WHAT IS IRTAPAC?
1. The Illinois Retired Teachers Association (IRTA) is an organization of over 37,000 retired educators. The IRTAPAC is a way to protect our benefits. It provides financial support to legislators who support us. If members go to fundraisers for their legislators, they should contact their local president to get donations that can be presented to the legislators at the fundraiser.
2. The IRTAPAC Committee has a process to determine whom we support and endorse through a questionnaire that helps it assess the positions of Illinois legislative candidates. This year IRTA will be offering endorsements to Congressional as well as local candidates since the governor is trying to make an end run around the Illinois Constitution by lobbying Congress to pass a bill that would circumvent state constitutions with regard to pensions and nullify Article XIII in the Illinois Constitution, the pension protection clause. That questionnaire will be sent out to legislators, asking them to fill it out and return it if they would like to be considered for endorsement by IRTA. The questionnaire will be available for your review as soon as it is completed by the legislative committee. If you are interested in viewing the questionnaire, please contact the IRTA legislative member for WLSU, Vic Corder at 773- 857-2161 or [email protected]. There is currently $156,937 in the PAC Fund. The goal is to increase the number of people who participate via deduct for the PAC Fund. Deduct takes $1 a month from your pension check. Many of you may make a yearly contribution to the PAC; however, through deduct, our legislative committee knows exactly what to expect as far as funds are concerned. It is a more reliable measure of what funds can be disbursed for lobbying. Look for the form on the website www.irtaonline.org. The Mid-Term Elections in the U.S. will be especially critical in 2018 as all 435 House of Representative seats and 33 of the 100 Senate seats will be contested. In addition, elections for governor will be held in 36 states and 3 territories. In Illinois the General Assembly will have between 28 and 31 seats open. All of these new people will have to be educated regarding the revenue problem of the state rather than allowing them to blame pensions which we have earned and been promised.
2. The IRTAPAC Committee has a process to determine whom we support and endorse through a questionnaire that helps it assess the positions of Illinois legislative candidates. This year IRTA will be offering endorsements to Congressional as well as local candidates since the governor is trying to make an end run around the Illinois Constitution by lobbying Congress to pass a bill that would circumvent state constitutions with regard to pensions and nullify Article XIII in the Illinois Constitution, the pension protection clause. That questionnaire will be sent out to legislators, asking them to fill it out and return it if they would like to be considered for endorsement by IRTA. The questionnaire will be available for your review as soon as it is completed by the legislative committee. If you are interested in viewing the questionnaire, please contact the IRTA legislative member for WLSU, Vic Corder at 773- 857-2161 or [email protected]. There is currently $156,937 in the PAC Fund. The goal is to increase the number of people who participate via deduct for the PAC Fund. Deduct takes $1 a month from your pension check. Many of you may make a yearly contribution to the PAC; however, through deduct, our legislative committee knows exactly what to expect as far as funds are concerned. It is a more reliable measure of what funds can be disbursed for lobbying. Look for the form on the website www.irtaonline.org. The Mid-Term Elections in the U.S. will be especially critical in 2018 as all 435 House of Representative seats and 33 of the 100 Senate seats will be contested. In addition, elections for governor will be held in 36 states and 3 territories. In Illinois the General Assembly will have between 28 and 31 seats open. All of these new people will have to be educated regarding the revenue problem of the state rather than allowing them to blame pensions which we have earned and been promised.