Senate Finance to Meet, Lieutenant Governor Shares Message

Tomorrow, Saturday, July 22, 2017, the Senate Finance Committee will meet to discuss Senate Bill 19. The bill was filed for the first called special session of the 85th Legislature by Senator Jane Nelson (R – Flower Mound) and co-authored by Senator Joan Huffman (R – Houston).

SB 19 relates to bonuses and salaries for public school classroom teachers and state assistance for the Texas Public School Employees Group Insurance Program, including TRS-Care. To read the full text of the bill, please click here.

Lieutenant Governor on TRS-Care: The Senate is committed to increased TRS-Care funding as a top priority (video statement)

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick addresses the TRS-Care issue directly in a recent video. TRTA has linked that video below.

In the video, Lieutenant Governor Patrick provides insight to the Senate’s plan on how to help address the TRS-Care issue. The plan includes as much as $212 million in additional funding that will be used to lower deductibles for the pre-65 TRS retiree from $3,000 to $1,500. The plan will also help reduce premiums for TRS retirees over age 65, as well as provide assistance to TRS retirees who may have children with disabilities.

Lieutenant Governor Patrick also comments that this Senate plan will make this additional funding permanent in the next legislative session. If this additional funding does become part of the ongoing budget strategy for TRS-Care, it will have a very positive long-term impact for this vital program.

TRTA will continue to provide as much information as possible for our members as this situation develops.

We are working diligently to negotiate the best deal possible for all TRS-Care participants. As you will recall from this morning’s update, the Texas House will have hearings on bills filed to address TRS-Care this special session.

Ultimately, any bill that helps resolve the TRS-Care situation will have to be passed in both the Senate and the House and signed by the Governor.

Thank You

Thank you for your membership to TRTA! TRTA has more than 82,000 members, but there are more than 350,000 TRS retirees. That means hundreds of thousands of TRS retirees are not involved in the largest retiree organization advocating for their TRS benefits.

To improve funding for TRS-Care, we need as many retirees as possible to join TRTA and stand with us!

It is vital that you join TRTA today! If you already are a member, please ask your fellow retirees to join. Many retirees are still unaware of the impending TRS-Care changes! Let’s all work together to improve retirement benefits for current and future retirees.

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