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The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents January 2025 We Remember Norma Kelsey Contributions from Maureen Bo, Cindy Schu, Nancy Greenup, and David Kelsey The Puget Sound area labor and social justice movements lost a fierce activist with the passing of Norma Kelsey on September 21, 2024, at age 89. Norma was a leader of the Office and Professional Employees Union Local 8 (Secretary-Treasurer 1985-1989, President 1989-2001) and worked for Plumbers Local 32 and Laborers Local 440 for many years. Norma also held various leadership positions with El Centro de la Raza, Mothers for Police Accountability, Coalition of Labor Union Women, and the Martin Luther King County Labor Council. Norma served on a citizens’ panel of the Seattle City Council’s World Trade Organization Accountability Review Committee and was a member of Puget Sound Alliance for Retired Americans (now PSARA). Norma was a true trade unionist and believed in the movement with her heart and soul. Norma was born September 19, 1935, in Independence, Kansas. Her grandparents settled there years before, having arrived in a covered wagon. In her youth she was a member of the Salvation Army Church where she was taught that her role in life should be to help others. Later, when she began to work for unions, she recognized a familiar belief system of helping and giving to others. She brought those values full strength to her work for unions and the community. Norma was married at age 16, but this brutal first marriage ended in divorce. She later married Bob Kelsey and moved to California and eventually to Washington, where they raised four children and several adopted and foster children. Norma and Bob, usually with their son Jack, traveled extensively to Nicaragua, Venezuela, the Philippines, Haiti, and throughout Europe and Central America. The travel often involved reconnecting with former refugees who had fled violence in their home countries and who had been aided by Bob and Norma when seeking housing and assistance in the United States. Norma provided a key leadership role in the mid-1980’s, when a group of women, led by former Local 8 Board Member Maureen Bo (who after the revolution was elected Business Manager), decided their union was headed in the wrong direction. Norma’s kindness, vision, and belief in social justice and creating a humane community helped to provide a focus for their shared work. Maureen, Norma, Nancy Greenup, and Janet Graham, along with others, ousted Local 8’s leadership at the time. They fought off a hard push for an ill-advised merger with another union, which would have stripped Local 8 of its own direction. Instead, they reshaped their local into the vibrant, progressive labor union it is today. These founding mothers focused on building a transparent, fiscally responsible, and democratically run local with organizing made a top priority. Norma’s labor friends remember her passion and kindness, which will live on in so many of the hearts she touched. Her determination was unmatched. And she never lost sight of the important goals she had for a more just world. Norma taught us endless lessons in perseverance with dignity. She was truly one of a kind. The world is a better place because of her. < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents February 2026 Capitol Outlook 2026 A Peak Inside Pam Crone The 2026 Washington State Legislature commenced its 60-day “short” session January 12. Reflection My last year lobbying was the 2020 legislative session. I did not know at the time it would be my last session, with all of us heading home in March. It was the beginning of the pandemic and, my, oh my, how things would change. The next two legislative sessions, 2021 and 2022, were conducted remotely, forever changing the way advocates and legislators did their work. There was both more access and less. How could that be? More access because Washingtonians could testify in hearings from anywhere using their at-home computers or phones. Testifying and having your voice heard would not require a trek up and down I-5 or over I-90 to do so. Less access because health concerns drove legislators to limit in-person meetings with advocates and each other. Something deeply human is lost without that person-to-person contact. But what I remember at the beginning of that last session and the 19 that preceded it was the air of excitement, anticipation, and yes, some dread at embarking on the exhausting legislative marathon. The second Monday in January had the feel of the beginning of a new school term, seeing old friends and the classroom bullies, and gearing up for academic endeavors and a new season of extracurricular activities. In that spirit of reminiscence, here is a haiku for you. A fluttering heart As legislators convene May they do justice PSARA Makes Good on its Commitment PSARA members were out of the gate running in December and early January, meeting with their legislators to advocate for “leveling the playing field,” progressive revenues, affordable housing, climate justice, immigrant fairness and safety, and much more. (See our PSARA legislative webpage for our updated agenda and talking points). Our members met with 25 legislators and/or staff from 11 districts. District leads were Laurie Weidner, Richard Burton, Amy Davis, Bobby Righi, Marilyn Watkins, Angie Bartels, Karen Richter, Vicky Stanich, France Giddings, Tim Burns, Lisa Dekker, Pam and Tom Lux, and Ronnie Schure. It was an Impressive showing pre-session. District leads scheduled the legislator meetings, organized PSARA members in their respective districts, convened planning sessions to prepare for the meetings, and shared information with me, and provided any needed follow up with the legislators. We met our goal of meeting with our legislators early before the crush of a short 60-day