TRTA Day at the Capitol a Huge Success!

Pictured Above: Retired teachers descend on Austin for our Day at the Capitol event. Middle: TRTA State President Maridell Fryar received the Speaker’s gavel yesterday. Texas Speaker of the House Joe Straus gave Maridell his gavel as a sign of appreciation and respect for the work done by TRTA volunteers.

Over 1,000 TRTA members came together at the Texas Capitol in Austin yesterday, March 20, for our Day at the Capitol event! Members arrived by bus and car, wearing bright red shirts and carrying red bags. Retirees came from as far away as Connecticut and Colorado, and every area of Texas was represented!

Many members visited legislators or their staff members, sharing information about the important bills that TRTA continues to push this legislative session. Our Day at the Capitol flyer, click here (http://www.trtaportal.org/PDFS/FactSheet2013DAC.pdf), provides details on each bill, and encourages elected officials to co-sponsor them. We encourage all TRTA members who are able to download the flyer, print it and send it to their legislators!

HB 1383, the bill authored by Representative Jim Keffer that would raise the state contribution to TRS, continues to gain traction in the House. TRTA members made a great push yesterday to encourage their Representatives to sign on to the bill if they had not already done so.

As of this morning, the following Representatives have shown their support for HB 1383 (all phone numbers provided below use a 512 area code):
 

Please join us in thanking these members for supporting public education retirees! The office phone numbers for each Representative are provided for you (the area code for each number is 512). If you see your Representative listed above, please CALL HIM OR HER TODAY to say “thank you for signing on to HB 1383 and supporting retired teachers!”

TRTA continues to work to have EVERY member of the House of Representatives support this vital bill. Below is a list of the Representatives who have not yet sponsored the bill. If you see your legislator listed below, please CALL HIM OR HER TODAY and ask him or her to “please support HB 1383 by signing on as a co-sponsor!” Many times, a legislator does want to support the issue, but needs a kind reminder to help them remember to sign on the bill. If, though, you speak to a legislator that is not sure if they want to sign on the bill, please contact our office and we will follow-up, as well.

(All phone numbers provided below use a 512 area code. If you are not certain who your Representative is, please call our Legislator Hotline at 1.888.674.3788)