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The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents September 2025 We Remember Michael Righi Mike Andrew, Karen Richter, Robby Stern Michael Righi, member of the Retiree Advocate Editorial Board, veteran activist, and retired economics professor, died in July. His passing is a huge loss for PSARA and the Retiree Advocate, and a person- al loss for his many friends in and out of PSARA. PSARA sends our deepest condo- lences to Bobby Righi, an equally great activist, writer, and friend. Below, some PSARA leaders who worked closely with Michael share memories of him. Mike Andrew: I don’t remember when I met Michael Righi. He was the kind of person who, once you talked to him a couple of times, you felt like you’d always known him. It may have been in 2012, when I first started working for PSARA, or it may have been before that, in the context of economic or climate justice organizing. He was passionate about both. In any case I was delighted to find out that we shared a political pre-history in the New Communist movement in the 1970s. Michael was wicked smart, but not a show-off about it. He was wickedly funny too. And he was more than willing to turn his droll sense of humor against billionaires and the politicians who abetted them. “Every billionaire is a policy failure,” was one of his favorite taglines. As editor of the Retiree Advocate, I appreciated his ability to take complex economic issues and explain them in simple – but not simplistic – terms any reader could understand. And all in 750 words! I know our readers appreciated it too, because every one of them, without exception, when they heard that he’d died, exclaimed “Oh no! What will we do without his articles?” I also appreciated the fact that Michael – and Bobby too – would pitch in to help with whatever was needed. He could explain cryptocurrency, carry a banner in a march, set up chairs for an event, or stick mailing labels on the latest issue of the Retiree Advocate . He was completely selfless that way. I last saw Michael at Tim Wheeler’s book reading on July 26. I was expecting to see him again a few days later to plan the new issue of the Retiree Advocate. It didn’t work out that way. I’ll miss him. Karen Richter: Michael was a generous and caring person and great friend. His articles in the Advocate helped so many of us understand the complexities of economic justice issues. He had a great sense of humor and was a talented cook. He made the best pizza and paella I ever tasted. Michael was always there when we had rallies, demonstrations, and marches no matter what. He always showed up to help with everything – our mailing parties, membership meeting, concerts you name it he was there. He was one of the best people I've ever known. I will miss him dearly. Robby Stern: Michael was one of the most decent and thoughtful men I have ever known. He was a good and beloved man with an outstanding sense of humor. He played a very important role in our collective work and was someone I was always glad to see and spend time with. As a member of the Retiree Advocate Editorial Board, his good humor, insights, and compassion were consistently present in our deliberations. He helped to make the meetings fun and productive and was a very significant part of creating a quality newsletter month after month. He and Bobby have been an amazing couple and served as a model of lifetime progressive activism. It was always a delight to interact with the two of them at street actions, fundraising events, PSARA meetings and other events supporting the movement for social and economic justice. Michael was both incredibly funny and at the same time determined to provide his good thinking on what we could do in that moment in the fight to create a more just world. As a progressive economist, his monthly articles in the Retiree Advocate were clear and easily readable, not an easy thing to do when discussing economic issues. He helped many of us better understand what forces were at work in our economy that sharply tilts in favor of the very rich and powerful and the avaricious multinational corporations. He also wrote with underlying compassion about how it should be as opposed to how it is. He was an ever-present activist in our efforts to change how the economy works as well as fighting for worker, climate, racial, and gender justice. We will miss Michael enormously and will honor him by carrying on the work he chose as his lifetime mission. Michael will live on in our hearts, our memories, and our thinking about what we should do next to resist autocracy and fascism and build a better world. < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents December 2025 Federal Employees Shutdown Nightmare Steve Kofahl I write this article two days before Veterans Day, when we honor the service of our military veterans. Well over 300,000 of them, who serve their country again as civilian federal employees, have now gone a record 40 days without pay. That’s no way to show respect for their past and current contributions, or for the service of their co-workers. About two of every three federal workers, veterans included, have been going without pay,1.4 million out of a 2.1 million person workforce. Some 670,000 are furloughed and not working or receiving pay, while 730,000 excepted (essential) employees continue to work and are likewise unpaid. Some money has been moved around by the administration to temporarily pay some law enforcement personnel and active military members. On November 4, the Trump Administration sent a message to federal workers, threatening to deprive them of back pay when the shutdown ends, in contradiction of a 2019 bill, signed by Trump , that assures payment to these workers after future shutdowns end. This is just the latest show of disrespect in a year that’s been full of them. Like many other workers, too many federal employees live paycheck to paycheck. About 350,000 federal workers make less than the $62,000 median national salary. Federal employees have family members who may well be dependent on them -- children, partners, parents, and others. A lot of collateral damage is being done to family members, and also to local businesses in large and small communities across the nation. It’s been exceedingly difficult for federal employee unions to mitigate the harm to excepted employees, who are not eligible for unemployment benefits, or allowed to convert to temporary employment with their agencies. In severe hardship situations, requests for any adjustments are subject to approval by management. These include