session to lay out our 2026 policy priorities. What You Have Always Wanted to Know and Didn’t Know You Wanted to Know Here we go. Test yourself. Take a gander here for the key. How long does the Governor have, before signing a bill passed by the Legislature? To what does “on the Bar” refer? To what does “they are in caucus, again ” refer? How is the House Speaker elected Is the Senate Majority Leader chosen the same way? Blast from the past: what is a Gulchette? Who gets to eat in the Senate Dining Room Making Good Trouble We at PSARA know how to make good trouble. Advocacy and activism begin with being informed. PSARA provides the tools to do that. You can find our dedicated legislative page on the psara.org website. You will find our legislative agenda, talking points on our priorities, a weekly calendar of hearings of interest, and bill links to sign in your support or opposition. Throughout the session, our intrepid Executive Director, Mike Andrew, will send out alerts asking you to contact your legislators. We won’t flood you with alerts so when you do hear from us … it matters. If you are interested in being a part of or contributing to our Government Relations Committee, let Mike know. That’s it for now. Signing off until March. Pam Crone is a retired lobbyist and Chair of PSARA's Government Relations Committee (GRC). Michael Righi is a retired economics professor and a member of the Retiree Advocate Editorial Board. < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents April 2026 PSARA Rapid Response Network To state the obvious, we are in crisis, not just in the US but around the world. As conditions get more dire, we will be called on more frequently to support the threat to our rights and against the growth of fascism. Whether it's protesting an attack on our social safety net, against ICE raging through our community, or standing against or supporting legislative hearings on issues that impact our daily lives, our physical presence will be invaluable. In light of all this, PSARA is establishing an emergency response network, sometimes called a flying squad, to be able to respond to last minute calls. So how would this work? We’re probably all old enough to remember phone trees as a way of communicating last minute messages. With the advent of cell phones and group texts, this process is even easier: you sign up to be part of the Network; your phone number is added to the group text; when an action request comes in, a text would go out to the entire group; you would respond with a yes/no, thumbs up/thumbs down; you would show up at the action with your PSARA comrades. Interested? Let us know and we’ll add you to the list & be ready to hit the streets! All you have to do is email organizer@psara.org and let us know your name and phone number. Don't worry, this information will be kept confidential. < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents February 2025 Medicare Advantage Gaming the System Diane Archer UnitedHealth now employs or contracts with about 10 percent of the physicians in the US. It’s one way UnitedHealth maximizes Medicare Advantage profits, report Anna Wilde Mathews, Christopher Weaver, and Tom McGinty for the Wall Street Journal. UnitedHealth incentivizes its physicians to include additional diagnoses codes on Medicare Advantage patient records, which enables UnitedHealth to receive higher Medicare payments. UnitedHealth advises its physicians to check their Medicare Advantage patients for certain diagnoses. So, in Eu- gene, Oregon, one physician explained that before he could move from one patient to another, he must enter into a software system whether his patient had any of a list of diagnoses. In many cases, the diagnoses had nothing to do with the patient, such as hyperaldosteronism, which is a hormone condition related to high blood pressure. Rather than ensuring their doctors focus on treating Medicare Advantage patients for the conditions these patients are reporting, UnitedHealth is focused on having its doctors document as many conditions as possible that will increase the company’s Medicare payments. UnitedHealth does nothing to ensure its doctors document additional conditions for their patients in traditional Medicare. That’s not surprising. Because of the way Medicare pays insurers in Medicare Advantage, adding diagnoses codes to traditional Medicare patient records would hurt UnitedHealth financially. The Wall Street Journal found that patients leaving traditional Medicare for Medicare Advantage in the three years ending 2022 had many more diagnoses in their medical records once they were in Medicare Advantage. Their “sickness scores” typically increased 55 percent. To put it succinctly, once in Medicare Advantage, from a sickness perspective, patients effectively had HIV and breast cancer. While UnitedHealth does more than other insurers to raise sickness scores for its Medicare Advantage patients, other insurers raised scores by 30 percent for new patients in Medicare Advantage. There is no evidence what- soever that entering more diagnoses into Medicare Advantage enrollees’ medical records benefits patients in any way. In fact, UnitedHealth doctors do not use the company’s diagnoses software for patients outside of Medicare Advantage. By the Wall Street Journal’s calculations, United’s Medicare Advantage enrollees who saw UnitedHealth physicians had such high sickness scores that UnitedHealth benefited financially to the tune of $4.6 billion over three years. This insurer gaming of the Medicare payment system must end. Among other things, it is gouging taxpayers, depleting the Medicare Trust Fund, and driving up Medicare Part B premiums. This article summarizes an investigative piece first published in the Wall Street Journal. This article appeared in Diane Archer’s January 11 Just Care weekly newsletter. Diane Archer is the founder and President