LEGISLATIVE ISSUES
2019
IMPORTANT LEGISLATION THAT IMPACTS ACTIVE & RETIREES
Time is running out to get two important congressional bills to the floor for a vote. The first bill I want to discuss is H R 141 the Social Security Fairness Act of 2019 and S 521 the Social Security Fairness Act. Both bills if passed would repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). The bill was introduced in January by Representative Rodney Davis R-IL and the Senate version was introduced by Senator Sherrod Brown D-OH. As of the writing of this article H R141 has 198 cosponsors in the House and S 521 has 32 cosponsors in the Senate. The passage of these bills would almost double the monthly Social Security received for all Federal Employees. We have attempted for many years to get this legislation passed. We have never had this much support. I urge you to go to https://www.house.gov; and find where your Representative stands on these two important bills. If your representative is a cosponsor, thank your representative for their support. If your representative is not a cosponsor of these bills take the time to contact your representative and urge that they cosponsor these two bills. Please do in now, there is not much time left in 2019 to get this injustice, that was done to all federal employees, corrected.
The second bill I want to bring to your attention is a Postal Reform Bill. H R 2382 USPS Fairness Act. As of the writing of this article this bill has 230 cosponsors. Again, I urge you to go on the House of Representative's website and find out where your representative stands on this issue that is affects all retirees members, all active members and the US Postal Service. Here is some background information on the legislation from the congressmen who wrote H R 2382.
Today, Rep. Tom Reed announced he recently introduced bipartisan legislation, the USPS Fairness Act, to end the unfair pre-funding mandate for the United States Postal Service (USPS) and solve the most pressing financial problem facing the Postal Service with Reps. Peter DeFazio (OR-04), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), and Xochitl Torres Small (NM-02) USPS is the only federal agency required to pre-fund decades worth of health benefits for its future retirees. Since 2007, this unfair mandate is responsible for more than 90 percent of USPS’s financial losses and 100 percent of losses over the past six years.
“We care about the Postal Service’s financial well-being and will continue to use our position in Washington to ensure hardworking postal carriers around the country have health benefits in retirement,” Tom said. “However, this government mandate is unfair. We hope by resolving this issue the USPS will be able to focus on improving their service’s for people without the worry of this long term financial burden hurting their bottom line.”
“The USPS is a critical resource for Southwest Oregon, especially our rural communities,” said Rep. Peter DeFazio. “The pre-funding mandate has not only prevented USPS from investing in services, technology and products, but it has also threatened core services that Oregonians rely on, including door-to-door delivery and six-day delivery. This legislation will not only end USPS’s financial crisis but will allow the agency to invest in critical improvements, all while maintaining its commitments to retirees’ health benefits.” “USPS is the only entity which is mandated to prefund its retirees’ health benefits,” said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick. “This law has put the Postal Service in a horrible financial position which has prevented USPS from investing in services to benefit our community. I’m proud to join my colleagues to introduce this legislation which will allow the postal service to devote resources to critical services its employees deliver to our community.” “Post offices and postal workers are an integral part of the fabric of each of our communities in New Mexico, connecting people regardless of where they live,” said Rep. Xochitl Torres Small. “The pre-funding mandate costs the USPS billions of dollars each year, undercutting the necessary work our postal workers do and threatening the agency’s mission. USPS met retiree health care needs before the pre-funding mandate, and will continue to do so once the mandate is repealed. It is Congress’ duty to level the playing field so the USPS can continue to provide the services we all rely on.” With 230 cosponsors we need an additional 60 cosponsors to get H R 2382 bill to a vote in the house. H R 141 is 92 cosponsors short. Please act today and get the support we need to pass these two bills this year.
...
LEGISLATIVE ISSUES 2019
Just an update on the Legislative front. UPMA NYS Chapter members have done a great job in gaining support on H R 2382 the USPS Fairness Act. We now have all twenty-seven New York Congressman cosponsoring this very important legislation to both the US Postal Services and retirees. I urge our UPMA NYS members to contact other members from around the country to contact their elected representatives in order to bring this bill to the floor for a vote. It now has 213 cosponsors. Seventy-seven more cosponsors are need to bring the bill to a vote. Again, thank you to all who have reached out to their elected representatives.
The next bill and one of great importance to all federal retirees is H R 141 the Social Security Fairness Act. As of the writing of this article this bill has 193 cosponsors. New York State needs fifteen more representatives to cosponsor this important bill. The following have not yet signed on as cosponsors and need to be contacted. Chris Collins, Brian Higgins, Joseph Morelle, Tom Reed, Antonio Delgado, Nita Lowery, Jose Serano, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Adriano Espaillat, Carolyn Maloney, Jerrold Nadler, Yvette Clarke, Hakeem Jeffries, Nydia Velazquez. We need 97 more cosponsors to bring this bill to the floor for a vote. There is a similar bill in the Senate S 521. We have the Senator Kirsten Gillibrand along with 31 other senators are cosponsors. If passed this bill will correct the injustice done to all federal employees and their spouses who paid into Social Security and have their 40 quarters. Please do not hastate contacting your representative to support H R 141 Social Security Fairness Act. We have waited to long for this Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), Government Pension Offset (GPO), to be corrected. Thank you all in advance for taking the time to help us help
THE DOWNSTATE PROSPCTIVE
I am not sure where the time is going but I know it is impossible to slow it down. Here we are in August already. We have had the Legislative Conference, the NYS Chapter Convention, and I have just returned from National Convention in Connecticut. Our own Frank Kouba Postmaster of Selden, First District Coordinator, has been elected to Northeast Area Coordinator. Congratulations Frank, best of luck. It goes without saying that here in New York, you have our loyalty and our full support. One more thing about the National Convention before I move on to other issues. My retiree vice-president and new very best friend Keith Miner won big at the slots while attending the National Convention. I will let Keith give you the details. Also thank you Keith for the great job you did honoring our veterans at the convention. Thank you for delivering many of the fleece lap blankets to the local veterans' homes in Connecticut. Almost five hundred blankets arrived at the convention. Great job UPMA members from all fifty states.