requests for leave without pay, requests for use of earned leave benefits, and requests for the ability to work at home “episodically” to limit transportation expenses and/or to be available to another household member. Union stewards are kept busy providing guidance, and filing grievances in response to unreasonable denials. We are hearing heartbreaking stories from the frontlines, where frustration and tears are all too common, and mental health breakdowns and suicides are growing concerns. Employees are visiting food banks in growing numbers, often for the first time in their lives. They are selling personal and household items, using credit to pay their bills, and taking out loans from their retirement accounts and financial institutions. Repaying student debt is a huge problem. Working a second job to pay the bills is officially discouraged and subject to management approval. The non-profit Federal Employee Education and Assistance Fund offered $150 microgrants until their $1 million fund was tapped out a few weeks ago. Federal employee unions have suffered massive loss of membership, staff, and resources at the worst possible time, thanks to the anti-union attacks they and their members are enduring. Nonetheless, at all levels, organized labor is providing guidance, training, and information about available resources. The Washington State Labor Council (WSLC) stepped up by conducting a pair of virtual training events last month, with WorkSource and the Washington State Employment Security Department as partners in the presentations. They also posted a moving October 29 story in The Stand , entitled "It Feels Like I Can’t Stop the Bleed," in which State Department of Health employee Milo Nicholas tells what happened to him when the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) was included in the shutdown. He was temporarily laid off by the state, because his work was funded by WIC, and had to borrow from his mother to pay his rent. A Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE) Local 443 Vice President and Shop Steward, Milo tells a compelling story. Had he been one of the Federal employees working on WIC, he might have been understandably afraid to tell his story. In the article, the WSLC recommends that donations to union families be made to the Foundation for Working Families, which can donate up to $500 per union member. With 45 million Americans losing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding, including 900,000 Washingtonians, there is a desperate need that can only be met by well-funded food banks. More and more, federal employees are among those in need of food. Please be generous, and show patience and compassion when dealing with federal workers who are under attack. Steve Kofahl is a retired President of AFGE 3937, representing Social Security Workers, and a member of PSARA's Executive Board < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents August 2025 CMS Expands Prior Authorization in Original Medicare Washington One of Six Designated States Robby Stern The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced on June 27, “The CMS Launches New Model to Target Wasteful, Inappropriate Services in Original Medicare.” We know from a study by the Medical Payment Advisory Commission (MEDPAC) that Medicare Advantage (MA) overcharges the Medicare Trust Fund annually at least $80 billion per year. One would think wasteful inappropriate services must exceed that number or why would they be prioritizing expanding prior authorization in Original Medicare? (A PNHP study estimates overcharges are much higher, up to $140 billion annually.) MEDPAC estimates that up to $5.8 billion in Medicare spending in 2022 was spent on services with minimal benefit. Five billion eight hundred thousand is a lot of money, but it is approximately 7 percent of $80 billion overpayments to MA. We don’t know why they chose to focus on the much smaller amount possibly lost to ""fraud, waste, and abuse.” Maybe they are trying to level the playing field in the wrong direction. Maybe they secretly want more of us in Medicare Advantage so they plan to add more prior authorizations into Original Medicare. We don’t know their motives, but below are excerpts from what they did say. "The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is announcing a new Innovation Center model aimed at helping ensure people with Original Medicare receive safe, effective, and necessary care. Through the Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction (WISeR) Model, CMS will partner with companies specializing in enhanced technologies to test ways to provide an improved and expedited prior authorization process relative to Original Medicare’s existing processes, helping patients and providers avoid unnecessary or inappropriate care and safe- guarding federal taxpayer dollars… “CMS is committed to crushing fraud, waste, and abuse, and the WISeR Model will help root out waste in Original Medicare,' said CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz. 'Combining the speed of technology and the experienced clinicians, this new model helps bring Medicare into the 21st century by testing a streamlined prior authorization process, while protecting Medicare beneficiaries from being given unnecessary and often costly procedures…. “Low-value services, such as those of focus in WISeR, offer patients minimal benefit and, in some cases, can result in physical harm and psychological stress,' said Abe Sutton, Director of the CMS Innovation Center. 'They also increase patient costs, while inflating health care spending.' "The WISeR Model will test a new process on whether enhanced technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can expedite the prior authorization processes for select items and services that have been identified as particularly vulnerable to fraud, waste, and abuse, or inappropriate use. These items and services include, but are not limited to, skin and tissue substitutes, electrical nerve stimulator implants, and knee arthroscopy for knee osteo- arthritis. The model excludes inpatient- only services, emergency services, and services that would pose a substantial risk to patients if significantly delayed. "Companies selected to participate in the model will operate in assigned geographic regions and must have clinicians with appropriate expertise to conduct medical reviews and validate coverage determinations. Importantly, while technology will support the review process, final decisions that a request for one of the selected services does not meet Medicare coverage requirements will be made