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14 Nov 2022
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Membership in TRTA is Magical!

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  • TRTA members—it’s MEMBERSHIP MONDAY! If you have already paid your TRTA dues, THANK YOU!
  • TRTA First Vice-President Ella Gauthier reminds us all in the video below that there is Magic in Membership!
  • Let your fellow retirees who are not yet members know why the coming legislative session is so important and that TRTA MEMBERSHIP IS MAGICAL! 
  • Send this email to friends or colleagues who support our cause and ask them to join TRTA!
  • Post on your favorite social media about joining TRTA and share Ella’s video! Let’s grow together and win more voices in our efforts to help TRS retirees. 

In 2023, TRTA will celebrate its 70th anniversary! Like Ella says, we must work hard to achieve our 100,000 members for that wonderful occasion. Share with fellow retirees the “magic” of membership in TRTA!

Here’s a great message you can share with someone who needs to join TRTA:

“The Texas Retired Teachers Association (TRTA) is working to pass a cost-of-living increase (COLA)! Inflationary pressure on seniors is at its highest amount in more than 40 years!

The state has a huge budget surplus, and we are now less than three months away from what will be a challenging legislative session.

The work needed to get the Legislature to pass a COLA for TRS retirees starts WITH YOU.

By joining TRTA, you are making a choice to protect and improve your retirement benefits.

Band with us and amplify retirees’ voices in the Legislature! Let’s go into the 88th Legislative Session with 100,000 members or more!”

Thank You!

This message was sent to all Inside Line subscribers regardless of membership status.

Remember, your membership in TRTA is MAGIC! It brings with it a voice with our legislators, opportunities for fun, fellowship, and service projects, local chapter programs that energize and inform, and benefits that enrich our lives. Encourage your friends to become an integral part of the Magic of TRTA. Let us celebrate our 70th birthday with a big wins—100,000 members and a COLA!

Please renew your dues if you have not done so already and ask your friends to join us today!

Be sure to download the TRTA app to receive all of the latest updates and communicate with your fellow retirees.

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09 Nov 2022
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TRTF Helps Retirees Who Need “A Helping Hand”

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Thank you, members of the Texas Retired Teachers Association (TRTA) for joining us during Foundation Month, a time to honor the charitable work done by our partner organization, the Texas Retired Teachers Foundation (TRTF). Today, we focus on two of TRTF’s most vital programs, “A Helping Hand” and the Disaster Relief Fund.

“A Helping Hand”

“A Helping Hand,” launched in 2010, provides public education retirees with charitable assistance for a one-time special need or other short-term hardship. Recipients include anyone who is receiving or is eligible to receive an annuity from the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS). Applicants do not need to be a member of TRTA to apply.

Since its inception, TRTF has awarded more than $220,000 in aid to more than 220 recipients. This year, grants from TRTF’s “A Helping Hand” program have assisted retirees with medical and dental bills, energy bills, apartment rent, tree removal, car repair, hearing aids, and a new refrigerator, among other urgent needs.

Disaster Relief Fund

TRTF’s Disaster Relief Fund assists public education employees and retirees who require emergency financial assistance for a short-term hardship due to a disaster. Grant seekers are not required to be a member of TRTA but must be eligible to receive benefits from TRS. This year, TRTF has awarded Disaster Relief grants to repair home foundations due to flooding, roof repair due to hail, and property clean-up after wildfires.

To date, the Disaster Relief Fund has provided more than $375,000 in aid to more than 1,100 active and retired school personnel. With your help, TRTF will be prepared should another disaster strike and be ready to offer aid at a moment’s notice.

Do You, Or Does Someone You Know, Need Help? 

If you are a member of TRTA and you (or someone you know) need(s) assistance, please contact TRTF at 1.800.880.1650 or by email at help@trtf.org.

All applications are reviewed independently and remain confidential. Recipients’ information will not be shared with the public unless the recipient provides permission to TRTF to share his or her story.

Please Donate

It is time to give big so that we may help our teachers and retirees! As a 501(c)(3), TRTF is in a unique position to raise donations and deploy them through our charitable programs.

Please consider making your tax-deductible charitable contribution to TRTF. You may donate online here or call 1.800.880.1650. TRTF also included its annual appeal letter and donation card in the third quarter issue of The VOICE, in TRTA members’ mailboxes now! You may use the donation card found on page 12 and the enclosed envelope to mail your donation to TRTF today.

Please stay tuned to the Inside Line throughout the month of November as we update you on TRTF’s programs and share stories from individual program recipients.

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08 Nov 2022
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Happy Election Day!

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The Texas Retired Teachers Association (TRTA) is grateful for our dedicated and active members. We know thousands of you voted early or by mail, and many more plan to visit the polls and cast their votes today!

Whatever the outcome from today’s elections, TRTA will work in a bipartisan way to help all Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) retirees in the coming legislative session. A cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is a top priority for our members. Remember to share TRTA’s priorities with your State Senator and Representative after the election.

For those of you voting today:

  • Polls are open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. If you are in line by 7:00 p.m., you will be allowed to vote.
  • Check your county elections website for polling locations and other information.
  • Remember to bring your Voter ID.
  • If you have any problems or questions, call Election Protection at 866-OUR-VOTE.

As elections come to a close, TRTA is redoubling efforts to find a bipartisan solution to the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and pushing for relief on the Government Pension Offset (GPO).

Thank You!

Thank you for being a member of TRTA and supporting issues that affect retired Texas public school personnel. Be sure to download the TRTA app to receive all of the latest updates and communicate with your fellow retirees.

TRTA is the only group that focuses solely on your TRS retirement security! Please join us today!

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