IEA Regions 14 & 62 Retired Newsletter An Affiliate Volume 4 Sept 2011

Transcription

1 An Affiliate Volume 4 Sept 2011 REGIONS 14 & 62 IEA-Retired LUNCHEON MEETING Wednesday, September 14th, 2011, at 11:30 AM THE MOOSE LODGE, 614 IAA Drive, Bloomington We would like to invite you to join us for the first meeting of the school year. Our chapter serves retired teachers and ESPs in Region 14 (Bloomington-Normal) and Region 62 (McLean, Livingston, and parts of Woodford Counties). Please plan to attend and bring a new retiree or old retiree with you. The more the merrier!!!!! We have some varied and interesting programs planned for you this year, so mark your calendars and save the dates. September 14 Guided Tour of Ewing Castle Gardens by Heather Vozzella (lunch and meeting at Moose 1 st ) Jack Tucker, IEA Retired Chair, will be our guest at this meeting. November 9 Health Care Reform Act How it Affects You by Mark Terry, Assistant Director of Consumer Education for the Illinois Department of Insurance January 11 The Natural Wonders of Iceland by Dave and Janet Kilgus March 14 Cleaning Green by Suzanne Coons May 9 Remembering the Civil War 150 Years Ago by Dennis Cappitelli, Civil War Reenactor *********************************************************************** MEAL CHOICES Choices for lunch this month are (1) Pork Tenderloin Sandwich (2) Chicken Salad Croissant. There will also be soup and tossed salad. The price is $7.00 which is all inclusive, except for soda, which is $1.00. Please have exact change for your meal, if possible. Chris Albritton must have your reservation no later than September 5. Please call her at (309) or her at chrisalbritton@mac.com. If you leave a message, please leave your name and the sandwich choice you wish to order. VISIT OUR CHAPTER WEBSITE at:

2 Chapter Leaders for President Janet Kilgus , Vice-President Connie Lucki , Secretary Madelon Newsom Treasurer Carla Smith Past President Judy Duvall Membership Janet Beyer School Supply Project Connie Lucki Luncheon Reservations Chris Albritton Legislative Lou Ann Jacobs Newsletter Janet Kilgus Website Janet Kilgus & Lou Ann Jacobs Committee Chairs: Region Council Rep for Region 14 Region Council Rep for Region 62 Lou Ann Jacobs, Margaret Bratcher, Janet Kilgus Program Committee Officers, committee chairs, Tom Dunavin, Barb Gilhaus Important Reminder Please let Janet Kilgus know at or at if you have any changes in your address, phone number, or address. We can t stay in touch with you if we don t have the correct information. Newsletters by If you get this newsletter via US mail, please consider receiving your newsletter via . It saves us postage, saves paper, and helps keep our Earth Green. Almost 90 of our members already get their newsletters electronically. All you need to do is Janet Kilgus at djkilgus@frontier.com and you will be added to the list. Sept

3 Stay Connected and Join Our local dues cover the cost of mailings and programs. The membership form is on page 6 of this newsletter. Dues are only $6 a year and keep you informed about retirement and insurance issues and connected with other retirees. Plus you just might have some fun with us at our meetings good food, interesting programs, up-to-date information on retirement concerns, fellowship, community service, and door prizes. With the recent fiasco with TRIP insurance, you can t afford to not be in our information loop. More legislative challenges to pensions (for actives at this time) are promised in the fall veto session and insurance will be on the docket in the spring. Contact Lou Ann Jacobs at ljacobs363@aol.com to get on our communications group directory NOW. If you do not have e- mail, find a friend who does and ask them to keep you informed as up-to-date information comes to them via - perhaps provide them with stamps and self-addressed envelopes to make it easy for them to keep you in the loop too Why Join IEA/NEA Retired Retired membership continues your IEA/NEA Special Services and $1 million liability insurance for work in schools, which is very important if you plan to sub. 1. We have an elected IEA Council of Retirees and elected delegates to IEA and NEA RAs. We have a voice! 2. We contribute to IPACE and participate in lobbying and have a vote in recommendation meetings. 3. We serve on Region Councils. 4. Mentor Program mentors future teachers, assists at student conferences, collects used school supplies for auctions at student conferences, and works with campus chapters. 5. Living Library electronic file cabinets of our best teaching ideas, activities, lessons, etc. 6. Conferences annual IEA Retired conference, with CPDUs available, and participate in SLA and Midwest Leadership Conference, and other IEA and NEA events 7. We serve as NEA trainers and on TRS Board of Trustees 8. To stay informed at all levels IEA/NEA Retired represents all retirees (certified educators, ESPs, and higher ed) and their interests. WELCOME NEW RETIREES Welcome to those of you who are receiving this newsletter for the first time since retiring in the spring. Congratulations! We hope you will join us and come to our meetings. Local dues are only $6 a year. We also encourage you to join IEA/NEA Retired. There are several payment options: $30 annually, $2.50 a month out of your retirement check, a onetime life retired membership for $250, or life retired membership in 3 installments of $83.33 each. Contact Janet Kilgus at djkilgus@frontier.com or for more information and the form or get one at our next meeting. Sept