by licensed clinicians, not machines. "Model participants will receive payments based on their ability to reduce unnecessary or non- covered services (inappropriate utilization) and lower spending in Original Medicare. … "The WISeR Model will not change Medicare coverage or payment criteria. Health care coverage for Original Medi- care beneficiaries remains the same, and beneficiaries retain the freedom to seek care from their provider or sup- plier of choice… The WISeR Model does not impact people enrolled in Medicare Advantage." Trying to cut through the bureaucratic writing, what they are saying is CMS is changing Original Medicare coverage(which they deny) by expanding the list of medical treatments recommended by our providers subject to prior authorization beginning in 2026. CMS will contract with private, no doubt for-profit companies that will determine if the recommended treatment is unnecessary or inappropriate and/or constitutes waste, fraud, and abuse. The contractor may utilize AI to make the determination subject to a final decision by a licensed clinician that works for the contractor. These companies are essentially “bounty hunters."" They are compensated based on their record of denying care and reducing spending in original Medicare despite the data that shows Original Medicare spends 22% less per patient than Medicare Advantage. Introducing “bounty hunters” into Original Medicare... what could possibly go wrong?! On June 23, HHS Secretary Kennedy and CMS Administrator Oz announced an insurance industry voluntary pledge to fix what they termed the broken prior authorization system in Medicare Advantage and Medicaid. The voluntary agreement with Medicare Advantage and Medicaid insurers addressed time limits for decisions on prior authorization. Standard decisions are to be made within seven days. Urgent medical requests are to be made within 72 hours. The appeals process for denials, if necessary, extends the time before the Medicare/Medicaid beneficiary receives the treatment the provider has recommended. This is a voluntary program for insurers participating in Medicare Advantage. The WISeR Model, which expands prior authorization in Original Medicare, is mandatory in the six designated states. Neither beneficiaries nor providers can opt out. PSARA will launch an effort, with our national allies, to stop WISeR before it starts in 2026. Robby Stern is President of the PSARA Education Fund and serves on the PSARA Executive Board. < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents October 2025 View From the Screen: A Review of Sorry, Baby Randy Joseph Spoilers… always spoilers. This is not a cozy film but a story wishing for comfort and protection, dreaming of cozy and safe in a world where bad things happen. Where warm knitted sweaters and blankets might really protect us. Sorry, Baby - a film written and directed by the extraordinary Eva Victor, takes place over 3 years, portraying a deep friendship between two PhD students…Agnes (played by Eva Victor) and Lydie (played by Naomi Ackie) – and how Agnes survives if not heals from this bad thing that happens to her. The story is an intense, nuanced, layered character study of Agnes during a terrible time of her life and yet it manages to mix it up with lovely and funny moments. Please don’t be afraid of the sad subject matter. Eva Victor would want us to watch it and not be afraid. It’s life – stick with her. Watch out as well for lots of interesting, relevant literary references and books being read on screen (e.g., the character Milkman from Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon; Giovonni’s Room by James Baldwin; Lolita and more! Even a clip of the movie 12 Angry Men…). Our protagonist Agnes is a star PhD candidate in the Literature Department of a small New England University who lives with her best friend in an old white clapboard house isolated in the woods. They are like 4th grade best friends – they study together, eat together, take baths together - jump up and down with joy for each other – hurt for each other – sacrifice for each other. Agnes comes home late one night not herself…clearly wrecked. Their beloved and admired mentor – novelist and Professor Preston Decker -– has sexually assaulted her. She tells Lydie the story blow by blow. Lydie listens carefully and deeply and puts her in a hot bath and listens more. The rest of the film is about sadness and survival, about healing and not ever healing – loneliness and anger and loss. About the power of love and friendship no matter what. The day after the assault Decker resigns his position and leaves town. She reports the rape to the University. They refuse to investigate because he doesn’t work there anymore. Agnes doesn’t want to call the police. She says she wants him to be a person that wouldn’t do that. If she has him arrested, he would just be a person in prison who does that. The loss of the relationship they had developed over years is profound. In one minute, she loses the person she thought was a protector, mentor, cheerleader and in his place gains a rapist. A few years later she tells a colleague that Decker must have hated her. Because if you like a person, if you respect a person then there is a certain way you treat them. Like a person. The assault from a trusted professor who encouraged her - praised her to the University always - calls her whole academic career into question. Was she really the “extraordinary” writer he said she was? Did she really deserve her PhD? After she is granted her degree, the University offers Agnes Decker’s teaching position and his very office. Although she is thrilled, she also questions whether she earned this or not. Was his recommendation just to keep her quiet? Did the school offer her the job for the same reason? Should she enjoy and prosper in the light-filled office that was formerly his or should she burn it down? Life goes on as it does. She teaches and we get a glimpse of her competency and joy in literature and the teaching of it. We see her tentative relationship with a sweet neighbor. And we see her struggle to connect and be able to picture a future with “what everyone wants.” She can’t see past the sadness. Lydie falls in love – marries and moves to another city. A serious loss. Agnes stays home. Same home. Same school. Lydie worries about Agnes. “Do you ever leave the house?” Their slightly tongue-in-cheek play continues… “Please don’t die,” she says. Agnes responds, "You please don't die." Translation: I love you so much. And in reply I love YOU so much. That never changes. One day 3 years later Agnes falls apart