SB 1458 is now in the Hands of the Texas House

SB 1458: Where We are Today and Where We Need to Go From Here

New TRTA Email Campaign to Texas House: Click Here!!!

As you may have read this week, Senate Bill 1458 passed out of the Texas Senate unanimously!We are grateful to Senator Robert Duncan, who worked tirelessly this session with TRTA and active educator groups to craft a bill that was acceptable by all groups.

Along with Senadores Kirk Watson, Wendy Davis, and Royce West, Senator Duncan made important last-minute changes to improve the bill. To read the bill as it was passed, click here.

TRTA continues to find ways to improve the bill. We hope to find additional revenue to expand the cost-of-living increase to more retirees.

We know that many TRTA members are thrilled to see the first cost-of-living increase in 12 years, especially our most senior retirees. TRTA is also concerned, as our many of our members, that other retirees in need may not be included in this COLA. We are still working to adjust this benefit and include as many people as possible!

We appreciate the immense amount of phone calls and emails our members have sent in the past two weeks to encourage movement on SB 1458, but our work is not yet done! We must continue to call and email, more than ever, if we expect TRS to become actuarially sound and retirees to receive a cost-of-living increase!

Actuarial soundness is a goal we have been fighting to attain for a decade! It is THE hurdle we must overcome so that retirees can receive increases in the future.

Considering the attacks that public pension plans have suffered over the last two years, TRTA members have done an AMAZING job to get us this close to soundness! It is time to get this bill passed and make TRS better for all retired and active public school employees.

SB 1458 was received in the House, and has been referred to the Pensions Committee. Our next step is to move the bill out of the Pensions Committee so that it may heard on the House floor for a vote. We expect the bill to move out of committee as early as today.

Please help us reach this goal by calling (see information below) and emailing your Representatives. Let them know that the Texas Retired Teachers Association supports SB 1458 and it must be a TOP PRIORITY! We must pass SB 1458 NOW! We are running out of time this session!

Click here to send an email to your Representative!

Our work to support the bill is essential. A similar bill that impacted the Employees Retirement System (ERS) was killed in the House just last night. We cannot let this happen to SB 1458!

SB 1458 is the ONLY bill that can make our pension fund solvent and pave the path for future benefit increases for our retirees this session. The work we are doing today will have a tremendous long-term impact. If we do not put in the effort, the challenge will become exponentially greater as the new GASB accounting rules go into effect in 2014 (when our Legislature does not meet).

Thank you for being a member of TRTA and supporting our advocacy efforts. If you are not a member, and would like additional information about joining, please contact us at 1.800.880.1650 (or click here).

Please know that our primary purpose is to protect the TRS fund as a defined benefit plan for all educators…retired or active. It is our mission to improve benefits for TRS retirees. TRTA is 80,000 members strong. The louder our voice, the better our chances to help all retirees! Please join us in these efforts. We NEED YOU!