How to motivate and involve your community. You and your friends can do anything from a five-minute speech to teachers after school to a Saturday rally including police, fire, library and county workers! Below the Talking Points and Follow up suggestions are some materials to help. (Please send us copies of others you might make or how you modify these)

Brand new! A Power Point presentation that you can use to explain the WEP/GPO issue to groups.  Documents below are for presenter to hand out.

Talking Points:
Presenters have successfully used several approaches for short 5-10 minute presentations when part of a larger meeting.  See “Agenda” (#9) for longer presentation outline:

• Ask group members if they plan to retire at some point in their lives. Ask if they have heard about WEP/GPO which reduce or eliminate EARNED Social Security for public workers.

• Use the Quick Quiz (#2) to bring out how WEP & GPO affect people.

• Then explain briefly how Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) or Government Pension Offset (GPO) may affect them.  If you know people on staff who are impacted by WEP or GPO, talk to them beforehand and ask them to tell their stories trying to get at least one WEP and one GPO story.

• Ask how many worked in other jobs paying into SS for more than 10 years so they would qualify for SS.  If so, ask them if they know if they are affected by WEP, which can reduce their SS by as much as 50%.

• Ask how many have spouses or former spouses to whom they were married for at least 10 years who pay/paid into SS.  If so, then they are affected by GPO which reduces SS by 2/3 of the amount of the public pension and, in 9 out of 10, cases totally eliminates it.

TIPS:

• Tell why 2010 is a good opportunity to pass SSF legislation (Democratic Congress and President who said he’d sign) and why we need their support (WEP/GPO are affecting more people as Baby Boomers are retiring).

• Pass around e-list sign-up form (#6) early in workshop.

• Pass out handouts. Give an If You Worked flyer  (#1) to staff person to post on bulletin board before meeting.  Leave it up after meeting, to remind others of the website.

• Have staff write letters to Congress or the President on attached template.  Collect and mail or fax them or if not time, ask staff to mail. 

Follow-up Suggestions:

• Sign-up sheet for SF Fairness and/or ssfairness.com website – staying informed and informing others

• Tell them check their liability for WEP penalties using our link to the Social Security Administration’s WEP calculator on the ssfairness website under “Personal Impact.”

• Talk to your friends and family – get them involved.

• Promote SSF awareness with members and leadership of professional organizations

• Write letters to Congress and the President – easy link on ssfairness.com to NEA website emails, letters & faxes.

• Lobby non-sponsor Senators via family and friends.