of Just Care USA, and a senior advisor to Social Security Works for Medicare policy. < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents May 2025 No Power Greater: The Life and Times of George Meyers Mike Andrew Those of us who know Tim Wheeler know how much he loves a good story. And with No Power Greater, he’s offered us a whole book full of good stories. The main narrative follows the life of George Aloysius Meyers from his birth into a mine worker’s family in 1912 to his death in 1999. Other stories inter- sect with and branch off of Meyers’ story, so by the time we’ve finished the book we realize we’ve read a history of the 20th Century American labor movement. As a boy, Meyers met Mother Jones, the legendary mine worker organizer. As a young man, he worked as a CIO organizer under John L. Lewis. On his travels for the CIO, he met and befriended Florence Reese, the author of the classic labor song “Which Side Are You On?” and her husband, Sam. Later, as Labor Secretary of the Communist Party (CPUSA), he met often with William Winpisinger, the militant president of the Machinists Union (IAM). Tim Wheeler himself is part of Meyers’ story. Along with his wife, Joyce Provost Wheeler, a teacher and AFT activist, Tim lived just down the street from Meyers in Baltimore. Tim was then the Washington, DC, Bureau Chief of CPUSA’s Daily World newspaper. Our own Will Parry, his wife, Louise, and Irene Hull are part of Meyers’ story too. Hundreds of rank-and-file labor leaders filled Meyers’ life and they come to life again in the pages of Tim’s book. George Meyers had a gift for friendship, but not every labor leader was his friend. George Meany, the AFL-CIO president who liked to brag that he’d never walked a picket line, is a looming, hostile presence throughout the later chapters of the book. So is Al Shanker, the divisive president of the AFT. Did I mention that George Meyers was a Communist? Had he been anything else, a Republican maybe, his life would have been much different. Meyers joined the CPUSA in 1939. Although he was still young, only 27, he was by then an experienced labor organizer and the first president of the Maryland CIO. Looking back at Meyers’ early life, it seems natural he would join the CPUSA. His father was a miner who would die of black lung disease. Meyers himself started out working in a textile mill and developed brown lung from breathing in cotton fibers and toxic chemicals. Labor organizing was a dangerous business when Meyers was young. Mine owners used both Baldwin-Felts “detectives” and the Ku Klux Klan as strike breakers. Meyers remembered that the Klan paraded through their neighborhood every Saturday night, while his family sat on their front porch and taunted them. Young labor organizers like Meyers faced down those threats to build the CIO, fight for social legislation like the Social Security Act, and against grow- ing fascism. In 1942, Meyers volunteered to fight fascism in World War II. After the war, with fascism defeated – only temporarily, as we now see – and the USA emerging as the world’s leading capitalist power, the US government abandoned its wartime alliance with the USSR and turned on American communists. Leftist-led unions were expelled from the CIO and activists were hunted by the FBI and HUAC (the House Un- American Activities Committee). Meyers served 38 months in federal prison after a conviction under the Smith Act, allegedly for advocating the overthrow of the US government. Nevertheless, No Power Greater is a book full of optimism. After leaving federal prison, Meyers immediately set about rebuilding communist organizations throughout the South. New union leaders stepped forward. For every George Meany, there’s a hundred George Meyers. For every Al Shanker, there’s a hundred Joyce Provost Wheelers. According to Tim, we owe this remarkable book to an impulse to “put his affairs in order” after his 82nd birthday. While looking for old sneakers to toss out, Tim discovered a half-forgotten box of Meyers’ papers, all typed by Tim’s wife, Joyce. “I decided then and there that putting my personal affairs in order can wait,” Tim writes. “I am still of sound mind and body. Before I die, I must write this book.” And so he did. The book’s title comes from the labor anthem “Solidarity Forever.” When the union’s inspiration Through the workers’ blood shall run There can be no power greater Anywhere beneath the sun… Mike Andrew is the Editor of the Advocate and Executive Director of PSARA < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents May 2025 Remember-ing Retired House Speaker Frank Chopper Frank was a long-time member of PSARA. He was extraordinarily gracious and generous with his time when PSARA members came to lobby day in Olympia. Below are some remembrances of Frank from PSARA leaders. Jeff Johnson Jeff is the retired president of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL- CIO, and presently serves as the co-president of PSARA: On November 3, 1998, Initiative 688, written and backed by labor, raised Washington’s state minimum wage to the highest in the country and was the first minimum wage to be indexed to inflation. Passing by 66 percent, and bringing out an additional 3 percent of the vote, broke Republican control of the House, creating a 49-49 tie and making Frank Chopp Co-Speaker of the House of Representatives. In March of 2001, labor convinced Tom Campbell (R-Spanaway) to cast his vote for Frank’s budget, passing the first Democratic budget in seven years, essentially giving Frank control of the House. In November, 2001, labor-supported candidate Brian Sullivan won a special election in the 21st LD, giving Frank and the Democrats full control of the state House. Frank liked to tell the story of how his grandparents met on a picket line outside the mines in Roslyn, WA. In 2002 he was able to honor that history by helping to