Volume 17, Issue 3
November, 2008
MCALLEN AFT NEWS
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Defending Defined Benefit Pensions
All across the country, there's a propaganda campaign under way against public pension systems.
The claim is that you'd be better off just receiving contributions to an individual retirement account, with your pension determined by the ups and downs of your individual stock-market investments.
The Senate State Affairs Committee has placed this issue on its discussion agenda for a still-pending interim hearing. The propaganda attack is
motivated by two things:
(1) Right-wing ideologues don't want to keep the promise of future benefits, because they want to cut the state budget.
Private money managers want to get their mitts on the pension dollars that would be contributed by the state and by the employee to an individual account, so they can charge a tidy fee for "managing" each individual investment portfolio.
Defined benefits--a guaranteed pension amount based on your years of service--are unquestionably the better deal for retirees.
Texas AFT and McAllen AFT will fight tooth and nail against any attempt to switch to the uncertain benefits of a defined-contribution plan.
Be on the lookout meanwhile for proposals that say everyone currently retired will get to keep their defined-benefit pension while future employees get just a defined contribution.
That won't work, because today's retirees depend for their pensions on contributions by active employees and the state for each current employee.
If active employees' contributions and the state share go into individual accounts, the general fund that pays current retirees their pensions would be depleted.
AFL-CIO 2009 SCHOLARSHIP
Included in this newsletter is the 2009 Texas AFL-CIO Scholarship Application for our 2009 high school graduates. Members or children of members of local unions or children whose legal guardians are members of local unions that are affiliated with the Texas AFL-CIO and the local Central Labor Council. Applicants must be high school seniors who are planning to attend a university, college or technical institute in the summer or fall term.
CHRISTMAS PARTY
Our annual Christmas Party will be held at Country Omelette on Friday, December 5, 2008 at 5:30 p.m.
Door prizes are awesome! We will be giving five (5) $50 Visa cards and much, much more. Cathey Middle School Choir will sing. We will be honoring Conrado Alvarado, Dr. Ricardo Chapa, and District 41 Representative Veronica Gonzales.
NO CHARGE
Dinner will be California Chicken with rice, mixed vegetables & Texas toast.
Babysitting paid for $7 per/hr.—you find sitter. Deadline is December 4, 2008 at 5 p.m.
CAPS ON REVENUE
The Texas Constitution already limits state spending of all tax revenues that are not constitutionally earmarked for specific purposes.
The Constitution says that spending of non-dedicated tax revenues cannot outpace the growth of Texans' personal income.
Nonetheless, next week a Texas House hearing will be the launching pad for more restrictive proposals to cap state revenue.
This idea is a perennial favorite of those in the Texas legislature who believe that Texas spends too much on education, health care, and other vital public services, despite ample evidence to the contrary.
Often these proposals take the form of spending caps tied to population growth or inflation.
But health-care costs are rising faster than the general inflation rate, and school enrollment is growing at a faster pace than general population growth.
The effect of such spending caps would be to force cuts in basic public services, including public education--and that would mean cuts in the school staff and programs our students need.
In 2009 Texas AFT and McAllen AFT again will be working with our allies to make sure that such destructive revenue caps are not adopted by the Texas legislature.
AUTISM
Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., Democrat of Brownsville, today reintroduced his bill authorizing stipends for professional-development institutes for teachers and paraprofessionals who deal with students with disabilities, especially those with autism spectrum disorders.
The bill number is SB 100. This legislation, strongly backed by Texas AFT in the 2007 legislative session, was passed by the Senate, but time ran out before it could be passed in the House.