after a jealous colleague Natasha confronts Agnes and spews that Agnes was Decker’s favorite. That even though she, Natasha, had 5-minute sex with Decker … even so - he never read her own dissertation. Agnes drives a long way out of town, sobbing and unable to think or even breathe. She stops at a roadside sandwich shop with her windows up crying. The owner comes out – a middle-aged man with sadnesses of his own – says he knows someone with anxiety attacks and would she open the window and breathe with him please. They sit outside his shop on a curb and talk together about bad things. (One of the best scenes in the movie.) He reassures her that 3 years from a bad thing isn’t very long at all. Time does not heal all. Lydie, wife and baby come to visit Agnes. Agnes gets alone time with the baby. Her face is full of love for this baby. She tells her all the things she wished people would have said to her. She holds the baby up to her face and tells her how sorry she is that bad things will happen to her. Sorry, Baby. She hopes they won’t, but they probably will. She will be there for her, she says. She will listen and not be scared. “You can tell me any bad thought, and I will say yes, I have had that thought 10 times worse. You can tell me you want to kill yourself and I will say, yes, I know that feeling. I will be there for you baby no matter what.” Randy Joseph is a member of PSARA. < Back to Table of Contents

PSARA Oral Histories Project PSARA members have a wealth of experience in their respective professions and communities including their roles in labor, social justice, racial justice and environmental movements. Angela Bartels has been collecting the oral histories of PSARA members and documenting those interviews in PSARA’s monthly publication the Retiree Advocate. Those interviews are now recapped in the Oral Histories section of our website. The written summaries of the interviews are provided here and in some cases video of the interview are included. Bob Barnes Swimming Against the Current: making hard choices during the Vietnam War. Bob Barns talks about facing life changing challenges during the Vietnam war. View Story Frankie Manning "Before we integrated hospitals, the majority of Black people who died in the hospital died because the Black hospitals and wards were not well equipped..." View Story Lou Truskoff Lou Truskoff talks about his early years, his love of Music and integrating music into the labor movement. View Story Larry Gossett A Story of the Great Migration North, Housing discrimination in Seattle and how Black Power Captured Larry Gossett’s Soul While in VISTA . View Story Frieda Takamura Frieda Takamura has been and activist on a range of issues most importantly fighting for social Justice Listen to Frieda's Story Frank Irrigon Mud on their hands: Frank Irigon talks about his time in the military and working with Seattle's Asian Student Coalition protesting the construction of the King Dome. View Story Thursten Muskelly Thursten Muskelly discusses his work in the labor movement and particularly with the American Federation of Government Employees Local 1170 organizing in Seattle. View Story Tony Lee Friends of Tony Lee, Peter Costantini and Tom Berry, recount their work creating the Team Tony Lee during the 2022 election helping to flip the third WA State Congressional District View Story Gary Owens Gary Owens recounts his time with the labor movemet and the Black Panthers. View Story

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

PSARA Oral Histories Project: Tony Lee Return to Oral Histories Main Page Tony Lee Interview PSARA Advocate January 2023 Page 4 Holding the 8th, Flipping the 3rd By Angie Bartels In autumn of 2020, the days were growing short while our democracy was hanging by a thread, as was the life of my latehusband Tony Lee. Tony was in the final throes of ALS. The White House was occupied by Donald Trump and his cronies.While many activists across the nation were on the move, local activists Peter Costantini and Tom Berry created Team TonyLee. Peter: I hadn't been that involved in electoral stuff for a long time. I volunteer with immigrant rights groups and have donesome canvassing with them. But in 2016, when Trump was the candidate, it gave me a kick in the butt. I thought, we've suddenlygot a movement that is white nationalist, fascist in many ways, and international. I started to get scared and got to thinking, we really need to do electoral work, as it’s the most immediate way to slow it down and reverse it. Tom: We had all spent time with Tony over the years, including during those last few years when he was not able to be politicallyactive. When the 2020 election rolled around and we felt we needed to get organized, our thoughts certainly went to Tony. Wehad many political discussions with him, so we had a sense of which side Tony would be on and which candidates he was mostenthusiastic about. It seemed logical when we organized ourselves to memorialize Tony in that way. They invited numerous friends to sign up, myself included. We worked with various grassroots organizing groups and pennedthousands of letters and texts. We called voters in English and Spanish in states across the nation. We met on Zoom andtalked about our experiences and compared notes. It was the height of the COVID lockdown, and everything was done remotely. Early in the morning, five days after election day 2020, a friend called and told me the final presidential election results. I rushedover to Tony and said, “Wake up, Tony! It’s confirmed! Biden won!” No longer able to speak, he blinked acknowledgement. Five days later, Tony passed away. As we approached the election of 2022, the preservation of democracy was still at stake. InWashington State, Kim Schrier was threatened in the 8th CD, and a new candidate, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, had a decentshot to flip the 3rd CD. Once again, Peter and Tom reignited Team Tony Lee. Tom became our point person for the 8th and Peterfor the 3rd. They contacted staff from the campaigns and found volunteer activities for Team Tony Lee. They kept the Teaminformed through articles, position papers, and policies of the candidates. They organized carpools for canvassing. Peter: I realized that once Marie and Kim won their primaries, there were two races in Washington that could have an effect onthe balance in the House. And their districts both have large rural areas. I haven't had much experience with rural Washington,but that motivated me, because I think it's good for us city people to get more of a sense of what's going on there. Tom: