Despo Varkados called the meeting to order at 9:00 AM, followed by the flag salute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Attending<\/strong>: Despo Varkados, Fran Person, Mina Milligan, Linda Bannon, Marty Erickson<\/p>\n\n\n\n Treasurer\u2019s Report<\/strong>: (Marty Erickson)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marty Erickson talked about the budget for next year. He changed the Mini-Grant entry to $7,000. Mina Milligan will send the budget out when she e-mails the minutes. It was discussed that WWSRA should pay for a luncheon guest. Marty Erickson will add a section in the budget to cover this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Minutes and Treasurer\u2019s Report<\/strong>: May 20, 2021 Minutes, and the current Treasurer\u2019s Report were approved as written.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Membership<\/strong>: (Margaret Snitzler) Currently, SWWSRA has 504 members. Last month we had 499 members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Health<\/strong>: (Fran Person) In October, Fran Person will receive information from the Health Authority. She will relay this material at our next meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Friendship<\/strong>: (Jane Madden read by Despo Varkados)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sympathy cards<\/p>\n\n\n\n Birthday Cards<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jane Madden reported that last month\u2019s death notices from the state will be coming soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Columbian<\/strong>: Despo Varkados reminded us that we need to make our name more visible in order to build up our membership. Marty Erickson reminded us that he sent a letter into the Columbian. The letter is available to read in the May minutes. Linda Bannon submitted our group for The Columbian Resource Guide, which should be coming out soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n October Meeting<\/strong>: It was decided that our general luncheon meeting in October will be changed to a zoom meeting. Mina Milligan will call Cascadia Tech to cancel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Register<\/strong>: Marty Erickson needs to register with the state and will use Linda Bannon as President and Wanita Filbin as Vice-President.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Call Members<\/strong>: It was decided that members need to be called about Zoom meetings and in person meetings. Our call people are Mina Milligan (list one), Donna Quesnell (list two), and Loretta Babbitt (list three).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Legislative Message<\/strong>: (Peter Diedrick)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bits & Pieces, August 11, 2021 <\/strong>Like the students you had in class, the legislature gets back to work the autumn. Policymakers and advocacy groups are now busy preparing for the 2022 Legislative Session starting January 10. Legislators can pre-file bills as early as December 13, so bill action will be starting roughly 70 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WSSRA\u2019s Plan 1 COLA work continues. The legislative Select Committee on Pension Policy is running cost estimates on Plan 1 COLA proposals for the next legislative session. WSSRA is asking the Committee to have a public hearing on a proposal at the October 19 SCPP meeting. The Washington Education Association \u2013 Retired and the Retired Public Employees Council of Washington are in lockstep with this request. At the executive branch, WSSRA\u2019s political team is setting up meetings with the Governor\u2019s budget director and Women\u2019s Commission to have a COLA included in the Governor\u2019s 2022-2023 budget proposal. That proposal will be sent to legislators in December and will be the blueprint legislators use to craft their final budget for 2022-2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WSSRA is purchasing new legislative software \u2013 Voter Voice. It will automatically identify the legislative districts of our members. In the next legislative session have a special page on our website where WSSRA members can compose a legislative message and the computer program will send it to the appropriate legislators. Training and demonstrations will be available closer to the legislative session.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSavings Account Revenue<\/td> $10,051.45<\/td><\/tr> Checking<\/td> $86.98<\/td><\/tr> 12 Month Certificate<\/td> $3124.27<\/td><\/tr> Scholarship Account<\/td> $3032.03<\/td><\/tr> Net Worth to Date<\/td> $16,294.73<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n