Renewed Effort on WEP/GPO

MARCH 12, 2010: On Tuesday and Wednesday of this past week, our Association's Shawn Duhamel was in Washington taking part in a GPO & WEP National Summit. The two-day summit was hosted by the Texas Retired Teachers Association and included representatives from retiree organizations in several states.

The Association is active within several national coalitions, comprised of various associations and unions, whose aim it is to repeal the WEP & GPO laws. In our latest edition of the Voice, we discuss the efforts of our state's public safety unions on the national level.

Like Massachusetts, Texas is also a non-Social Security state where the WEP and GPO apply. Shawn has been working closely with groups around the country, including Tim Lee, the executive director of the Texas Retired Teachers, to help expand the existing national effort that the Coalition to Assure Retirement Equity (CARE) began over a decade ago.

While in Washington, Shawn personally met with Massachusetts Senators John Kerry and Scott Brown, along with Congressmen Barney Frank, Richard Neal, Jim McGovern and Niki Tsongas. Since the House was in session, with debate underway, Congressmen Mike Capuano, Ed Markey, John Tierney, Steve Lynch and John Olver were unavailable. However, Shawn did meet with each of their staffs.

As a group, the summit attendees met with several leading Republican lawmakers, who support reform of WEP & GPO. Texas Congressman Kevin Brady, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson and Illinois Congressman Aaron Schock, who is the deputy minority whip.

Our Association's message has been clear, reform of the WEP & GPO laws is not a partisan issue - a message heard loud and clear by our Massachusetts Congressional Delegation. After meeting with our Association, Representatives Frank and Neal, who are both senior ranking members of their party's leadership, contacted their Republican counterparts in an effort to move a bill forward, perhaps as early as this year.

It is not going to be easy, but our Association's efforts to work with a national grassroots effort makes Congressional action possible. Thankfully we are not in this fight alone. As we have shown, WEP & GPO is a true national issue that is worthy of Congressional action.

Now would be a good time to once again contact your US Senators and Congressmen to thank them for meeting with our Association and to ask that they make WEP & GPO a priority this year.