[Note: Links and materials referenced in an archived posting may have expired.]

NEA meets with key reps on social security fairness

NEA staff met March 17 with Representatives Howard McKeon (R-CA) and Howard Berman (D-CA) -- the primary sponsors of legislation to repeal the GPO and WEP -- and with Rep. Clay Shaw (R-FL), chair of the Social Security Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee.  The members' respective staffs also attended the meeting. 

Chairman Shaw put forth several proposals to address the harsh impacts of the Social Security offsets.  NEA informed Chairman Shaw that the proposals were unsatisfactory, given the goal of eliminating the GPO and WEP.  Chairman Shaw agreed to go back and work on proposals that would be more satisfactory to NEA. 

As reported previously, Representative Jim Turner (D-TX) has introduced a discharge petition in the House of Representatives.  (A discharge petition is a procedural mechanism to bring a bill directly to the House floor for consideration.)

However, as negotiations with Chairman Shaw appear to be ongoing, Representatives McKeon and Berman continue to believe a discharge petition is not necessary at this time.  Therefore, NEA will not endorse the discharge petition at this time.

Today's meeting with Clay Shaw (an unprecedented step in the long fight to address the GPO and WEP) reflects the strong, effective advocacy efforts of NEA members and other activists across the country. 

Keep up the good work!

Stay Up-To-Date! The latest GPO/WEP news is posted on NEA's Legislative Action Center at http://www.nea.org/lac/socsec.  Click on the "latest news" link.

You may also subscribe to MTA's e-mail newsletter on GPO/WEP issues.