shepherd four collective bargaining bills through the legislature, giving full collective bargaining rights to state employees and giving over 60,000 workers a real voice at the workplace. Frank was a complex man, and not always easy to work with. But he was a champion for the poor and for afford- able housing. His leadership at the Freemont Public Association (Solid Ground) and the Washington State legislature has left an indelible mark on the less fortunate among us. Frank had so much more he wanted to give. He will be missed. Sretan put, voda Frank Chopp! Marily Watkins Marilyn is on the Board of the PSARA Education Fund and on PSARA's Government Relations Committee. She retired as the Policy Director of the Economic Opportunity Institute: Frank was a master of the long game. In 2002, with our state in recession and facing a budget shortfall, he taught me a key lesson for winning new policy. The coalition I worked with was pushing an early version of paid family and medical leave. When we met with Frank, he said there was no way he could pass it that year. But instead of leaving it there, he added, “Come back with something I can pass.” We came back with the Family Care Act, and it did pass. Since then, Washington workers have had the right to use their sick leave or any other employer-provided paid time off to care for a sick family member. It was still a long path to winning comprehensive paid family and medical leave, but along the way, the Washington Work and Family Coalition, partnering with local coalitions, helped win paid sick leave for all workers in Seattle, Spokane, and Tacoma, then statewide. Finally, in 2017, Speaker Chopp presided over passage of our state’s landmark paid family and medical leave program. These advances have served as models for other states, helping mil- lions of workers and families across the country. Pam Crone Pam is the chairperson of PSARA’s Government Relations Committee and a retired lobbyist for PSARA: I lobbied for 20 years in the Washington State Legislature. Seventeen of those years were during Frank’s long tenure as House Speaker. Being summoned to Frank’s office has been likened to getting called to the principal’s office in junior high. The reason for the summons wasn’t always clear beforehand. Perhaps you had done some- thing really great or terribly wrong? Approaching the Speaker’s Office hop-ing for the former, the experience was always significant, and one walked out abundantly clear as to what the expectations were for a future course of action. Frank exuded energy and power. No one worked harder in the Legislature than he did. His legislative successes were legion, and he knew how to communicate those successes to Washingtonians, ensuring healthy majorities session after session. I always respected and admired how he mentored ranks of smart and eager young people, providing them a front-row seat in making policy and navigating politics. I cared for him deeply and the loss is great. Angie Bartels Angie is PSARA’s Membership Vice President: Frank Chopp was a very close friend and colleague of my husband, Tony Lee, deceased. While Frank was Speaker of the House, he recruited Tony to work at Solid Ground and lead the Statewide Poverty Action Network as the director and lead advocate. Together, these two incredibly talented men worked tirelessly (with others of course) over many years drafting legislation and garnering the support of other state legislators to pass laws in support of low-income residents of our state. This included health care, employment, workforce training, union support, early childhood education, equity in education, prisoner’s rights, services and rights for immigrants, and so much more. Occasionally we had large meetings at our house of advocates and supporters. I remember one occasion when Frank was sponsoring legislation to increase and improve mental health services. He gave a very emotional speech about the need for services to ease the suffering of the people affected and their families. As he spoke about his own sister’s mental health condition and how it affected their family, Frank wept. Through his tears, or in spite of them, Frank spoke boldly and valiantly of the work he was preparing in the legislature. I was very moved by this presentation, and it changed how I viewed Frank. His persona, in my eyes, of the mythical hero melded with the sensitive human being that he was. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who has fought harder or given more of himself for the people of the state of Washington. Rest in peace Frank. Your legacy lives on. < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents August 2025 Social Security: A detailed behind-the-curtain look at what's going on, posted by a Social Security Administration worker Anonymous I have not posted about my federal agency in a while. Here is why: we lost 94% of the staff in my regional office in the last two and half months. An office of 550 is now less than 2 dozen. One group of folks retired or quit. Another group were given directed reassignments to headquarters components (but did not have to physically move). A third (largest) group was bullied and pressured into “volunteering” to take front-line, public-facing jobs. Many of these folks had never worked in direct service before, and others took significant downgrades to positions from which they were promoted years or even decades before. So basically we’ve been in an inadvertent devolution exercise for the past 3 months. It’s exhausting and traumatic. I’m simultaneously enraged and grieving all of the time. All of my energy is spent on – I don’t even know what. Survival? Putting out fires? Offloading work? Responding to emails that 550 staff used to respond to? Here is a long catch-up post. The Trump administration continues to assert that Social Security is not being touched and that there have