Member Spotlight: Velma Hendrix
November 15, 2022Member Spotlight: Ruth Berlin
December 1, 2022Dear LRTA Members,
The movement to repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision/Government Pension Offset (WEP/GPO) has been going on for decades, and this current session has seen the most progress towards doing so than ever before. LRTA has played an active role working with our own Representatives Garrett Graves and Julia Letlow, and Senator Bill Cassidy as well as with State Representative Mike Johnson. We are also involved in weekly planning meetings and strategizing with the National WEP/GPO Repeal Task Force.
We are down to the last two weeks of this current Congressional legislative session and WE ARE NOT giving up. We are encouraging you to continue to take part in this effort by participating in the following activities. Below you will find the three-step plan the task force is proposing as well as the appropriate action to take for each step.
In addition, if you haven’t done so, please check out the website: ssfairness.org and the National WEP & GPO Repeal Movement Facebook page for more information. If you have any questions, please contact me directly.
Sincerely,
Janis Hernandez (janishernandez@hotmail.com)
Legislative Chairperson
We feel these methods are the best means to still get the repeal bills passed.
THE FINAL 2-WEEK PLAN
1. We will ask leaders (Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Hoyer, Majority Whip Clyburn, Chair Ways & Means Committee Neal, Chair House Appropriations DeLauro, Chair Senate Committee on Finance Wyden, and Ranking Member Senate Committee on Finance Crapo) to place H.R. 82 (House) and S. 1302 (Senate) in their end-of-year omnibus bills. (An omnibus bill is a hefty bill covering diverse topics, often used to clump a range of appropriations bills into a single bill that must pass before the session is over. Also, many smaller appropriations bills do not move forward as a fiscal year (FY) ends, which is the case for this year. Correspondingly, the FY 2023 budget must be finalized very soon; thus, this will transpire during the lame-duck session.)
2. We will ask Ways & Means Committee members to sign the H.R. 82 Discharge Petition and help move the bill to the House omnibus end-of-year spending/consolidation bill. We will also ask Senate Committee on Finance members to cosponsor S. 1302 and move the bill to the Senate omnibus end-of-year spending/consolidation bill.
3. We will continue to ask cosponsored and unsponsored Representatives to sign the Discharge Petition.
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Below you will find all the specific actions you should take over the next two weeks to support our plans.
Instructions: Please copy and paste the body of the email message below, adding your name at the end. Send the corresponding email message to the email addresses listed for each step. Note: the email addresses listed are for the staffers/legislative directors of the members of Congress.
1. Senate/House Leaders: OMNIBUS BILL
Required Subject Header
Please place H.R. 82 & S. 1302 on end-of-year omnibus bills.
Email Message
Honorable Senate and House Leaders,
Retired Americans have suffered for decades due to the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO).
Those affected include pensioners who are first responders, Veterans, teachers, educational workers, other local, state, and federal public servants, and foreign pensioners.
While signing the H.R. 82 Discharge Petition and cosponsoring S. 1302 are significant steps, there is an action that holds enormous weight in bringing seniors relief from the age-old penalties.
Please save bills H.R. 82 and S. 1302 to repeal the WEP & GPO by placing them on House and Senate end-of-year omnibus bills.
Thank you, and I wish you the best of the holiday season!
Respectfully submitted,
Staffer Email List
jeff_michels@wyden.senate.gov;
isaiah_akin@wyden.senate.gov;
molly_carpenter@crapo.senate.gov;
susan_wheeler@crapo.senate.gov;
kara.getz@mail.house.gov;
elizabeth.o’hara@mail.house.gov;
willie.lyles@mail.house.gov;
yebbie.watkins@mail.house.gov;
james.leuschen@mail.house.gov;
jack.rayburn@mail.house.gov;
rebecca.salay@mail.house.gov;
dick.meltzer@mail.house.gov;
george.kundanis@mail.house.gov;
mike_lynch@schumer.senate.gov;
ryan_eagan@schumer.senate.gov;
john_dowd@leahy.senate.gov;
betsy_knox@leahy.senate.gov;
watson_donald@shelby.senate.gov;
ella_sullins@shelby.senate.gov;
steve_abbott@collins.senate.gov;
mindi_linquist@murray.senate.gov;
michelle.ortega@mail.house.gov;
tasia.jackson@mail.house.gov
2. Senate Finance Committee: OMNIBUS BILL
Required Subject Header
Please include S.1302 in the end-of-year omnibus bill.
Email Message
Honorable Senate Committee on Finance Members,
I am asking the Senate Committee on Finance for your support in moving forward with S. 1302 – Social Security Fairness Act (Brown-OH, Collins-ME). To do so, I request that S. 1302 be included in the end-of-year omnibus bill created during the lame-duck session.
The bill repeals the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO), penalties that financially harm millions of retirees across our great nation who qualify for Social Security benefits.
Now is the time to take action to repeal these two unjust penalties.
Thank you to those who have cosponsored S. 1302.
For those who have not, please cosponsor the bill to bring this pressing matter to the forefront of Senate legislative concerns.
Respectfully submitted,
Staffer Email List
jeff_michels@wyden.senate.gov;
susan_wheeler@crapo.senate.gov;
jami_burgess@cantwell.senate.gov;
jan_beukelman@carper.senate.gov;
elizabeth_falcone@warner.senate.gov;
aaron_cummings@grassley.senate.gov;
geoff_antell@thune.senate.gov;
jessica_mcbride@thune.senate.gov;
natasha_hickman@burr.senate.gov;
kevin_smith@portman.senate.gov;
daniel_brandt@toomey.senate.gov;
neri_martinez@aging.senate.gov;
michelle_altman@lankford.senate.gov;
jason_thielman@daines.senate.gov;
john_connell@young.senate.gov;
raymond_sass@sasse.senate.gov;
dan_kunsman@barrasso.senate.gov
3.CONTACT COSPONSORED REPRESENTATIVES OF YOUR STATE TO SIGN THE DISCHARGE PETITION
We only have two Louisiana Representatives who cosponsored H.R. 82 but haven’t signed the Discharge Petition.
Required Subject Header
Please sign the H.R. 82 Discharge Petition to repeal the WEP & GPO.
Email Message
Honorable Representatives,
Thank you for cosponsoring H.R. 82 in support of close to 2.7 million Americans who have suffered from the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) for decades.
Please view the video at https://youtu.be/bsfSH7UfO60 to hear our plea to eliminate the WEP & GPO from Social Security law.
As the 117th Congress moves quickly to a close, I ask that you save H.R. 82 by signing the Discharge Petition upon your return from the holiday.
Respectfully submitted,
Staffer Email list
Rep. Troy Carter: james.bernhard@mail.house.gov
Rep. Steve Scalise: claire.trokey@mail.house.gov