Photos, Action Session Materials Now Available for 2015 National Legislative Conference
July 17, 2015
If you missed last week’s National Legislative Conference in Washington, DC, or if you want to see more about it, visit the Alliance online! You can access photos from the event as well as the action session presentations on our conference web page.
In addition to hearing from dynamic speakers from Capitol Hill, the labor movement, and other allies, activists sharpened their skills in action sessions and met with more than 150 members of Congress.
“Thank you to everyone who attended last week’s conference,” said Barbara J. Easterling, President of the Alliance. “Union retirees are working together with community activists and the movement to ensure hardworking Americans retire with dignity is thriving across the country.”
Senate Reauthorizes Older Americans Act
The U.S. Senate passed S.192, the Older Americans Act (OAA) Reauthorization Act of 2015, on Thursday. The OAA provides essential services for nearly 12 million seniors such as nutrition programs, job training, caregiver support, transportation and protection from abuse and financial exploitation. The Senate passed the bill the same week that the nation celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the OAA; President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Older Americans Act into law in July 1965.
"The Alliance applauds yesterday's bipartisan action in the U.S. Senate reauthorizing the Older Americans Act," said Ruben Burks, Secretary-Treasurer of the Alliance. "The bill was supported by nearly 100 national organizations representing tens of millions of Americans, including the Alliance, the National Council on Aging, and Meals on Wheels America. Now we need the House of Representatives to do the same."
Tell the SEC: Disclose CEO-to-worker Pay Ratio!
Five years ago, as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform bill, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was directed to issue a rule requiring publically traded companies to disclose the ratio of their CEO to median worker pay. Due to the efforts of Wall Street lobbyists, this rule has been delayed. Now it appears that the SEC may finally act, and it’s important we make sure they feel the heat!
You can help put the pressure on the SEC to hold corporate CEOs more accountable and expose unfairness.
The AFL-CIO will also be delivering more than 120,000 petitions that activists have signed telling the SEC to implement this rule.
“Corporate executive compensation has risen dramatically over the last decade, while fair pay for the work we do has been denied.” said Alliance executive director Richard Fiesta. “We stand with our friends at the AFL-CIO in working to ensure all Americans are paid for the work they do. Increasing transparency is an important step to exposing the gap.”
Alliance Celebrates “Medicare Turns 50” and Social Security’s 80th Anniversary with More than 70 Events!
Alliance members are organizing events across the country to make this next month and a half the largest celebration of Medicare and Social Security in history. More than 40 of the events celebrate Medicare’s 50th birthday on July 30th, and the remainder will mark Social Security’s 80th birthday on August 14th. Find an event in your community here.
Alliance Letter to Senate: Don’t Pay for Highways with Social Security Funds
The Alliance sent a letter today to all members of the U.S. Senate opposing the use of Social Security benefits as a way to pay for the highway funding bill. The letter stresses that the use of Social Security funds robs seniors and disabled beneficiaries of their promised earned benefits to pay for unrelated programs.
North Carolina Alliance President Dworkin speaks at Voting Rights Teach-in
On Monday, NCARA President Bill Dworkin spoke at a Winston-Salem teach-in hosted by the NAACP and affiliated groups in support of the voting rights case being heard that day in District Court. The case is a challenge to North Carolina’s recently passed voting law that restricted early voting, ended same-day registration and reduced the number of registration programs for high school students. It is being challenged by the NAACP on the grounds that it disproportionally affects minority voters. After the teach-in, President Dworkin and other members of NCARA took part in a rally outside the courthouse.