It was eye opening in terms of getting to know different parts of the 8th CD. I guess I have an image of the 8th CD asconservative and suburban. We canvassed in parts of Issaquah that were much more working class and even low-income. We alsowent to parts of King County where there was a fair amount of ethnic and racial diversity. It was interesting to see the scope of the 8th CD and what Schrier was dealing with in terms of fashioning her particular kind of politics. I don’t believe anyone canvassedeast of the mountains, so we have little insight on that. Peter: In the 3rd CD, Marie's campaign focused heavily on rural America. One of her TV ads has her walking down a gravel roadcarrying a chainsaw. She’s talking about how she lives in rural Skamania County, how she and her husband built their home. Shethen starts the chainsaw and cuts down a tree. Marie sets herself apart from “Seattle Democrats,” and apparently there’s aweakness in the Democratic Party across the country -- people who can speak to rural concerns. Tom: I agree, it’s a national issue. But I think it’s important, the fact that Kim and Marie were behind in the rural counties butwon big enough in King (for Kim) and Clark and Pacific (for Marie) to carry them to victory. So all of these votes count. But it is important to reduce that dynamic of the cities and the ruralareas being in conflict with each other. It’s positive that both of them were trying to focus on that. Peter: I think that was one of the things that really drew me to the Marie Perez campaign – a desire to get out and meet the folks in Longview and Kelso, Centralia, and Chehalis. That's where I spent most of my time canvassing. Angie: Yes, me too. I wanted to see where people live, how they live, what their concerns are, and how open they are to speaking with you. I loved canvassing in Kelso, because in many ways it felt like the town where I was raised – poverty, dilapidated houses, and multi-generational homes where people lived together, not by choice but by necessity. There were Joe Kent signs everywhere, but the majority of people I spoke with were kind and appreciated the information. A few people told me to “take my flyers and get the hell out of here,” which I did willingly. But most people were friendly. Peter: Yes, the poverty. I really didn't realize how much of an industrial and union town Longview, especially, is. Someone told me that the ILWU in Longview had gone Republican. At least some of the officers’ support and leadership supported Trump, which was surprising and depressing. But there are other labor unions, and it was encouraging to see them turn out for Marie. Angie: Before one canvass in Longview, Marie spoke and gave an orientation on where she was taking the campaign. She said right up front, we are not Seattle; what we need in our area are good, decent-paying jobs and training for people to get back into the trades where they can make a living wage. She also supports the Second Amendment. But she made reproductive rights a part of the forefront of her campaign, as well as the jobs and living wage issues. Peter: Yeah, when I talked to people, I tended to emphasize jobs in the trades, and the fact that they hire apprentices and are supportive of community colleges. I thought that was good policy. For the tiny sample of people I talked to, I think it was well received. I mean, it's playing very much against the national Republican stereotype of rich, elite Democrats on the coasts. The three of us and other team members agreed that canvassing made us feel good. Even if you don't know how that person will vote after you walk away from their door, at least you've made contact and have made a connection. Doorbelling is an intrusion, but it’s heartening when someone answers the door and has a reasonable conversation with you. Peter: Towards the end, there was an editorial from the Colombian, a Vancouver newspaper, in support of Marie. We gave that to people who wanted more information. I think it helped because it’s different from campaign literature and more valuable. The article made comparisons between the two candidates, which was exactly the information we wanted to give. Kim Schrier’s victory over Matt Larkin was a huge relief. Marie’s upset over Kent was amazing, one of the few in the country that defied predictions and flipped the seat from red to blue. Marie was declared the victor on Saturday, November 12, the second anniversary of Tony’s death. I had spent the day quietly at home, and in the late afternoon, I received a text informing me that Marie had won. Reverently, like the good Catholic girl that I used to be, with folded hands and teary eyes raised to the sky, I said, “Tony my love, this one’s for you.” Angie Bartels is PSARA's membership VP. This article is one in a series of interviews she's conducting with PSARAmembers.

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents June 2025 Chaos Monkey Goes After the Federal Reserve Michael Righi Trump wants lower interest rates. Probably so he and his family can borrow cheap money to pump up the value of their crypto coins, then dump them and leave ordinary investors with the losses. Maybe he needs money to build a golf course in Dubai. Or wait, maybe that’s going to be a “gift.” So call me cynical. He is also worried that his tariff chaos is going to slow production and the economy. Lower interest rates might encourage more spending and support the economy he is effectively tanking. Trump the autocrat wants the same power over interest rates that he has over tariffs. So he is threatening the Federal Reserve and its chair, Jerome Powell. Firing Powell would be illegal; his term is not up, but this is Trump, right? And the Federal Reserve system was created to function independently of the president and Congress, on purpose, supposedly to insulate the Fed from political pressure. The Fed was initially created in 1913 to stop the financial crises private banks kept causing. Bankers would make riskier and riskier loans to pump up profit, some loans would go bad, banks would collapse and production and jobs would disappear. The Fed, once created, then lent money to bail the banks (and depositors) out, and prevent depressions. How to Make Money That is a crucial understanding – the Federal Reserve Bank creates money, out of thin air. You write a check, you draw down your account. The Fed writes a check by changing some numbers on a computer – only based on their authority as the country’s central bank. The Fed works through the private banking system. The Fed buys financial assets, Treasury bonds, or lately even