4 This and That from Janet Members in our chapter working for you on retirement issues and in IEA/NEA: Janet and Dave Kilgus attended the NEA-Retired Annual Meeting in Chicago in June. Janet Kilgus was an elected retired delegate to the NEA Representative Assembly in July in Chicago. Marie Dawson, a member of our chapter and an ISU instructor, was an active delegate to the RA. Barb Gilhaus worked at the IEA-Retired Membership Table at the IEA Summer Leadership Academy at ISU in late July. Thanks, Barb. Barb Gilhaus continues to be on the IEA Retired Council Budget Committee. Barb Gilhaus and Janet continue to be members of the IEA Retired Council. Barb is Secretary- Treasurer of the Council and Janet continues to coordinate the Living Library. Please let us know how we can better represent you. Janet is on the IEA New Business 16 (Pro-active Pension Protection) Implementation Committee. Lou Ann Jacobs is a member of the IEA-Retired Conference Committee. Lou Ann Jacobs will continue to keep us updated on Legislative concerns via . Let her know if you wish to be added to her group. (ljacobs363@aol.com) Mary Lou and Keith Hauge Scholarship Contributions Our chapter will continue to collect voluntary donations at our monthly meetings for the IEA-Retired Mary Lou and Keith Hauge Scholarship of $1500 to be presented each year in March at the IEA Representative Assembly to a child of an IEA member who plans to become a teacher. This is income tax deductible with a cancelled check as a receipt, so you may want to bring your checkbook to make a donation at 1 of our meetings. However, there will be a box at each meeting and cash donations are always welcome. Let s help those who have yet to join the profession in which we spent our lives working. We ll keep you informed of our running total in contributions. Let s help make a difference. SCHOOL SUPPLIES FOR NEEDY STUDENTS We encourage our members to bring school supplies or a couple of dollars to help out. Region 14, Region 62, and the Moose also contribute to this project and we thank them for their support. The recipient schools have been very appreciative to receive the supplies for their needy students. Please fill out the form below and bring to the meeting for the school supply drawing. Name of Deserving School City of School Person to deliver supplies Sept

5 The Illinois General Assembly is adjourned until the veto session in October and November. That does not mean inaction. Instead, legislators and others are working on proposals that may amend other bills that have passed or revive those bills that were not. There is a group looking at all state funded pensions due to the three-tiered pension bill that did not pass the House. The state s budget could be adjusted with more cuts proposed since revenues have not met expectations. There may not be enough revenue to fund the already passed budgets for services by state agencies so it is possible to see more programs reduced or cut. The governor vetoed a bill that would have changed policies that brought us the health insurance debacle and the lawsuit that caused the mad scramble for those who had to again change their insurance provider. That suit is going through the courts right now and therefore that situation remains very unsettled. The Committee on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA) met August 16. State officials received the go-ahead after this meeting to work out extensions of temporary contracts with Health Alliance and several other companies so health plans serving more Legislative Update from Lou Ann Jacobs than 100,000 state employees, retirees and dependents can continue through June 30. The 90-day contracts had been set to expire in late September. This is an issue that requires close watching as this may require fast action in the summer next year on the part of those of us using TRIP for health insurance. On the federal level, the Debt Ceiling compromise bill s aftermath will include more cuts to the federal budget. As citizens we need to carefully follow these proposed cuts as they could include programs and services to retirees such as Medicare. When Congress starts to make trillion dollar cut proposals it is a slash and burn mentality that drives these decisions. If we don t speak up and make our displeasure known it is assumed that we as taxpayers approve of their decisions. Don t be shy about speaking up. Be sure that this IEA Retired chapter has your up-to-date addresses. As soon as news arrives on these and other issues, it will be sent out as soon as possible. Contact Lou Ann Jacobs at ljacobs363@aol.com to get on our group directory or to update your address. Just for Fun Remember half the people you know are below average Change is inevitable, except from vending machines If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments. On the other hand, you have different fingers. What happens if you get scared half to death twice? Why do psychics have to ask your name? If everything is coming your way, you re in the wrong lane. Sept

6 All IEA-Retired members from Regions 14 & 62 are invited to join our chapter. If you are a member of IEA/NEA-R, it doesn t automatically make you a member of our group. Local dues are $6.00, which mainly covers our mailings. Please make checks payable to IEA-R Regions 14/62. Please pay for only one year at a time. If you have pre-paid, the label on your envelope will have the date through which you have paid. No date on your label means you owe for this year (Return this form with your check) NAME ADDRESS CITY Zip TELEPHONE NUMBER ADDRESS (Is this a new address yes or no Circle one.) I WISH TO RECEIVE CHAPTER NEWSLETTERS BY: (CHECK ONE) US MAIL (make sure your is included on the address line above) SPECIAL CONCERNS Please mail this form to Mrs. Carla Smith, Treasurer, 1215 Gettysburg Drive, Bloomington, IL or bring it to a Regions 14 & 62 Chapter meeting. If you have questions about your membership you can call Carla at Sept