If you are reading this article you are one of the active members of UPMA. You are one of the members that do more than just pay dues. You attend the meeting, (perhaps host meetings), give of your time and efforts to make UPMA better and stronger. As fall approaches it is a good time to evaluate our three-year-old UPMA NYS chapter. What do we need to do continue to grow and strengthen our organization? We all would like to hear your ideas and suggestions. Our contact information is on page two of our publication. We as active and caring members can do several things to become more successful. The first thing we need to do is visibility. Make an effort to attend career awareness conferences and Postmaster essentials training classes. Like ads on TV, all potential members need to see UPMA again and again and again. We need to make an effort to hold monthly meetings. If you have a meeting month after month, they will attend. Attendance will increase. We need to empower members. Encourage members to help with organizing meetings. Have members do the invocation at meetings. Have the host member lead all in the Pledge of Allegiance. When we write our representative share our letter and or email with others and request them to contact their local representatives on issues concerning their careers and benefits. An involved member is more likely to attend Legislatives Conferences, state and national conventions. As leaders of UPMA we need to work on our leadership skills. We need to be ready to help others members and potential members when the need arises. Take time to evaluate your passion for our origination. It is up to you and all of us together to help grow and strengthen UPMA. Until the next article or the next time we meet, may God bless you and keep you safe and happy
IMPORTANT LEGISLATION THAT IMPACTS ACTIVE & RETIREES
Time is running out to get two important congressional bills to the floor for a vote. The first bill I want to discuss is H R 141 the Social Security Fairness Act of 2019 and S 521 the Social Security Fairness Act. Both bills if passed would repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). The bill was introduced in January by Representative Rodney Davis R-IL and the Senate version was introduced by Senator Sherrod Brown D-OH. As of the writing of this article H R141 has 198 cosponsors in the House and S 521 has 32 cosponsors in the Senate. The passage of these bills would almost double the monthly Social Security received for all Federal Employees. We have attempted for many years to get this legislation passed. We have never had this much support. I urge you to go to https://www.house.gov; and find where your Representative stands on these two important bills. If your representative is a cosponsor, thank your representative for their support. If your representative is not a cosponsor of these bills take the time to contact your representative and urge that they cosponsor these two bills. Please do in now, there is not much time left in 2019 to get this injustice, that was done to all federal employees, corrected.
The second bill I want to bring to your attention is a Postal Reform Bill. H R 2382 USPS Fairness Act. As of the writing of this article this bill has 230 cosponsors. Again, I urge you to go on the House of Representative's website and find out where your representative stands on this issue that is affects all retirees members, all active members and the US Postal Service. Here is some background information on the legislation from the congressmen who wrote H R 2382.
Today, Rep. Tom Reed announced he recently introduced bipartisan legislation, the USPS Fairness Act, to end the unfair pre-funding mandate for the United States Postal Service (USPS) and solve the most pressing financial problem facing the Postal Service with Reps. Peter DeFazio (OR-04), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), and Xochitl Torres Small (NM-02)
USPS is the only federal agency required to pre-fund decades worth of health benefits for its future retirees. Since 2007, this unfair mandate is responsible for more than 90 percent of USPS’s financial losses and 100 percent of losses over the past six years.
“We care about the Postal Service’s financial well-being and will continue to use our position in Washington to ensure hardworking postal carriers around the country have health benefits in retirement,” Tom said. “However, this government mandate is unfair. We hope by resolving this issue the USPS will be able to focus on improving their service’s for people without the worry of this long term financial burden hurting their bottom line.”
“The USPS is a critical resource for Southwest Oregon, especially our rural communities,” said Rep. Peter DeFazio. “The pre-funding mandate has not only prevented USPS from investing in services, technology and products, but it has also threatened core services that Oregonians rely on, including door-to-door delivery and six-day delivery. This legislation will not only end USPS’s financial crisis but will allow the agency to invest in critical improvements, all while maintaining its commitments to retirees’ health benefits.”
“USPS is the only entity which is mandated to prefund its retirees’ health benefits,” said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick. “This law has put the Postal Service in a horrible financial position which has prevented USPS from investing in services to benefit our community. I’m proud to join my colleagues to introduce this legislation which will allow the postal service to devote resources to critical services its employees deliver to our community.”
“Post offices and postal workers are an integral part of the fabric of each of our communities in New Mexico, connecting people regardless of where they live,” said Rep. Xochitl Torres Small. “The pre-funding mandate costs the USPS billions of dollars each year, undercutting the necessary work our postal workers do and threatening the agency’s mission. USPS met retiree health care needs before the pre-funding mandate, and will continue to do so once the mandate is repealed. It is Congress’ duty to level the playing field so the USPS can continue to provide the services we all rely on.”
With 230 cosponsors we need an additional 60 cosponsors to get H R 2382 bill to a vote in the house. H R 141 is 92 cosponsors short. Please act today and get the support we nee
