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President Victor Pauly has informed the Texas Alliance for Retired Americans that the quarterly executive board meeting will begin at 11 AM on March 3 at the Texas AFL-CIO headquarters in Austin.Senior leaders from all over the state will review the past quarter and make plans for future activities. As always, building the organization to meet today's challenges is the main focus.
Among those challenges is the continuing assault on pensions and health care for seniors. Major union contracts are coming up in 2007, including the United Auto Workers negotiations with the Big 3 auto companies. In the 1940s and 50s, these negotiations set the gold standard for retiree benefits, but auto companies, like many American corporations today, are saying that they "need" to cut their benefits. The union has a special convention set for mid-March.
The Alliance for Retired Americans, our parent organization, says that health care spending may rise to 1/5 of all U.S. expenditures within another decade. Today, the number is closer to $1 out of every $6. Almost anyone would agree that health care costs will continue to rise, as they have for decades. There's no question who gets the money. It's the big insurance, health care, and pharmaceutical corporations. The big question is, who will pay?
Legislation to stop pharmaceutical firms from making deals to delay generic versions of drugs was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, Congressional Quarterly Weekly reported. But some Republicans expressed "misgivings" and indicated that without significant changes, they would oppose the bill - S. 316 - on the Senate floor. Sponsored by Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI), the changes are aimed at settlements between brand-name-drug companies and generics manufacturers in patent disputes. Generics usually cost less, and big-name pharmaceutical companies don't like them.
Lawmakers have introduced bills in both the House and the Senate that would allow grandparents and other relatives raising children of military service members killed in action to be beneficiaries of the government's $100,000 "death gratuity." The bills were introduced a day after a Washington Post story profiling a family who fell through the loopholes of the benefit rules.
If it seems that there is more legislation favoring seniors than opposing them, as had been the case generally since 1980, it's welcome news and probably true. The fact is, seniors played a tremendous role in the 2006 congressional elections. By working to elect better candidates, we get, and deserve, better legislation!
TARA Executive Officers look forward to input from Texas seniors. Let us know your issues and your ideas on solutions!
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