left Raleigh for the long Easter weekend without agreement on a plan to close the funding gap.

Senate Republicans seem to have left also determined to make their displeasure with the NCAE known.

A week after Perdue’s veto, GOP senators filed a bill that would end a payroll dues check-off for the NCAE. Only teachers — and not other state employees — would be affected by legislation.

Translation: You didn’t like our health plan proposal? See how you like it when your dues collections start suffering.

Word around the Legislative Building was that the bill led to a terse exchange between NCAE lobbyist Brian Lewis and Sen. Ralph Hise, a Mitchell County Republican and the bill’s primary sponsor.

Not so long ago, SEANC was the state employee group whose welcome mat had been yanked around the Senate offices — but by Democrats, not Republicans.

The teachers’ group has its protector, a governor who looks out for it while they look out for her — with campaign donations and electoral support.

It remains to be seen whether the rising friction between a Democratic governor and Republican legislature will leave a group so clearly aligned with one side ­damaged by the fight.

Scott Mooneyham writes for Capitol Press Association in Raleigh. Contact him at smooneyh@ncinsider.com.