We are very pleased to announce that a bi-partisan group of four Senators have introduced the Social Security Fairness Act of 2013 (S. 896) — Mark Begich of AK, Susan Collins of ME, Dean Heller of NV, and Elizabeth Warren of MA. This follows the introduction of HR 1795 in the House by Congressman Rodney Davis (IL) [...] Read more »
Action Alert # 53 – We Have a New House Bill!– HR 1795
We are VERY happy to announce that a bipartisan bill (HR 1795) was introduced in the House last Friday, April 26, to repeal the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision. It was introduced by Representatives Rodney Davis (R-IL) and Adam Schiff (D-CA). WE THANK THEM! The text of the bill should appear on [...] Read more »
ALERT #52 – Washington D.C. Report and What We Can Do Now
On April 2 more than 40 members of the California Retired Teachers Association arrived in Washington DC to speak to the policy makers (Legislative Aides) while their bosses were on Easter recess. It involved lots of early planning as well as organizing the debriefings and writing thank you letters to the legislators. We thank CalRTA for the [...] Read more »
Action Alert # 51 – The Time to Take Action to Back Us Up is NOW!
On April 3, next week, 50+ members of the California Retired Teachers’ Association will be talking to staffers in Washington, D.C. about the GPO/WEP. Many more will be visiting their Representatives in their home offices. A large number of these CalRTA members also belong to our Social Security Fairness lobbying group, and a team of [...] Read more »
Action Alert #50 – Make an Appointment with Your Congress Member!
The most important thing we can do for the Repeal the GPO/WEP movement at this time is to cultivate a good relationship with our individual Members of Congress. Today’s Alert is to get you started on this process. It is a great time to meet with your Congressional Representative in person during their recess, from [...] Read more »
Action Alert #49 – Where We Go From Here
The fiscal battles in Washington for the last couple of months have been exhausting. Social Security has made it through so far without any benefits cut, but some people will tell you that there is just no money to even consider repealing the GPO and WEP. Not so! We are only talking about less than [...] Read more »
Action Alert #48 – Social Security is Not a Toy!
The White House is talking about cutting the size of cost of living increases for “wealthier” current receivers of Social Security, using the “Chained CPI” which will result in drastic cuts in earnings over the years. It is not clear what they mean by “wealthy.” Whatever savings might result from these Fiscal Cliff negotiations have nothing to do with [...] Read more »
Action Alert #47 – Keep Social Security Off the Fiscal Cliff!
Some members of Congress are trying to make changes to Social Security as part of the “fiscal cliff” negotiations. Changes to Social Security will make no difference to the national debt! SSA accounting is separate. Changes in how retirement payments are calculated and how much workers should contribute need to be studied and carefully planned. [...] Read more »
Action Alert #46 – Support Our Citizen Lobbyists NOW!
Members of the National Education Association and other citizen lobbyists from across the country are in Washington this week talking to Congress about repealing the GPO and WEP. We need to back them up NOW! If you haven’t yet bookmarked your two Senators or your Member of Congress, find them on these websites: http://www.house.gov/ (put in [...] Read more »
Action Alert #45 – Vote Like Your Pension Depends on It!
It is expected that the new Congress will be making changes this spring to put Social Security in a position to pay full benefits after 2033, when the “Trust Fund” will run out and benefit payments could be lowered to 75% of what workers were expecting. Is the person you are voting for on record [...] Read more »