been no field office closures. While it is true that there have not been field office closures recently, there are closures and these are completely destroying the infrastructure of the agency. In order to be invisible to the public, the cuts are happening at regional and national offices that provide support to our front line staff. The destruction at SSA is designed to be off the public radar. What is happening at SSA is happening to other agencies as well – like NPS, HUD, EPA, etc. Here is some granular info: SSA used to have 10 regional offices. We are now down to 4. The 4 remaining are in hospice care. We no longer have enough staff to even triage. In my newly consolidated region, we had 550 employees in March. We now have less than 24. The remaining two dozen staff are trying to support the operations of 10,000 employees in 20 states. The other three remaining regional offices are similarly gutted. What do employees in regional offices do? These mission critical employees support the front lines; we provide computer hardware and software support, provide policy advice and guidance, train new employees, train journey level employees on new or changing policies and regulations, work with landlords and GSA, contract with guards, hire new staff, oversee labor and employee relations, allocate budget, overtime, and staffing, monitor spending, monitor for fraud, etc. We will not properly function without regional offices. We are being dismantled, physically and organizationally. Employees are psychologically gutted. Deep grief, anger, distrust. Russel Vought's plan to traumatize the workforce is working. Everyday there is an employee on the other end of the phone or video call that is crying, or telling me about their sky-rocketing blood pressure, about new anti-depressants and anti-anxiety prescriptions or increasing dosages, about their family begging them to quit or retire because it is not worth their health. It is frustrating that both the media and congressional staff keep asking only about how cuts are impacting the public. They are missing the bigger picture. It’s hard to explain what Social Security regional offices do as a lot of it is behind the scenes. We don’t interview the public or process claims, but here are some things we (used to) do that directly impacted payments and prevented fraud. As a result they are not getting done at all. Troubleshoot W2s and FICA tax issues with employers – these are both mom & pop small businesses as well as large employers like Boeing and Amazon. Interface with the state governments on Food Stamps, SNAP, WASHCAP, etc. Coordinate with state child support enforcement on garnishments. Field inquiries from state L&I on worker’s comp issues. Manage Section 218 agreements that state and local entities use to with- hold Social Security taxes from wages. Work with fisheries, farmers, and advocate groups on special Social Security number applications and non-work number cases. Liaison with state vocational rehabilitation. Work with states on Medicaid pass- along agreements. Interface with CMS and state healthcare entities on Medicare. Work with jails to support pre-release agreements as well as to obtain info when individuals are incarcerated and not entitled to benefits. Negotiate with state and local governments to obtain safe and protected data exchange agreements. Resolve attorney fee issues with disability attorneys. Ensure that Social Security over- payments are not discharged and are recouped in bankruptcy cases. Respond to FOIA requests. Headquarters components are also being hollowed out. Not only have they also lost employees to DRP, VSIP, and reassignments, they have been massively reorganized to the extent that there is no longer structural integrity. Staff have been scattered. Workloads are likewise scattered but have not always followed the staff that were scattered. We no longer know who “owns” what. Workload X used to be Department A’s responsibility but Department A is now Department Omega and the group who used to run it in Department A are no longer there. The work may still be in Department Omega or it could have moved to Department B except Department B is now gone too and maybe it’s in Department Beta? The regional offices are trying to move work to headquarters since there is no one left in regional offices but we don’t know who is left and where anything remains in headquarters either. All of this is invisible to the public because field offices continue to function at the moment. It is insidious. We are still in a freefall and haven’t hit bottom yet. There is no talk of rebuilding. We are not there. Elon may have left, but DOGE has not. < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents January 2026 US House Returns to the 1950s with “Anti-Socialist” Resolution 86 Dems join GOP to Condemn the “Horrors of Socialism” Mike Andrew On November 21, the US House of Representatives voted 285-98 to pass a resolution titled “Denouncing the Horrors of Socialism.” The text starts off with lurid – and historically inaccurate – charges of death, devastation, and ruin allegedly flowing from socialism, and ends with the declaration that “Congress denounces socialism in all its forms, and opposes the implementation of socialist policies in the United States.” It’s as if Congress went to sleep on November 20, 2025, and woke up on November 21, 1950. The resolution was introduced by Maria Salazar, representing a district including parts of Miami and surrounding suburbs, and cosponsored by 63 other Republicans. Rep. Salazar is the daughter of Gusanos who fled Cuba after the revolution. Given her family’s origins, it’s easy to see where this passage comes from: “[T]he Castro regime in Cuba expropriated the land of Cuban farmers and the businesses of Cuban entrepreneurs, stealing their possessions and their livelihoods, and exiling millions with nothing but the