Visit the NEA site at http://www.nea.org/socialsecurity/
for explanation of the issue.
Urge your congress rep. to support Social Security Fairness Act.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
TFT LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE (800-764-1177)
Friday, November 22, 2002
Congress Gets Your Message-Sneaky Move on Social Security Offset Blocked
Yesterday we sounded the alarm about a sneaky move in Congress to make
an already-harmful provision of
Social Security law even worse for school employees. Since then, you
responded in a big way with phone calls
to members of the U.S. House to block action on this legislation, which
would have tightened the screws on
the so-called Government Pension Offset. We are pleased to inform you
that your efforts to block this sneak
attack have paid off.
Here's the situation. As the law now stands, your spousal and survivor
benefits under Social Security can be
cut severely, even eliminated, if you retire from a school district that
does not participate in Social Security.
These cuts take effect even if your spouse fully earned those benefits
for you, and even if you independently are
eligible for a Social Security pension because of contributions you have
made in your own right.
Under an amendment slipped into H.R. 4070 by the Senate on Monday, this
discriminatory provision of Social
Security law would have become airtight; the one way school employees
have found to get around this
obnoxious law would have been closed off.
Key Texans in the U.S. House deserve credit for keeping this Senate
mischief from coming up today on the
House floor, with U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D-San Antonio) leading the
charge in response to your calls for
help. Rep. Rodriguez informed the House leadership yesterday that he
would object to any consideration of the
bill on the House floor today. Under House rules, in these waning
moments of the 107th Congress, any bill
can be prevented from coming up if even one member of the House objects.
Hence, the objection by Rep.
Rodriguez ensures that this legislation will not be cleared by the House
leadership for consideration on the
floor.
The immediate threat posed by this legislation thus has been laid to
rest. However, we can expect a similar
measure to be brought up anew when the 108th Congress convenes in
January. That's another reason why
the education you have given members of Congress with your phone calls
over the past 24 hours has been so
valuable. You have made Texas members of the U.S. House more aware than
ever of the sense of outrage
prevailing among school employees in Texas over the discrimination they
suffer under current Social Security
laws like the Government Pension Offset. We will be depending on these
lawmakers to help us play offense
on this issue in the coming session with the reintroduction of the
Social Security Fairness Act, which would
repeal the discriminatory offset provisions altogether.
Meanwhile, thanks are owed for assistance over the past 24 hours to
Democratic Reps. Rodriguez, Lloyd
Doggett of Austin, and Gene Green of Houston, as well as Republican Rep.
Paul of Clute, for their vigilance in
keeping the offset law from getting even worse this week.
We also appreciate hearing from other members of Congress, such as
Republican Rep. Kevin Brady of The
Woodlands, who sent us an e-mail saying he'd told the House leadership
"this last-minute amendment is not
the right way to address the entire Government Pension Offset issue."
Amen to that. The right way to address it
is by passing the Social Security Fairness Act!
--
Mary Croix Ludwick, Librarian B.B. Owen Elementary K-5
Lewisville ISD, The Colony, Texas (near Dallas)
ludwickm@lisd.net (school) ludwick@swbell.net (home)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-
All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law.
To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu
In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL
3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation.
LM_NET Help & Information: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/
Archive: http://askeric.org/Virtual/Listserv_Archives/LM_NET.shtml
LM_NET Select/EL-Announce: http://www.cuenet.com/archive/el-announce/
LM_NET Supporters: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/ven.html
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-
LM_NET
Mailing List Home