Brown County Retired Teachers has made a local name change to better reflect the members they represent. Texas Retirement System Annuitants, regardless of where in Texas they retired, are welcomed to become a part of BROWN COUNTY RETIRED SCHOOL EMPLOYEES. (BCRSE)
In 1936 the Texas Constitution established The Defined Benefit Plan for all public school retirees. This plan states, once retired, your monthly annuity amount will NEVER be less than the first one received, and it is guaranteed for life. BUT, there is no guarantee of a Cost of Living Adjustment. The following year the legislature passed a law establishing the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) as the public entity to administer the fund. It is governed by a nine-member trustee board appointed by the governor with the approval of the state senate.
The Texas Retired Teachers Association was organized in 1953 to support TRS retirees. In the beginning TRS could lobby for their members, but in 1995 that law was changed, and now they can only present financial facts. In other words, all they can do for us now is manage our funds with the approval of our elected state representatives and senators. Texas Retired Teachers Association is the ONLY organization in the state that lobbies for the continuation of our Defined Benefit Plan, maintaining or lowering our insurance premiums, or a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)!
Sometime there is confusion between the Texas Teacher Retirement System of Texas and Texas Retired Teachers Association. If you are receiving a monthly annuity from TRS, then you are a member of TRS of which there is no yearly membership fee. Their job is to ‘take care of the dollars’ we invested monthly while employed by a school district. Since 1995, they CANNOT lobby for any bills filed in the legislature. Their responsibility is to present factual financial information about the funds to the legislature and make wise investment choices for us – the members. Statistics show that 1 of every 20 Texans is impacted by TRS, whether that be the actual school retiree or their spouse or child receiving payment after the annuitants death.
TRTA was organized, and works tirelessly year round for its members by meeting with elected officials regarding the needs and desires of our members, lobbying for bills that will continue to improve benefits for current and future retirees, testifying on behalf of retirees and work with other education affiliated organizations on behalf of our retirees. In other words TRTA Leaders speak on your behalf to legislative officials and TRS.
Unless you just retired in the last year, you received a Supplemental Payment on January 14, 2022. That was filed, and worked by our current State Representative Dr. Glenn Rogers and lobbied for by members of TRTA. Without him, and our membership across the state working on our behalf, none of us would have received these much needed dollars.
Brown County Retired Teachers organized a local chapter in October 1970 and has worked tirelessly for over 50-years to make things better for retired Brown County Public School Retirees. Current members voted in February 2022 to make a name change to include ALL Public School Retirees that receive a monthly annuity from TRS.
We are now BROWN COUNTY RETIRED SCHOOL EMPLOYEES (BCRSE), and we want all TRS Annuitants to know they are wanted and needed in our organization. This includes office workers, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, maintenance workers, any teaching support staff, teachers, administrators. We were ‘all in it together’ on our campuses, and we should still be ‘all in it together!’ We urge you to join with us in working for a COLA for all retirees in the 2023 legislative session. State dues are $35 and local are $10. Your state dues can be deducted from your monthly annuity if you choose (just ask me how), but your $10 local dues are paid to BCRSE.
Approximately $25.5M dollars is paid to 950+ annuitants in Brown County yearly along with about $32 M paid for medical claims. These numbers clearly demonstrate the contribution that public school retirees make to our community. ANYONE can join, and support BCRSE! We currently have about 30 local businesses that give us their yearly support, and in return we list their business in our directory and encourage our members to “support our supporters!”
BCRSE would like to invite all active school personnel to join with us as we work to preserve and improve benefits for future retirees. For only $3.75 a month you are being proactive in protecting your future retirement. After all, you are contributing monthly to your ‘retirement account’ and retirees encourage you to be interested in what is being done with your funds and how the choices being made today could impact you in the future.
As BCRSE begins its new year, we are asking that you, whether a TRS Annuitant or a member of the community that supports public education and its retirees, consider joining with us to work for the enhancement of benefits for current retirees and those that are still working with our future, the young people on our campuses today,
On Wednesday May 18 from 9-2 BCRSE will be holding a Drive By Membership in Underwood’s Parking Lot. We encourage you to drop by and visit with the local leaders of our organization and JOIN WITH US BY PAYING YOUR DUES!
For more information, you can contact me at 325.642.9060 or [email protected].