Virtual Readers Needed for MEA Scholarship Program
Jan 22, 2021
The MEA Scholarship Fund Trustees are in the process of developing a virtual reading process for this year's MEA Scholarship. The goal is to start reading scholarship applications near the end of February and work through the first couple of weeks in March. If you have read MEA scholarship applications before, please understand that this process will take longer than normal, as the applications will be read virtually this year. You must be a lifetime NEA/MEA member to participate in this program.
If you are willing to dedicate your time during February and March to read scholarship applications, please sign up below. A virtual training will be given to new readers, as well as anyone who may need a refresher.
Specific reading dates have not been set at this time. The scholarship application deadline is February 18, 2021. Therefore, once all of the applications are received and processed, we will have a better idea of how many applications we have. More specific reading information will come after the February 18, 2021 application deadline.
If you would like to sign up to read, please do so by Wednesday, January 27, 2021.
For questions or concerns, please email Barb Hitchcock at bhitchcock@mea.org.
Thank you for your support!!
Sign up Link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/409084BAAAB2CAAFC1-meascholarship
Updates from ORS and COVID
Jan 20, 2021
Kay Walker-Telma, MEA-Retired President
Insurance updates from ORS
The Member Education Seminar recordings have been uploaded to the ORS YouTube page and also to all the health insurance provider microsites. Last week the retirement board approved extending cost share waivers for members due to the current pandemic. BCBSM will be extending waivers through March 31, 2020 for the following services:
• COVID-19 treatments
• Telehealth for both medical and behavioral health
• Office visits for both primary care and behavioral health
• In office diagnostic x-rays and labs
More from ORS
2020 1099-R available in miAccount
1099-R statements for 2020 are now available in miAccount. Log in and click on Pension Payments to access your statement. A printed statement will be mailed by the end of January.
Working After Retirement Legislation Passes with Immediate Effect
Public Act (PA) 267 of 2020 was signed into law December 29, 2020. PA 267 addresses rules concerning working after retirement as a substitute teacher and working in a critical shortage position. The critical shortage exemption has been extended until July 1, 2025 and removed the three-year maximum that a retiree can work in a critical shortage position.
A few resources for COVID-19 vaccine information
https://states.aarp.org/michigan/covid-19-vaccine-distribution
MEA-Retired Members Make a Difference
Dec 19, 2020
More of our members making a difference in Election 2020 Kay Walker-Telma, President MEA-Retired
Thank you to those who wrote to share your experiences helping elect pro-public education candidates. Our members are active, dedicated and crucial advocates for the cause. I am sure there are other unsung heroes who did not contact us; we thank YOU, too!
Bridget Cooper did phone banking through Turnout 2020 to contact swing state voters, and wrote 30 or so letters through the Sierra Club to get out the vote for pro-environment Democratic leadership in Pennsylvania. She also emailed numerous friends and relatives on a regular basis with info on how they can get involved in their own states. Post-election, she has written to voters in Georgia through the local Fems for Dems, has been attending regular zoom meetings of the local Blue Brigade, and attended a political event in downtown Lansing last summer, featuring Governor Whitmer and Doug Emhoff, Kamala Harris's husband.
Nancy Coscarelli worked tirelessly in NW Michigan for Biden as an unpaid volunteer. She got hundreds of Biden/Harris signs distributed, signed up lots of people for lists going forward, and probably spent 30-40 hours a week from mid-August on using her home as a collecting and distribution center.
Linda Dow and her husband (although not an MEA member, he teaches at a university and knows the importance of education) worked about a dozen times in various capacities — “contactless” lit drops, absentee ballot application drops, “manned” a candidate booth at the local farmers’ market, and wrote postcards. She happily participated in the parade of cars in Lansing in celebration of Biden’s win. She and her husband are now helping the efforts in Georgia by writing postcards thanks to the efforts of Mason Public Schools colleague Margaret Cottrill.
Bridget Fox says she was happy to be involved in this year’s election cycle, saying that this one in particular was very important to her, and to the future of this country as well as education. She was active with a number of involved with NEA initiatives, encouraging people to attend the When We All Vote online event and getting people to attend a Protect the Vote Rally in Lansing.
Debbie Rosenman has been VERY involved in the elections this past cycle since March. She will be featured in an upcoming issue of the Michigan Retirement Report. Among the countless activities, she signed up dozens of precinct delegates, delivered yard signs, wrote hundreds of postcards, sent thousands of texts, did over 700 door drops and estimates that she spent 65 hours a week on election- related efforts and would gladly do it all over again.
