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Members of the Texas Retired Teacher Association (TRTA) have been awaiting progress on the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) actuarial soundness bill, Senate Bill 12.

The bill, created by Senator Joan Huffman (R – Houston), originally passed the Senate unanimously in March. Language from House Bill 9 by Representative Greg Bonnen (R – League City) was added to the bill in April and passed the House with a vote of 145 to 1.

Because there are differences in the original version of the bill versus what was passed in the House, a conference committee must be appointed to finalize the bill’s details.

SB 12 in its present form before being reviewed by the conference committee:

• Makes the TRS pension system actuarially sound by increasing the state contribution rate only and does not increase the contributions percentages for active employees or TRS-covered employers who do not pay Social Security.
• Increases the state contribution to 7.8 percent in 2020 and 8.05 percent in 2021 on its way to an eventual increase to an 8.8 percent contribution rate by 2025.
• Provides for a one-time supplemental payment no later than September 1, 2020 in the amount of the member’s regular monthly annuity, not to exceed $2,400.
• Provides for an overall biennial appropriation of state funds at $1.4 billion to pay for the increased state contribution percentage and the one-time supplemental payment.

The following Senators have been appointed to the SB 12 conference committee: Senator Joan Huffman – Chair; Senator Lois Kolkhorst, Senator Jane Nelson, Senator Larry Taylor, and Senator Royce West.

The following Representatives have been appointed to the SB 12 conference committee: Representative Greg Bonnen, Chair; Representative Barbara Gervin-Hawkins, Representative Jim Murphy, Representative Armando Walle, and Representative John Zerwas.

TRTA will continue to keep members informed as SB 12 and other bills are updated and finalized. The legislative session ends on May 27.

Thank You

Thank you for your commitment to TRTA. Many bills are in motion that can positively impact your retirement!

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Over the past week, bad weather in Texas has affected multiple cities with calamities such as flooding and tornado damage.

Kingwood, Texas received more than 10 inches of rain in 18 hours. While the rainfall hasn’t been as devastating as Hurricane Harvey to the Houston area, it’s a major hit to locals in these flooded regions. You may read more about the current weather situation in Houston by clicking on this link.

Additionally, a tornado caused significant damage to homes and businesses yesterday in Longview, May 8. You may read more about what happened in Longview here.

We know many members of the Texas Retired Teachers Association (TRTA) reside in these regions of Texas and may be in need of emergency financial assistance. As of today, May 9, more than 38,000 people are experiencing a power outage in Texas, according to poweroutage.us.

Please, if you need help or know of someone who may need help, contact TRTA’s charitable partner organization the Texas Retired Teachers Foundation (TRTF). The Foundation may be able to help retirees with home repairs, paying for temporary hotel stays, or purchasing food and other necessities while they get back on their feet.

TRTF provides emergency financial assistance to public education retirees and active educators in Texas through programs such as “A Helping Hand” and the Disaster Relief Fund.

The “A Helping Hand” program has provided $136,000 since its inception in 2010. Over the years, TRTF has assisted many retirees with home repairs, dental work, hearing aids, medical bills, space heaters and much more! In 2017, TRTF was able to provide more than $160,000 in financial relief to retirees and active teachers after Hurricane Harvey.

Need Help? Contact TRTF Today!

You may contact TRTF by sending an email to help@trtf.org or calling 1.800.880.1650 and asking for Sarah.

If you are not in need of assistance, but would like to help, please consider making a donation to TRTF today. You may donate online by clicking here. TRTF is always in need of funding to support its charitable programs, and your donation goes directly towards helping educators of the past, present, and future.

Even though the Texas Retired Teachers Association (TRTA) recently completed its 66^thAnnual Convention in Austin April 1-2, members of the TRTA staff already are busy preparing for next year’s event to be held in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Recent conversations with members of TRTA and the Board of Directors caused us to re-evaluate the dates for the 2020 convention. While the change is not significant, it will impact the travel days for our event attendees.

The new dates for the 2020 TRTA Convention are Monday, April 6 through Wednesday, April 8, 2020. Previously, these dates were April 7-9. The new convention dates are meant to allow members who celebrate Passover and Holy Thursday to leave Corpus Christi in time to be home for this occasion.

Please mark your calendars for this date change if you plan to attend the TRTA convention in 2020.

Thank You

Thank you for your commitment to TRTA. Many bills are in motion in the Texas Legislature that can positively impact your retirement! TRTA will provide additional updates about these bills as their movement progresses.

There is less than a month left in session, and your TRTA advocacy team is at the Texas Capitol every day working with legislators to pass these important bills.

Be sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and subscribe to our YouTube channel.