Blog

December 21, 2022

Forward in 2023!

Retiree volunteers did fabulous jobs in 2022 and are ready, more than ever before, for the next challenges. Our most recent Board meeting tried to anticipate what some of them will be.

Campaign for Pensions with Cola

Working families no longer have most of the pensions that union struggles won earlier. Most of those who still have pensions are seeing them eroded away by rampant inflation. The solution is cost-of-living-adjustments, but it will take a fight.

At least two major Texas unions are already working for pensions with COLA. The state employees and the education employees rarely get any adjustment to their pensions and will be demanding COLA from the 2023 Legislature. The good COLA raise in Social Security checks will provide an example for everyone.

National Campaigns

The divided Congress is sure to provide a lot of problems for seniors in 2023. Already, several major Republican leaders have declared that they will hold the national economy hostage until they get cuts in Social Security and Medicare. Texas always backs the national legislative program.

Health Care Must Improve

Latest estimates say that 90% of COVID deaths are seniors. Texas politicians continue their downright evil refusal to take nearly-free federal dollars to expand Medicaid. We have been in this fight since the federal dollars became available and we’re not about to stop now! We were able to get a letter published in the Dallas newspaper about it, and our Austin Chapter is showing a video that explains how Medicare made a giant contribution to civil rights.

Vote By Mail Matters

On January 2, TARA will start asking Texans over 65 to register to vote by mail. We fought voter suppression all through the last election and were part of the victory that brought rejections down from 20% to less than 3% in the course of the year.

Defend Retirees from the Legislature

Voter suppression is not the only way that Texas politicians are likely to attack seniors. We will watch them carefully and fight back hard. Usually, we are able to join “Lobby Day” with other organizations, but if there are no such opportunities in 2023, we’ll organize our own!

Solidarity

Virtually everything that seniors have today came from union efforts. The treatment of retirees is explicit in most union contracts. When unions need retiree backing, we’ll be there!

Membership and Fund Drive

We need more people and organizations in our information network. Get everyone to click on https://actionnetwork.org/forms/info-needed?source=direct_link&. We also want Facebook users to “follow” or “like” our page at http://facebook.com/texasretiredamericans. You can “invite” your friends by going to our page and clicking the three little dots ***.

TARA asks for $10/year from each member. Some donate more. Even better, outstanding Texas retirees make their donations “recurring.” Even $5/month really helps TARA. On-line donations and recurring donations can be done at this link: https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/organize-for-the-right-to-retire?source=direct_link&. Checks from individuals and organizations can go to check to TARA, c/o Treasurer Elaine Jones, 1402 Seville Circle, Portland, Texas, 78374.