Retired educators will have much at stake when lawmakers come to Austin. TRTA is prepared to go to the Legislature. We are going to fight for more pension funding, benefit enhancements for TRS retirees and improved TRS-Care funding.
We are hearing from many of our friends in the Legislature, as well as those seeking office, that the issues related to TRS are important and require resolution.
As a TRTA member or supporter, we know you are already doing your part to help us achieve our policy agenda next session.
If you are new to TRTA, or perhaps you are not yet a member, we want you to know our member advocacy effort is effective, efficient and inclusive. As one TRTA member recently said to me, “We need to get everyone off the sidelines and in the game. I want to tell all TRS retirees to stop messing around, let’s get tough and get active with TRTA!”
We agree! There are more than 440,000 TRS retirees or beneficiaries. TRTA membership is growing fast, but we still to get everyone on the team, suited up and ready to win.
This all starts with some very simple, but crucial action steps over the next few weeks and months:
- Join TRTA membership and get involved in a local unit—This is the team, we need you on the team! Every coach knows that the team that shows up to work and make things happen is a big part of winning.
- Plan to vote—no excuses! Many people tell us they need to know who to vote for. TRTA does not endorse candidates. That said, political leaders and legislators and office seekers are showing up at TRTA local meetings right now! Your friends and colleagues are happy to talk to you about this. If all else fails, call the people running for office and ask where they stand on TRS.
- After the vote, no matter the outcome, be prepared to support the people elected and educate, motivate and push them to achieve great outcomes for TRS retirees.
- Never, ever, give up. No one can predict what the Legislature will do. Every session is unique and TRTA always plays to win.
OUR ISSUES
- The lack of cost-of-living increases, also known as COLAs, for TRS retirees
- The change to TRS’s rate of return assumption
- The necessity for greater TRS-Care funding
- The power of a strong defined benefit plan
These issues form the core of our advocacy strategy and the key to retirement security.
Retirees across the state will be busy voting for and working with legislators in the coming months. By completing these tasks, we want to see our retirees reap the best possible benefits for their years of service.
And we want everyone running for office in Texas to know, understand, and agree that TRS retirees deserve retirement security. TRS Retirees Deserve Better, period!