mortgage-backed securities. That money winds up in the banking system, enabling banks to make loans. That’s more money in the economy. So the Fed enables banks to create our money supply. The Humphrey-Hawkins law passed by Congress mandates that the Fed keep both inflation and unemployment low. The Fed does this by controlling short-term interest rates. Those are often conflicting goals. Low interest rates (“easy money”) encourage borrowing and spending and so more jobs. But that also allows businesses to raise prices. High interest rates (“tight money”) have the opposite effect, slowing the economy. This all sounds technical and value- neutral. That’s what the Fed and Wall Street and financial elites want us to think, that Fed policy is apolitical and technocratic. Tell that to homeowners who lost their homes in the 2008 financial crisis while the Fed bailed out big insurance and bank corporations. Or to cardholders and small businesses now as the Powell Fed allows Capital One and Dis- cover to merge and raise their charges. The Fed Is Not Independent The Fed is run by bankers and Wall Street financiers, and influenced by what the corporate elite wants. High interest rates protect the assets of the financial elite from inflation, reducing their value. High rates also keep the economy from creating jobs, because then workers’ wages and willingness to organize might interfere with corporate profit. But financial crisis might call for extended periods of low interest rates, to keep Wall Street afloat, as after 2008. As wages have stagnated or fallen for decades, low rates also encouraged families to run up debt to maintain living standards. Whatever the capitalists in power need, the Fed tries to provide. Its power is relatively easy to access for the wealthy, easier than going through the somewhat more democratic legislative process. With Trump going after him, it is tempting to defend Powell and the Fed. That just puts us back into the space of bad choices. Neither represents what the working class needs. The Fed itself is soon likely to face both inflation and unemployment, a result of Trumpian chaos and uncertainty. If leaving it to the Fed is not the answer, then what is? That also should be up for discussion. There are ideas out there. Regional and local public banks could loan money for public infrastructure, such as transit and clean energy. Postal banking would enable those shut out of banks to borrow and make transactions. Michael Righi is a retired economics professor and a member of the Retiree Advocate Editorial Board. < Back to Table of Contents

PSARA Board Members PSARA BOARD Steve Bauck has served as an officer of PSARA and is a co-chair of the Social Security Fiscal Commission Task Force. Claude Burfect is on the Executive Board of MLK Labor, representing the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU); the Executive Committee of Seattle King County NAACP; the Board of RPEC (Retired Public Employees Council); and the Heath Care is a Human Right (HCHR) Steering Committee. Claude is a veteran activist, a former member of SNCC and CORE, and participated in the historic 1963 March on Washington. Maureen Bo has served as the Administrative Vice President of PSARA and is a retired member of Office Workers Union Local. Tim Burns Retired from Northwest Airlines after 39+ years.Served as Grievance Committee rep 26 years (12+ years as Chair), also as auditor and trustee (IAM LL 1040) and IAM DL 143 Vice President and contract negotiator. Currently on LL 2202 Legislative Committee and retiree rep and delegate to the State Machininsts Council, MLKCLC and WSLC. Former(6 years) Chair of the 30th Legislative District Democrats. Former Co-President of PSARA and former Chair of the Government Relations Committee (GRC). Current active member of GRC. Pamela Crone is a lawyer and PSARA’s former lobbyist. She represented clients in Olympia for 20 years. Her lobbying portfolio included advocating for the legal rights of women, LGBTQ persons, workers, people with disabilities, and people experiencing homelessness. Pamela developed a legislative and policy externship at the Seattle University School of Law where she was a Distinguished Policy Advocate in Residence. Prior to lobbying, Pam was the Attorney Director of the Unemployment Law Project where she mentored many new lawyers and law students. In retirement, Pam is active with PSARA and serves on the Board of Directors of the Cedar River Clinics. She loves spending time with her family, traveling and reading. Carlos de la Torre Originally from Southern California, Carlos has been a member of the Teamsters, Meat Cutters and United Cement, Gypsum & Lime Workers unions. After leaving the blue-collar world, Carlos returned to school and earned an accounting degree from California State University, San Bernardino. Upon graduation and relocation to the beautiful Pacific Northwest, Carlos worked in the private-sector financial arena spending more than 20 years in the chemical distribution industry. Evolving motivations and changing life perspectives have led Carlos to the non-profit world, where he has worked for an organization that addresses homelessness and formerly the accounting manager for WSLC. Carlos is on the Education Fund Board and is proud to be part of an organization that supports the struggle for fair wages and social justice. Barb Flye is a successful mosaic artist. Her art focuses on the beauty of the pacific northwest, and the issues facing our country and world. Prior to becoming a full time artist, Barb’s professional experience included over 30 years of community and coalition organizing on social, racial and economic justice. She is also the cartoonist for The Advocate. France Giddings was born in Canada and attended Reed College in Oregon where she lived for many years. She was on the board of Portland NOW and helped organize a large International Women's Day celebration and was a resource for women in crisis. She moved to Seattle in 1985 and joined the board of Seattle NOW until she adopted her daughter as a single parent. While her daughter was growing up she became active in the local Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) as the legislative liaison. She also worked with a coalition for years to get single payer health care in Washington. She also joined the Block Bork coalition and worked to protect the Supreme Court. France worked as an investigator for public defense. She spent time lobbying in Olympia for NOW, for the PTSA, for public defense, and more recently for the Washington Farms to Food Coalition. She currently serves on the