clothes on their backs…” In simple language, “the Cuban revolution took away my family’s property and wealth, therefore I hate socialism.” But that happened 66 years ago. Why this resolution, and why now? Rep. Mike Simpson, Republican from Idaho, offers a clue. "Now more than ever, with newly elected leaders like Zohran Mamdani in New York, it is crucial we remain vigilant against this failed ideology,” he said in a press release after the vote. “America has always been the guiding light of freedom, and socialism is far from that founding principle.” Beyond smearing popular democratic socialists like Mamdani, it’s clear that the Trump administration is preparing for war against Venezuela – which was specifically condemned in the resolution – and ratcheting up tensions with China. So this document also serves to justify future US military actions against those “horrible socialists.” The House roll call indicates that 86 Democrats teamed up with Republicans to vote Yes on this measure. Among them were senior leaders like Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Katherine Clark, and Jim Clyburn, along with a long list of pro-business suburban Democrats such as Pete Aguilar, Ami Bera, Gil Cisneros, and Josh Gottheimer. In the Washington State delegation, both Republicans voted Yes. They were joined by three Democrats – Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, Kim Schrier, and Marilyn Strickland. Three Democrats voted No – Pramila Jayapal, Emily Randall, and Adam Smith. Two more Democrats – Suzan DelBene and Rick Larsen – did not vote, along with 52 other Representatives. Many of the most senior House Democrats are apparently still hostile to bold, progressive young candidates like Mamdani, and Seattle’s Katie Wilson, and still afraid of their rising popularity. At the same time, many Democrats seem to agree – at least tacitly – with Trump’s “America First” foreign policy. That means that we have some work to do. Our elected representatives should understand that it’s not acceptable to join with the far right and vote for right-wing propaganda pieces like this resolution. And if they don’t understand it now, they should be made to understand. They should also understand that candidates like Mamdani and Wilson didn’t win their races because they tricked the voters into casting ballots for sinister socialist schemes. They won because they offered practical ways to make people’s lives better – free bus service, publicly-owned grocery stores, more social housing. Most people think Hakeem Jeffries will become Speaker after the 2026 Congressional elections. Let him make people’s lives better. Then he can condemn socialism all he wants. < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents August 2025 Here Is a Guide to Make it Easy to Submit Comments Opposing EPA Revoking the Endangerment Finding on Greenhouse Gases Anne Shields Comments Due by Sept 15. Let’s Overwhelm Their Inbox! rump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a proposal to revoke the endangerment finding and vehicle emission standards for greenhouse gases (GHG). The proposal relies on fringe science and misinterpretations of the law tojustify a conclusion that the EPA should not regulate GHG. Here is the link to submit your comment to EPA by September 15: https://www.regulations.gov/commen ton/EPA-HQ-OAR-2025-0194-0093 Mom’s Clean Air Force has provided a template and examples that you can use in writing your comments: 1. Introduction & ask: My name is [NAME] and I’m from [STATE]. I urge EPA not to rescind the Endangerment Finding. This rule is crucial to protect our communities and future generations from the impacts of climate-warming pollution. 2. Tell your story: Share how extreme weather and cli- mate change is impacting you and your family, your community, your future, or yourchildren’s future. How have you and your family and community been impacted by wildfires, floods, extreme heat, orother extreme weather? What do those impacts look like? 3. Include a few facts, for example: · Climate change is caused by green- house gases emitted from burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas.These gases trap heat in the atmosphere and warm the planet, supercharging dangerous extreme weather. · More intense and more common extreme weather can lead to worsened asthma, allergies, respiratoryillnesses, adverse birth outcomes, Lyme disease, economic costs, and much more. · In 2024, the US had 27 climate disasters that each caused over $1 billion in damages( Climate.gov ). · Today’s children are expected to face 3 times more extreme weather disasters than their grandparents(Earth. org). 4. Close your comments by restating your opposition: Once again, I strongly oppose this proposal to rescind the Endangerment Finding. The EPA needs to fulfill its mission of protecting human health and the environment. To learn more: See Third Act’s online Action Alert about EPA’s authority and obligation to limit deadly greenhouse gases: https://thirdact.org/act/urgent-tell-the- epa-dont-gut-the-climate-rule-that- protects-our-health-and-safety/ Earth Justice has a brief, straightforward legal analysis describing what revoking the rule would mean: https://earthjustice.org/experts/hana-vizcarra/a-legal-analysis-of-the-trump-epas-plan-to-revoke-the-endangerment-finding Anne Shields is a member of Third Act and an active member of PSARA's Climate and Environmental Justice Committee < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents February 2025 Trump and His Neighbors to the South Cindy Domingo Donald Trump announced that Florida Senator Marco Rubio is his choice for Secretary of State and Carlos Trujillo for Assistant Secretary of State. This signals that the Trump administration will pursue a foreign policy in the Caribbean and Latin America focused on increased sanctions, regime change, and increased economic suffering