11/04/07

Dear colleagues,
 
The Senate Finance Committee’s Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy, chaired by Senator Kerry (D-MA), announced today that they will hold a hearing on the Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provision next TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6.  Activists from every state in which educators do not pay into Social Security are traveling to Washington, DC  to attend the hearing and a concurrent lobby day on the GPO/WEP issues.
 
From Massachusetts, MTA activists Jo Ann Fitzgerald, Peggy Kane, Nancy Mickunas and I will attend this event and present the GPO/WEP petitions that so many of you have completed to push for repeal of these unfair offsets. Peggy Kane will be testifying before the committee directly. We all will be visiting Senators and Congressman to advocate for the repeal of these laws. Half of these petitions will be retained to be presented at the Congressional hearing by the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security, expected to be held in early spring of 2008. Given this second hearing, please continue to support this petition initiative and gather names of your friends, neighbors and family, especially if you will be affected. To download a petition, go to: http://www.massteacher.org/news/headlines/sspetition.pdf 
 
I know many of you will be penalized by the current GPO/WEP legislation if these laws are not repealed. To better represent the MCCC, I am seeking your input as to how the GPO/WEP will affect you, especially if your story captures a significant effect and you can identify the financial impact with some specificity.
 
If you can put together a short paragraph on how the GPO/WEP will hurt you, please forward your story to me by noon on Sunday (11/4), so I can share some of these responses with those on Capital Hill. Your comments will also be appropriate for me to communicate in the months ahead as we continue this fight to repeal these offsets. If you cannot get this information into me by that time, send your response to me just the same, so I can keep a record of your stories in a separate GPO/WEP file. Note some suggested guidelines as you craft your thoughts:
I know this announcement provides very short notice for your response, but this hearing date was not made public until late Wednesday, October 30. Also, no statewide action has been requested (YET) on this hearing, but your MTA activists and others from across the country are meeting next week to strategize on the next step. Please stay tuned. Your support will be crucial to the successful repeal of the GPO/WEP legislation. I will keep you informed.
 
Note that all state employees in Massachusetts, whether they are in the State Employees Retirement System (SERS) or the Optional Retirement Plan (ORP), will be affected if they have Social Security earnings from other employment. If you have further questions about the impact of Social Security on your retirement, please go to:  http://www.nea.org/lac/socsec/index.html
 
In solidarity,
 
Donnie McGee
MCCC Vice President & SAC Chair
vice President