Seattle NOW board and volunteers with Moms Demand Action and Save Shoreline Trees. Larry Gossett has been a civil rights activist in the Puget Sound region for more than 55 years. Larry served on the King County Council from 1994 to 2020. He was a long time member of the Seattle chapter of the Black Panther Party. The Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project describes him as having been one of Seattle’s best known black radicals. Larry served on the King County Council from 1994 to 2020. He is not only a voice for African Americans he continues to speak for civil rights, social and economic justice for all marginalized communities. Rhonda Gossett is a homemaker, caregiver, artist and a grandmother. She is blessed to be a cancer survivor and she researches cancer fighting foods, diabetic and kidney health nutrition to share useful information with family and friends to encourage good health and wellness. She serves as a medical advocate. For many years she volunteered to help with the local Food Bank and she continues to support the Food Bank. Jim Grayson Retired business owner. Previous boards: NW Regional VP of American Library Ass. Trustee Assn; King County Library System Trustee; President Washington State Library Trustee Association; Cities in Schools; Washington Women’s Employment and Education (WWEE). Steve Kofahl President of AFGE Local 3937, representing Social Security Administration employees throughout Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Also active with JWJ, WSLC and MLKCLC. Susan Levy came to Seattle in 1970 and taught Economics and Labor relations at Shoreline CC for 30 years. She was an Activist and leader in American Federation of Teachers and the Washington State Labor Movement for20 years. Susan retired in 2000 and has continued her involvement with senior, labor, and other progressive issues. David Loud has been a peace and social justice activist since his first Ban the Bomb vigil in 1960 at age 15. After graduating from Harvard in 1968, he fell quite by accident into a 46-year career in health care in Seattle: Swedish Hospital laundry (1969-71), Yesler Terrace Free Clinic (1971-72), Veterans Administration Hospital ward clerk (1972-77), US Public Health Service Hospital/Pacific Medical Center Patient Advocate (1978-98), SEIU 1199NW organizer (1998-2005), Congressman McDermott’s Community Liaison for health care and Veterans (2005-2015). Since retiring in 2015, David has continued his activism for universal health care and social justice, currently serving as a Co-Chair of Health Care Is a Human Right WA. He is married to Thu-Van Nguyen, 1975 refugee from Vietnam, and has four grown sons. Bobby Righi is a retired community college instructor and is a co-chair of the PSARA Climate and Environmental Justice Committee. She was a Peace Corps volunteer in the mid 1960's and worked as a teacher and an organizer in the south of the U.S. in the 1970's. She is a member of AFT retiree chapter in Washington. Ronnie Shure has been an active member of PSARA since 2012; and he has been involved in the grassroots movement for universal health care since 1972. He worked as a pharmacist providing care to underserved populations in public health, behavioral health, and substance abuse programs for 42 years. Instead of retirement, he has transitioned to become an advocate for social justice in health care. He is President of Health Care for All - Washington, one of the CoChairs of the Steering Committee of the Health Care as a Human Right coalition, and participates in the work of many healthcare advocacy groups across the state and nation. Most importantly, his retirement transition allows him the joy of spending time with his wife and daughters and grandchildren. Sarajane Siegfriedt is the former King County Democrats Platform Committee Chair. She worked in human services and became a committed low-income housing advocate. As a member of the Washington Low-Income Housing Alliance Public Policy Committee, she shares their legislative priorities with PSARA and helps us advocate in Olympia. Sarajane was a lobbyist for nonprofits in Olympia. She served on the boards of Solid Ground, the Unitarian Housing Group and the Lake City Neighborhood Alliance. She helped organize the Seattle Coalition for Affordability, Livability and Equity. She's currently on the boards of Seattle Fair Growth, the Lake City Neighborhood Alliance and Northaven Senior Living. Robby Stern retired from the staff of the WA State Labor Council in 2008. He has been an active member of PSARA serving as president for nine years. He presently serves as the president of the PSARA Education Fund, Chairs the Social Security Works WA coalition, and is active in PSARA's Fund Raising, RAGE, and Climate Justice Committees. Anne Watanabe is the co-chair of PSARA's Race, Gender and Equity Committee. Anne is an attorney with a background in land use and environmental law, and formerly served as a hearing examiner for the City of Seattle and King County. Anne is a Seattle native and a third-generation Japanese American, and is grateful to be part of PSARA's work to achieve equity and social justice. Mike Warren started working for the state in 1967 and in 1968 was singled out for shop steward training. I was a shop steward for the next 25 years, I also spent time as an elected officer in my local and my bargaining team. After I retired, I was asked to be president of the Seattle RPEC Chapter, which I held for 10 years, until I was able to find a successor. I was elected to the board of the Puget Sound Council of Senior Citizens, There I stood and marched with Will and Louise Parry. I helped found the Washington State Alliance for Retired Americans and served as secretary, treasurer, Vice President and President. I spent 30 years as chair of an advocacy organization foe people of disability. Tim Wheeler served as a reporter and editor for the Worker in New York and later in Washington D.C. He has written more than 10,000 news reports, exposés, and commentaries. He is also an activist and an organizer. He grew up on a dairy farm in Sequim and lives on the family farm near Sequim. His books News from Rain Shadow Country and News for the 99% are selections of his writings over the last 50 years. Katie Wilson is a co-founder and the general secretary of the Transit Riders Union, a grassroots democratic membership organization that fights for transit and economic justice in King County. She has been involved in leading local fights for progressive taxation, affordable housing, renter protections, and affordable and accessible public transit.

