http://div4.calrta.org Your Partner in Pension Protection Mar/Apr 2021 http://calrta.org

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Hi, Division 4 Members! Submitted by Marion Snell, President

I hope you are doing well We hope you will join us for our April membership online activity. We have and enjoying the start of two interesting topics planned. spring. I’m not sure 1. Robert DeMaio from Caption Call will be sharing how the Americans with everyone knows that your Disabilities Act supports those with hearing loss. Caption Call’s mission is to Board of Directors meets “Help people with hearing loss stay socially connected for a longer, happier, in alternating months to healthier life.” See more about Caption Call on Page 3 of The Link. our Division 4 membership activities. 2. Jason Bercovitch and Anthony Nguyen, local political commentators and consultants will speak to our membership about the results and likely We just met on Thursday, ramifications of last November's general elections and also about their March 19th to firm up our impact on retired educators and public service employee April membership activity pensions. and to start planning for June. Of course, there DATE AND TIME: Wednesday, April 21 – 10 am were a bunch of business REGISTRATION: No registration required – just click on the following link details on the agenda too, below to join on April 21. but our main focus was https://tinyurl.com/58rw6wkb serving YOU! Mark your calendar today. We’ll send this link again to all Div. 4 email addresses a day before the session. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

We’re Planning a Hootenanny! Submitted by Marion Snell

Casting Call

Think of a song you loved in the ‘60s or ‘70s. Would you like to share it with the rest of us? You can perform it yourself or get your family involved. Maybe the grandkids can perform and you can film the video on your smart phone? Or maybe it will be you and your kids?

We have lined up a professional couple to edit all our videos into a cohesive and fun 90 minute show...BUT...without your participation there will be no show. Marcia Finney has an app that will make those videos easy to send. You can contact Marcia at: [email protected]

Hint: You won’t want to miss seeing Lee and Marcia singing and dancing the Hula – in costume, no less.

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Government Relations Submitted by Lee and Marcia Finney, Govt. Relations Co-Chairs

Brave New World 2021

House Resolution 141, the Social Security Act of 2019, died with the ending of the last session of Congress in December. Congressman Rodney Davis of Illinois has now introduced an identical bill, House Resolution 82, the Social Security Act of 2021, which as of this writing has garnered 112 cosponsors, including three of the five congresspeople representing CalRTA’s Area XI. These three, Scott Peters, Sara Jacobs, and , all cosponsored as a result of the efforts of our Area XI team during Advocacy Week this past month. We’re still working on Congressmen Vargas and Issa. If you recall, in the last session of Congress, all five of our representatives were cosponsors of HR-141, including Duncan Hunter, Jr., who has now been replaced by .

So, on we go…Reach Out to Your Rep Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, will continue indefinitely until we finally get this quest to its destination. We fully expect to get a vote with a satisfactory outcome in the House of Representatives during this session and, now that Mitch McConnell no longer has an absolute stranglehold on the operations of the Senate, the odds of getting Social Security Fairness on the President’s desk for a signature have never looked more promising. Please continue to do your part and connect with your representative when we reach out to you with that request. It’s your efforts that will make it happen.

President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID relief package has passed, which will direct desperately-needed funds to families, businesses, and schools and should go a long way toward making economic recovery quicker and more robust. Similarly, the governor and our legislature have implemented a string of measures including a supplementary mini-budget that will ensure adequate funding of California public schools and the state’s CalSTRS contribution for the coming year. Next year, however, is a bit iffy for the moment. We’ll keep you updated.

You may have noticed there is a recall effort going forward to take the governorship away from Gavin Newsom, which will likely qualify and force a special election in the coming months. The motivating gripe appears to be COVID pandemic restrictions and a slow return to full-time classroom instruction. While CalRTA is a nonpartisan organization and does not endorse individual candidates for office, how this special election plays out will have very significant ramifications for California public schools and the CalSTRS pension program. We urge you to consider these and other factors carefully and to be sure to vote. Low voter turnout rarely leads to the best election results.

Finally, the Government Relations Committee has announced the four winners of the 2021 Friend of CalRTA awards. They are:

• Sharon Quick-Silva, CA State Assembly Member • Scott Wilk, CA Senate Member • Scott Peters, Federal Representative (Congressional District 52) • Secretary of State Shirley Weber, CA Govt. Official not in the Legislature (continued on next page)

2 Both Scott Peters and Shirley Weber were the nominees of Area XI. Peters represents most of the city of proper and Shirley Weber was formerly the assemblywoman representing District 79 in south county. s Stay healthy, get your shots, continue to wear your mask, and socially distance. We look forward to seeing you on the other side of all this.