for the peoples to our south who have cho- sen an alternative form of government away from capitalism. Rubio and Trujillo are both Cuban Americans and have a long history of disdain for the leaders of Caribbean and Latin American countries who advocate for their country’s sovereignty. Trujillo was Trump’s US Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), an international body that has displayed hostility especially towards Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. Rubio was Trump's lead advisor, along with Senator Bob Menendez, in crafting Cuba policy during Trump’s first term. During that term, Trump reversed many of former President Barack Obama’s Cuba policies that re-established diplomatic and people-to-people relations with Cuba. This included policies that relaxed the travel restrictions for US- people, which resulted in over 500,000 people from the US traveling to Cuba by expanded air travel and cruise ships. The most damaging policy that Trump and Rubio instituted was placing Cuba on the US list of state sponsors of terrorism. This policy increases restrictions on Cuban trade and access to foreign markets and banking systems. It continues to devastate the Cuban economy. Despite international pressure for Biden to remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, Biden only announced on January 14, 2025, that Cuba would finally be removed on January 29, since there was no mate- rial basis for Cuba to remain on the list. This decision was made after a massive international campaign and the intervention of Pope Francis. (However, by the time this article goes to print, this policy will undoubtedly be reversed by Trump at the advice of Rubio and other conservative Cuban American Trump advisors before it can get implement- ed.) In 2019, Trump recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as its president, despite Nicholas Maduro’s election. Today, even though Maduro was recently elected president again, Biden has disputed the Venezuelan election and recognized Edmundo Gonzalez as president-elect, a move that Trump will also probably follow. And while Latin America has had new conservative leaders in Argentina and Paraguay since 2021 when Trump left office, many left governments re- main in power, including Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Bolivia. In Columbia, Gustavo Petro, Columbia’s first leftist leader, was elected in 2022. In 2023, Lula da Silva from the Workers’ Party was reelected as Brazil’s president. US hostility to our southern neighbors, including Mexico, will continue to intensify under Trump as the inter- national body BRICS gains momentum. BRICS is an intergovernmental organization that was formed in 2009 as an alternative to the G7 bloc of the world’s largest economies. The founding countries include Brazil, Russia, India, and China and has now expanded to 10 country members. Cuba and Bolivia are now partner countries along with 11 other partner countries who joined in October 2024. Mexico has been considering requesting membership for a few years. BRICS country members account for 46 percent of the world’s population. The developing countries are using BRICS as a method to use their local currencies on the international markets, thus weakening the US dollar. With China at the center of BRICS, they bring an economic clout unmatched by any other country, including the US. While Trump can continue to wage war against our southern neighbors through tariffs and increased sanctions, BRICS and its member countries will pursue building its alternative organization and becoming an alternative economic development resource for those developing countries. BRICS principles based on non-interference, equality, and mutual benefit run counter to Trump’s foreign policy, which seeks a return to the Monroe Doctrine where everything belongs to the US. This includes the Panama Canal, Greenland, and the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.” At the same time, the continued harshening of sanctions will have the effect of increased economic refugees fleeing to the US. Since 2013, eight mil- lion Venezuelans have left the country. Many have gone to the US, due to the economic hardships created by US sanctions that include punishing other countries for trading with Venezuela. In the 2021-2023 period, one million Cubans left their country seeking better economic opportunities. Most of the Cubans who left have come to the US in the most significant migration wave in Cuban history. This massive migration presents another problem for Trump, who has promised to stop migrants coming into the US and to deport the 11 million undocumented immigrants, the majority of whom come from coun- tries south of the US border. Like so many of Trump’s MAGA policies that he wants to implement, Trump’s Caribbean and Latin America policies will face heavy opposition in this ever-changing world, where US influence continues to decline. Cindy Domingo is PSARA's Co-VP for Outreach, and a long-time activist in LELO (Legacy of Equality, Leadership, and Organizing) and APALA (Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance). < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents December 2025 2026 Washington State Legislative Session Yes, It Really Is That Time Again Pam Crone There is still time to register and attend our 2026 PSARA Legislative Conference. The conference is virtual (on Zoom) so the entirety of our Washington State membership may participate. The conference is Thursday, December 4, at 12:30. The conference will highlight comments from John Traynor, WSLC Government Affairs Director, and Nancy Sapiro, PSARA’s lobbyist. We will review our 2026 Legislative Agenda, consider and discuss the current politi- cal landscape and context, and organize for pre-session meetings with our legislators in district. Please plan to attend. Our goal is to lay the groundwork for a successful advocacy plan for the upcoming session. 