Thank you for Completing PSARA ’ s 2024 Washington State Legislive Survey.

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents May 2025 A Letter to the Editor Kris Melroe I have been lucky enough to be part of a groundbreaking study on diabetes since 1996. But on March 10th, without warning or reason, this research was abruptIly stopped. The so-called reasonable audits and cuts by DOGE are in fact harmful and are just one more lie among many. This arbitrary cut didn’t consider the long- term implications. The Diabetes Prevention Project Outcome Study (DPPOS) has been funded through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with a grant that was to continue until 2027, at a minimum. The termination had nothing to do with safety issues, procedures, or personnel. In fact, Dr. Kahn, the lead investigator, just received a national award from the American Diabetes Association. This is the longest continuous study in the US, with seven different sites, including one right here in Seattle, at the VA hospital on Beacon Hill. The study has already had major impacts on the diagnosis, medications (i.e., Metformin), and care of diabetes. Long-term studies are valuable because they allow researchers to examine cause-and-effect relationships more effectively than a study that only collects data at one point in time. They provide insights into the long-term consequences of disease and its treatment. Evaluating the long- term effects and characteristics leads to breakthroughs in prevention for people all over the world. I question if this is an extension of cuts related to DEI. Why? Studies indicate that Black adults are nearly twice as likely as white adults to develop type 2 diabetes. When I worked as an educational trainer on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, 60 percent of the staff had diabetes. For 30 years, all of the participants in the study have spent hundreds of volunteer hours undergoing various tests. Why? Because we were dedicated to creating a healthier world. Does DOGE think our time and efforts were not valuable? It will be another 30-plus years before this information can be replicated. Please call your representative and senators and demand that the staff at least be given the time and money to do a summary wrap-up of the results. THIS STUDY NEEDS TO BE CONTINUED. Sincerely, Kris Melroe Kris Melroe is a longtime member of PSARA and a veteran activist. < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents December 2025 Jane Goodall Anne Watanabe ’ve never lived in a world that didn’t have Jane Goodall in it. But she passed away on October 1, at age 91, while on a worldwide tour to promote environmental protection and to urge all of us to fight climate change and protect the planet. So now we must carry on without her, it seems. As I write this, Trump declares he will open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a crown jewel of US wildlife habitat, to oil and gas drilling, and Alaska native villages are being decimated by climate-fueled storms and flooding. I wish Jane were here. Jane Goodall and Friend Most of us know the early story of Jane Goodall, the young Englishwoman from a working-class family who was hired by famous anthropologist Louis Leakey to assist in his primate studies in Gombe, Tanzania. She had no college degree (the doctorate would come later). Leakey thought – rightly – that she was free of academic prejudices that could interfere with her observational studies. Jane went to Gombe in 1960, and her studies proved to be groundbreaking. National Geographic sent photographer Hugo Van Lawick to Gombe to capture the daily lives of Jane and the Gombe troop. Those photos captivated the world. Jane discovered that chimpanzees used tools, a behavior that until then was thought to be exclusive to Homo sapiens . She closely observed the chimpanzee family interactions and social structures. She realized that individual chimpanzees had different personalities. Of course, evidence that chimpanzees aren’t so different from the scientists who studied them was uncomfortable for some. Critics attempted to discredit her because she was a woman who lacked academic pedigrees, and they dismissed her observations as anthropomorphic. (In the early years of animal behavior science, this was a catch-all criticism of any study that challenged conventional wisdom about nonhuman animals.) Jane continued to study primates in the field, returning frequently to Gombe. She led a new generation of scientists whose work revealed complexities of thought and behavior in nonhuman animals, expanding our previous understanding of them. She was a scientist and more than anything she loved being in the field, studying the natural world. But Jane felt a deeper obligation to protect that world and its inhabitants. Starting in 1986, she traveled worldwide to raise awareness about human created harms and to urge that we act to protect the planet. She founded Roots and Shoots in 1991, a global humanitarian and environmental program that engages young people throughout the world to bring about positive changes. With her deep commitment to nonhuman rights, Jane was an early board member of the Nonhuman Rights Project, and provided important supporting material for NhRP’s litigation, including a recent hearing in September on behalf of captive chimpanzees. She was a UN Humanitarian Messenger, and right up until her death, she was on the road 300 days a year, raising awareness – and hope. So here we are today. In The Book of Hope , she wrote that “Hope is often misunderstood. People tend to think that it is simply passive wishful thinking…This is indeed the opposite of real hope, which requires action and engagement. Many people understand the dire state of the planet – but do nothing about it because they feel helpless and hopeless.” In September, during her last tour, she offered this: “Every single day we live, we make some sort of impact on the world…I tell people, find something you can do in your community. Do it. Get your friends to support you. See that you can make a difference. Know that all around the world, other people like you are making a difference.” Thank you, Jane. As we confront so many threats to our planet and all life on earth, she is still here, giving me hope. Anne Watanabe is Chair of PSARA's Race and Gender Equity (RaGE) Committee. < Back to Table of Contents