After attending the Women’s March in Washington DC in 2017, Steve Sadlier started an email group to inform and to encourage active/retired MEA members and others to become politically involved. Over 100 contacts are now on that list. In addition to being a generous financial contributor to various campaigns, he is both a precinct delegate and a Trustee on the Troy Democratic Club Executive Committee. Not only did Steve organize neighbors to safely drop off voter info door hangers and list of endorsed candidates in his precinct, her made weekly phone calls, wrote postcards, placed yard signs, sent texts, was a poll greeter on Election Day/Night and attended rallies. He was even in a TV commercial for State Representative Padma Kuppa.
South Oakland County Chapter President Larry Smartt participated in three MEA S&Rs for Barb Anness (House District 45), and victorious Congressional incumbents Andy Levin and Elissa Slotkin. He also helped with postcard writing, two phone banking sessions and donating to the campaigns of Anness and Slotkin. Smartt participated in an MDP phone bank for and was part of an MEA-Retired teleconference with Senator Peters. On Election Day he was a poll greeter for Anness at one of the precincts in Rochester Hills. Larry opened his wallet, contributing to the campaigns of Anness and Slotkin and has now done so for Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock in the Georgia Senate runoff elections.
Bill Williams made phone calls to Farmington Hills voters, friends and relatives for national, state and local candidates and donated generously to them as well. Bill said, “As it is now we still have divided governments along party lines BUT hopefully in the future [there will be] more civil, political agreements (laws) for all of us.”
According to MEA Director of Public Affairs Director Doug Pratt, members can still make a difference. Click on these links for more information.
Ossoff donations - https://secure.actblue.com/donate/tjorunoffabrams?refcode=NEA
Warnock donations - https://secure.actblue.com/donate/wfg_ff_lgw?refcode=NEA
Betsy Shirts - www.betsyed.com
AND – LAST BUT NOT LEAST: www.meavotes.org for your PAC contributions
A message from MEA-Retired President Kay Walker Telma
Dec 09, 2020
Good morning, MEA-Retired Friends,
Happy Wednesday from Traverse City, where we're still waiting for some real snow; According to one of our TV meteorologists who shared this information this morning, Traverse City had 35 inches of snow at this point in December last year, which is 10 times the amount recorded yesterday. When I type that, I am ALSO aware that I need to be careful about that for which I may wish. I haven't used a snow shovel since March, and I need to retrain myself to use it as I do every winter.
I hope this note finds you happy, healthy and safe. These are, indeed, challenging times, and while we're all adjusting, especially during the holiday season when we usually connect with family, I know I'm very fortunate not worrying how I might pay my bills or get my next meal. Early last week, I reluctantly cancelled my airline ticket to fly to see my sisters and families in Tennessee because of COVID. Thank goodness for Zoom.
I am writing to let you know that I have planned a mid-month issue of the monthly MEA-Retired Tribune for a few reasons, one of them being that I realized, sadly, that I had not properly recognized some individuals who worked hard to elect pro-public education candidates and get the vote out in the November election. While I did so with a few of our members in the issue last week, I know that I was remiss in not thanking others, who were, and are, busy making a difference. In some cases, I know about the work done by members and inadvertently forgot to include them while in others, I am not aware of the work that has been done.
As part of the mid-month issue, I want to make sure that unsung heroes of the election are recognized, appreciated and thanked for their efforts.
We had some tremendous victories last month, and they could not have happened without the work of many of our members. I want to make sure that members receive credit where credit is due!
Please drop me an email (at kaywalk54@gmail.com) about what you (and/or other members) have done by the end of this coming weekend so that we can give you the recognition you deserve, just in time for the mid-month special edition of the MEA-Retired Tribune. We have some interesting and inspiring stories waiting to be shared.
I look forward to hearing about and sharing more of the incredible work done by our members on behalf of pro-public education candidates at every level.
Take care, and thank you again!
Kay
Kay Walker Telma, President
MEA-Retired
231.631.4603
Reminder from ORS: Your pension statement is now paperless
Dec 03, 2020
If you are a current pension recipient and you are registered in miAccount, beginning in October 2020, ORS will no longer be automatically mailing paper direct deposit statements. You can still verify your deposits by logging in to your miAccount and choosing the Pension Payments tab and selecting Pension Payment History. You can still receive a paper direct deposit statement by choosing the Manage Communications tab and by selecting No to the prompt saying, “I would like to view my Direct Deposit statement in miAccount instead of receiving a paper statement.” For those who opted back in after Oct. 15, 2020, you will receive a paper statement beginning in December 2020.
