It has been an eventful and busy year for retired teachers:
- We have held on to the state income tax exclusion for 2016 (25%) and 2017 (50%) despite a difficult budget session.
- We had two very successful luncheons, one in October with James Stirling of Stirling Benefits, and one in May with Kevin Graff, ARTC Lobbyist.
- A promising bill dealing with the WEP and social security fairness has been introduced in Congress
- The TRB will be switching dental plans to a new provider beginning in January. More details will be forthcoming in the coming months as they become available.
Here is a summary of Kevin Graff’s (ARTC Lobbyist) comments at our May luncheon:
Retired teachers in Connecticut scored a major legislative victory this year with the preservation of the income tax exclusion. Prior proposals to delay or reduce the implementation of this tax exclusion schedule were not successful, despite a challenging budget climate which put many state programs and tax exemptions at risk.
This success was a direct result of the hard work of ARTC and its Board of Directors and Legislative Committee, all of whom worked tirelessly this year up at the Capitol to spread the message of why the tax exclusion is important. The lobby day in April was very successful with over 25 legislators attending the group session in the Old Judiciary Room of the Capitol. In addition, ARTC leadership met directly with the Speaker of the House, the Governor’s Office and many other state legislators to lobby for our cause.
Our work is not over, however. The challenging budget climate is expected to continue in the foreseeable future and the tax exclusion for retired teachers will likely be targeted for budget savings next year as well
We are stronger together!
Join us. Become a member of SFCRTA (click here to join) and ARTC (go to artct.org).
Respectfully,
Frank Cooper, President