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X X Member Spotlight 19 WEA-R Planning for Success WEA News Article – by Vicki L. Swenson, WEA-Retired President By the time you receive this publication, Doreen McGlade and I will have attended the NEA National Leadership Summit in Denver which immediately precedes the Annual NEA-Retired Organizing Conference. Judy Trohkimoinen, staff liaison to WEA-R, will have joined us for the NEA-Retired conference. We are all certainly looking forward to getting together with NEA's amazing leadership and staff , and our active and retired colleagues from across the country. My expectation is that all three of us will have learned a great deal and come back with enthusiasm and ideas for strengthening WEAR and growing our retired and pre-retired membership. All of WEA-R's endeavors seek to also grow and strengthen WEA. We would appreciate hearing from you with ideas of how WEA Retired can help in your area. James Cash Penney said, "Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together." WEA-R is planning retirement seminars for the Southwest and Northwest Regions: April 6th in Worland and May 4th in Rock Springs. (see more about registering on page 11). During each seminar, a Wyoming Retirement System (WRS) counselor will present the basics of various benefi t plans. Jonathan Neher, an NEA endorsed fi nancial educator, will present information on Social Security and how your Social Security benefi ts and personal investments work together with your WRS pension. We are also planning on a local attorney to be there as well to talk about wills and trusts. I will be doing a brief overview of Medicare: Parts A and B, Medigap/Supplemental Insurance and Part D, prescription coverage. Please contact me for more information on these seminars @ vicki.swenson@yahoo.com. In January, 26 active and retired WEA members joined 40 other citizens at SHAPE Wyoming, a lobby training provided by the Equality State Policy Center. WEA staff was also a part of this well-presented and educational training. The following day, WEA-R held WEA-R Activate. We were pleased to be joined by WEA staff members. Greg Herold gave an overview of SHAPE Wyoming. Tammy Johnson, Government Relations Director, went over some current legislation. Judy Trohkimoinen gave a presentation on being a cyber-lobbyist. Judy gave us a good overview of the WEA's Become a WYOEA Lobbyist site as well as the Wyoming Legislature's wyoleg.gov site. Ron Sniffi n, Executive Director, fi lled us in on the work being done by the Coalition for a Healthy Retirement System with specifi c information about the Wyoming House bill to provide a WRS COLA. While the COLA bill did not pass, running the bill this year drew the legislators' attention to the dire need for a COLA. Please stay tuned to WEA updates and "calls to action" as we work for a COLA in the future. WEA active and retired members campaigned for education friendly candidates this last election cycle. WEA-PACE dollars supported many of these candidates. Without contribution from WEA and WEA-R members, there would be no WEA-PACE dollars. Last spring during our WEA-R Annual Meeting, attendees prepared a PACE mailing that was sent to our entire membership. We were thrilled with the results of this project. Our members donated $4000 for the 2018 WEA PACE campaign. During our 2019 Annual Meeting, March 29th, we will have prepared our second annual WEA-PACE letter for mailing. I encourage you to contribute to PACE. Perhaps your local association would consider doing a PACE fundraiser each year. Together we CAN and WILL make a diff erence in Wyoming's education landscape! "We cannot accomplish all we need to do without working together." Bill Richardson Please follow us on Facebook - "WyoEd-Retired "