2026 Legislative Context The 2026 session is the second year of a two-year legislative cycle. It is only 60 days long rather than 105. Session begins January 12 and is scheduled to end March 12. Bills that did not pass in the first year retain their same number and are reintroduced. The operating budget for the two-year biennium was negotiated and passed in the first year. The second year is also an election year. Applying all of this to the 2026 session means that the policy goals will likely be more modest. Traditionally, legislators will pass a supplemental budget that “tweaks” the 2025-27 operating budget rather than write an entirely new budget. Both the majority and minority parties will base their messaging on the session outcomes to better advance their party’s chances in the general election. The majority Democrats will want to show they can govern, end on time, and largely stay away from the controversial. The minority Republicans will be looking for “gotcha” moments. The above brief big-picture analysis is based on conventional wisdom. As we know, though, these are not normal times. Our democracy hangs in the balance. The harmful impact of the other Washington’s passage of H.R. 1 (Big "Beautiful" Bill) is beginning to be felt. Those impacts will be felt by us all and particularly by the most vulnerable among us, including seniors’ retirement security. As of this writing, we are still in a government shutdown. SNAP benefits have been cut off. Huge Medicaid cuts are looming. The Trump agenda continues to be one of retribution to his perceived enemies, including not just individuals, but blue states like ours. PSARA 2026 Legislative Agenda The Government Relations Committee drafted a proposed agenda to be approved by the Executive Board at its November meeting. We will unveil the full agenda at the Legislative Conference Dec. 4. The agenda centers around policy priorities that we began in 2025 that we will try to get to the finish line. Some potential highlights of our 2026 legislative agenda include the following: • Level the Playing Field Resolution • No Coal Act • Protect Against Healthcare and Other Budgetary Cuts to Essential Services • Progressive Revenue We will also stand ready to advocate for all community members in Washington State, protecting people as best we can from the cruelties of the current administration. Session Advocacy Plan Nov. 6: GRC finalizes draft legislative agenda Nov. 20: PSARA E Board approves it Dec. 4: Virtual Legislative Conference Dec. 5 - Jan. 11: Members meet with legislators in district Jan. 12: 60-day session begins Weekly: Legislative updates on our website Weekly: Check-ins with our lobbyist, all Executive Board and other committee members invited to attend March 12: Session ends Dates TBD: Two Phone-in/email campaigns on PSARA priorities Dates TBD: Small group Olympia vis- its for any hearings of import and rallies Dates TBD: Virtual Legislative session review and debrief Advocacy matters! Please attend our Legislative Conference December 4 so you are up to speed and ready to go, advocating for our 2026 legislative priorities. Click here to Register. Pam Crone is a retired PSARA lobbyist and Chair of PSARA's Government Relations Committee (GRC) < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents June 2025 Final Legislative Budget Overview Pam Crone The 2025 Washington legislative session ended on April 27. The information below reflects the final legislative budget. The Governor has until May 20 to sign the budget and exercise his veto authority. The budget does not be- come final until he acts. This overview was prepared before the Governor has taken action. As a reminder, the Governor has line-item veto power, meaning he can eliminate funding but cannot add new spending or shift dollars around. Over the final weeks of the session, the Legislature returned to the drawing board multiple times to draft a budget that included new revenue to navigate a $16 billion deficit projected over the next four years. Why did the Legislature have to return multiple times to the drawing board? The Governor repeatedly and consistently expressed opposition to a wealth tax, as well as concerns about relying too heavily on new revenue to balance the budget. As a result, the final budget includes more, and deeper, cuts. Another major concern is the potential impact of looming federal Medicaid reductions. Although these cuts are largely unpopular – effectively reducing healthcare access for many Americans while further lining the pockets of the wealthy – the Repub- lican-controlled House continues to move closer to a budget proposal that includes them. If these cuts are en- acted, the Governor is expected to call a special legislative session to address the resulting healthcare crisis. Current Budget Snapshot: Final operating budget: $77.8 billion Four-year outlook: $7 billion in total reductions New revenue (2025–2027): $4.3 billion New revenue (2027–2029): $4.4 billion Rainy Day Fund: $2 billion remaining Cash reserves: $225 million Investments in K–12 Education: $750 million for special education services $213 million for materials, supplies, and operating costs $200 million in local effort assistance for low-income school districts Investments in State Workers: Approximately $1 billion to fund and approve collective bargaining agreements for state employees Housing Investments: $605 million to the Housing Trust Fund $117 million in grants to local governments to offset lost document recording fee revenues Maintaining Core Services: $93 million for emergency food assistance organizations $27.9 million for senior nutrition programs $20 million to expand resources for crime victims Pam Crone is a retired lobbyist and Chair of PSARA's Government Relations Committee (GRC). < Back to Table of Contents