February
7, 2007
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Congress
Holds Press Conference on Social Security Fairness
Act
Representatives
Berman (D-CA), McKeon (R-CA), and Doggett (D-TX)
held a well-attended press conference on Tuesday,
February 6 to call for repeal of the Government
Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provision.
NEA president, Reg
Weaver, spoke at the press conference along
with NEA member Peg
Cagle , who became a math teacher in Los Angeles
after 15 years in the private sector. Other speakers
included representatives from the Fraternal Order
of Police, National Active and Retired Federal
Employees Association (NARFE) and the American
Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
(AFSCME).
In his remarks, NEA president Weaver called on Congress
to act immediately to pass the Social Security Fairness
Act, calling it "an issue of fairness, justice,
and respect." Peg Cagle spoke eloquently of her
reasons for changing careers, and of wanting to
make a difference in the lives of her students.
She told Congress that the offsets are "unfair to
the current work force and seriously compromise
the ability of our schools to recruit knowledgeable
and passionate mathematicians and scientists to
become teachers at a time when they are needed more
than ever."
Cosponsor
Lists Continue to Grow
The House
version of the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R.
82) now has 182 bipartisan cosponsors; the Senate
version (S. 206) has 10 bipartisan cosponsors.
The latest additions are:
House:
Brian Baird (D-WA), Charles Boustany
(R-LA), Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL), Michael Conaway
(R-TX), Ralph Hall (R-TX), Ron Lewis (R-KY), Gary
Miller (R-CA), Jeff Miller (R-FL), Shelly Moore
Capito (R-WV), Collin Peterson (D-MN), Deborah
Pryce (R-OH), Mike Thompson (R-CA), and Patrick
Tiberi (R-OH).
Senate:
Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
See the
complete list of House
and Senate
cosponsors on the NEA website.
Ongoing
Action Needed :
- Thank Members who have cosponsored the bill
and remind them that we need them to continue
to advocate for movement of this important legislation.
- Urge all other Members of Congress to add
their names as cosponsors to H.R. 82/S. 206
Stay
Up-To-Date! The latest GPO/WEP news is posted
on NEA’s
Legislative Action Center
at http://www.nea.org/lac/socsec/index.html
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The
Latest News (January 8, 2007):
The
110th Congress began January 4, 2007, with the change
in leadership offering a real opportunity to make progress
toward repeal of the Government Pension Offset and Windfall
Elimination Provision. The following is a summary of
expected activity in the early months of the 110th Congress:
January
4, 2007: Re-Introduction of the Social Security Fairness
Act. The four primary
sponsors of the Social Security Fairness Act —
Senator Feinstein (D-CA), Senator Collins (R-ME), Representative
Berman (D-CA), and Representative McKeon (R-CA) —
remain committed to the legislation (which would completely
repeal both the GPO and WEP) and to bipartisan efforts
to secure passage. They plan to re-introduce
the House and Senate bills on the first day of the 110th
Congress (January 4, 2007) to signify the importance
of the issue. The
new bill number is H.R. 82.
Mid-January:
Press Event . The
four bill sponsors have expressed interest in holding
a press conference in mid-January with NEA and other
unions whose members are impacted by the offsets to
bring attention to the issue on Capitol Hill, in the
media, and among the general public.
CALL
TO ACTION – JANUARY 8-12, 2007.
NEA will conduct a series of Nationwide Calls to Action,
beginning the first full week of the new congressional
session, to call attention to the re-introduced Social
Security Fairness Act and urge Members of Congress to
cosponsor the bills. The first Call to Action
will take place the week of January 8, 2007 ,
with the goal of rebuilding the cosponsor lists as quickly
as possible. NEA will notify activists of the new bill
numbers for the Social Security Fairness Act as soon
as the House and Senate bills are reintroduced.
Additional
Calls to Action will be announced in the coming months
with specific goals, such as pushing for committee action
(“mark-up”) of the Social Security Act.
We
Need Your Help! Join the Call to Action
Call
to Action Checklist:
- Contact
new Members of Congress
to educate them about the offsets. E-mail the Member
and call the district office to explain the impact
of the offsets on your, your colleagues, and/or the
education profession. Urge new Members to cosponsor
the Social Security Fairness Act (bill number to be
provided as soon as available).
- E-mail/call
returning Members of Congress
and urge them to cosponsor the Social Security Fairness
Act. Focus particularly on those Members who
cosponsored
the bill in the 109th Congress .
- Ask your Governor
to write a letter to Congress and your state
legislature to pass a resolution calling
on Congress to repeal the GPO and WEP.
- Get your school
board and principal involved.
Explain how the offsets are hindering recruitment
of talented educators.
- Organize a rally
to send a clear message about the unfair
GPO and WEP.
- Host a town
hall meeting with a wide cross section of
public employees.
- Organize a call-in
day . Call the Capitol switchboard at 202/224-3121
and ask for your Representative and Senators
by name.
- Deliver postcards
to Members of Congress in their local offices.
- Go to http://www.nea.org/lac/socsec/offsets.html
and send an e-mail message
to Congress; ask friends, family, and co-workers to
do the same.
- Submit a letter
to the editor or an op-ed
to your local newspaper.
- Reach out to police,
firefighters, and other impacted groups in your area
to form a coalition in support of
repeal.
Other
NEA Activities.
In addition to boosting cosponsor lists, NEA will focus
on the following activities in the early months of the
110th Congress:
- Recruitment
of Champions on Key Committees.
The new chair of the House Ways and Means Committee,
which has jurisdiction over Social Security, is Charlie
Rangel (D-NY), a cosponsor of the Social Security
Fairness Act in the 109th Congress. The chair of the
Social Security Subcommittee has not yet been appointed.
There are also a number of members from impacted states
serving on the Ways and Means Committee. In the Senate,
the new chair of the Finance Committee is Senator
Max Baucus (D-MT). Senator Baucus has not previously
cosponsored the repeal legislation. NEA will be seeking
members on both the House and Senate committees to
act as champions for the issue, advocating in committee
for movement of the legislation.
- Coalition
Work. NEA is a
member of the Coalition to Assure Retirement Security
(CARE). CARE members are working on putting together
a joint website on the offsets, featuring information
from a number of organizations. CARE members are also
compiling a database of stories from impacted individuals
sorted by congressional district.
- National
Lobby Day. NEA
will convene a National Lobby Day to Repeal Social
Security Offsets at the appropriate time, possibly
in the spring of 2007.
- Identification
of Potential Vehicles.
NEA will work with congressional staff to identify
appropriate legislative vehicles to which the Social
Security Fairness Act could be attached. For example,
in addition to any comprehensive Social Security legislation
under consideration, offset repeal language could
be attached to any bill attempting to address teacher
recruitment or attract members of the private sector
to the profession.
- Push
for Mark-Up and Floor Debate.
NEA’s message to Congress for the 110th Congress
will be simple: We have had enough hearings, now we
need actual movement of the bill. We will be pushing
for committee mark-up of the Social Security Fairness
Act and movement to the floor for consideration.
Stay
Up-To-Date! The latest GPO/WEP news is posted on NEA’s
Legislative Action Center at http://www.nea.org/lac/socsec/index.html
.
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