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A FREE Solution if you are Hearing Impaired Submitted by Marion Snell, President

Caption Call’s mission is to “Help people with hearing loss stay socially connected for a longer, happier, healthier life.” They do that by providing a free phone with an 8-inch screen that is connected to professional captioners who type for you what is being said on your call. I got my phone in February and find it is particularly helpful with calls from health providers. Highlights of Caption Call phones include: • Phone and services are provided at no cost to you • Complimentary delivery, installation, training, and support • Captions make understanding phone calls easier • Features include speakerphone, answering machine, and custom audio • Hearing aid friendly • Bluetooth connectivity • Captioning also available for iPad and iPhone with CaptionCall Mobile • More details are available at https://captioncall.com Or you can call or email Robert DeMaio at (619) 302-7517 or [email protected].

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Good News from the Nominating Committee Submitted by Cindy Spillane, Past Pres.

CalRTA Division 4 thanks Vice President/Membership Chair, Claudia Weimer and Treasurer, Doug Rider for their amazing service -- their terms on the board will expire on June 30. Our Division 4 Board could not exist without fine members like them. An election will be held for Vice President/ Membership Chair and Treasurer respectively for Rebecca Johnson and Melinda Guerrero at our April 21st membership session. There will be no ballot, because there is only one candidate for each office, so it will be by acclamation.

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Sadly... Submitted by Ruth Johns and Claudia Weimer, Co-Membership Chairs

We mourn the passing of Division 4 member Robert House.

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CalRTA Helps Local Active Educators Submitted by Gini Pedersen Plan for Retirement

Our CalRTA Division 4, along with Division 69 in East County, co-hosted a very successful online webinar to help active educators understand how to evaluate their financial readiness for retirement.

Albert Pulido from CalSTRS led over 80 attendees through an excellent presentation and answered questions. The email addresses of all registrants was sent to the State CalRTA office so they could receive informational materials about CalRTA.

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Welcome New Members! Submitted by Ruth Johns & Claudia Weimer, Membership Co-Chairs

Good news! We are pleased to welcome our newest members, bringing our Division 4 membership total to 358!

✓ Catherine Lea ✓ Kirk Larowe ✓ Mark Monroe ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

We’re Receiving College Scholarship Applications Submitted by Carol Patrick, Scholarship President

Scholarship Applications are arriving via email and snail mail. Board members will be reviewing and choosing recipients during the first ten weeks in April. There is still time to donate to the Scholarship Foundation—a 501(c)(3) tax deductible foundation. Thanks to all of you who have already given generously. We couldn’t do this without your generous support!

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YOUR VOLUNTEER BOARD OF DIRECTORS

• President: Marion Snell • Govt. Relations: Lee & Marcia Finney • Past President: Cindy Spillane • Communication & Technology: Gini Pedersen • Vice President: Claudia Weimer • Scholarship President: Carol Patrick • Treasurer: Doug Rider • The Link Newsletter Editor: Gini Pedersen • Secretary: Pat Busbee • Member at Large: Rebecca Johnson • Membership: Ruth Johns & Claudia Weimer • Member at Large: Marilyn Curran • Programs: Lorraine Castro • Web Manager: Gini Pedersen

4 Money Unfairly Deducted from Our Pensions! Submitted by Marcia Finney

California State Teacher’s Retirement System (CalSTRS) is conducting audits of data provided by school districts for the calculation of individual retirement benefits. In some cases they are finding errors, which result in CalSTRS imposing penalties, withholding specific amounts from pensioners’ monthly benefits until the total overpayment is repaid. Though we, as retired educators, made no errors in the calculation, we are punished, while the district, which is in fact at fault, has no liability. CalSTRS is proposing to reduce the number of years that the penalty can be imposed to three.

CalRTA insists that since the retired educator is not at fault “retirees should not have to pay for ANY overpayment,” states Jennifer Baker, CalRTA Legislative Advocate, (Contact Magazine, Winter 2021, p. 10). If you have been impacted by a CalSTRS audit, feel free to share your story so that CalRTA can share them with CalSTRS. Please send your story by email to Jennifer Baker at [email protected].

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House Representative Scott Peters Submitted by Lee and Marcia Finney Highlights Division 4 Members

Scott Peters and other members on his staff met online with CalRTA Division 4 to discuss issues important to retired educators. Below is a screen shot from this session that Rep. Peters included in his newsletter to constituents in District 52.

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NonProfit Org California Retired Teachers Association US Postage Paid San Diego - Division 4 PO Box 33421 San Diego, CA Permit No. 13 San Diego, CA 92163

DATED MATERIAL Mar/Apr 2021

MEMBERSHIP IS OPEN TO ALL SUPPORTERS — NOT JUST RETIRED EDUCATORS .

If you are receiving this newsletter by postal mail AND in your email, you can help Division 4 save money by sending a request to [email protected] to receive by email only.

Highlights from this issue of The Link:

• Current State and Federal legislation issues • Upcoming activities for our members • Scholarship Foundation awarding scholarships to graduating seniors • How your volunteer Board serves you

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