On Monday, December 5 at 4:00 p.m. CST, the Texas Retired Teachers Association (TRTA) and the Association of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE) will host a live event on YouTube and Facebook discussing the WEP reform push! Be sure to tune in!
TRTA, along with ATPE and the Mass Retirees Association, is calling for action on the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP)! Time is running out. Congressman Richard Neal (D – Mass), Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, needs to act before the current legislative term ends!
TRTA members, we need your help! We are asking you, your fellow retirees, and any active educators you know to call Congressman Neal’s office at (202) 225-5601 and ask for his commitment to get a deal done and pass a WEP solution before Congress adjourns for the year!
Call and Congressman Richard Neal!
Phone: (202) 225-5601
If you are a Facebook user and you feel comfortable using Messenger, you may contact Richard Neal’s office on his Facebook page.
Message: The time is now to commit to passing a WEP solution before Congress adjourns this year! As Chairman of Ways and Means, you are critical for getting a bipartisan deal done.
Call and email Texas congressional members on the House Ways and Means Committee!
Congressman Kevin Brady
Phone: (202) 225-4901
Email: Kevin.brady@mail.house.gov
Message: As the ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee, continue to work with Neal to get a bipartisan deal passed this Congress, before time runs out.
Congressman Jody Arrington
Phone: (202) 225-4005
Email: Jody.arrington@mail.house.gov
Message: As a Republican member of the House Ways and Means Committee, ask leadership to get a bipartisan deal done on WEP this Congress.
Congressman Lloyd Doggett
Phone: (202) 225-4865
Email: Lloyd.doggett@mail.house.gov
Message: As a Democrat member of the House Ways and Means Committee, ask leadership to get a bipartisan deal done on WEP this Congress.
Equal Treatment for Public Workers Possible this Congress
The U.S. House Ways and Means Committee met on September 20, 2022 to discuss markup H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act of 2021. A motion to move H.R. 82 out of committee without recommendation to the U.S. House of Representatives passed, essentially killing the bill.
Although the H.R. 82 committee mark-up reiterated that full repeal still lacks the congressional leadership support to move to the floor, it also showcased broad support for a fix, with many committee members calling for quick passage of a bipartisan alternative.
Those calls did not go unnoticed! For years, Neal and Brady have worked on a bipartisan solution called the Equal Treatment of Public Workers Act. Stakeholders and congressional members alike have been waiting for Brady and Neal to announce their bipartisan WEP deal. Now is the time for both leaders to agree so that public workers and retirees can be treated fairly.
Both Brady and Neal have pledged in press statements and at the September committee mark-up to continue negotiating a bipartisan WEP reform agreement that could be included in a year-end tax extender or omnibus spending package.
As the 2022 clock ticks down, the window to pass a bill closes. Brady, a tireless advocate for fixing the WEP since 2004, is retiring, and the House majority will flip to Republican control in January. Neal, also an advocate for a fair and equitable solution to the WEP, will no longer chair the Ways and Means Committee and stakeholders simply do not want to see this moment of cooperative work and focus on such an important issue squandered.
TRTA is calling on its members and friends to help demand action from the House Ways and Means Committee. Brady and Neal have said that a bipartisan solution is doable. However, since the September meeting, they haven’t brought forth a proposal. We need action for the retirees who are being unfairly punished by the arbitrary WEP formula!
Please join our efforts to maintain momentum on reforming the harmful WEP and make this issue a top priority for Congress now!
