If you are not worried about your retirement funds in the VRS, you are not paying attention.
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Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?
Special Governor’s Edition
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1. If you ran up an unpaid bill of 17 billion you should
A- ask someone else to pay it
B- ignore it until it can be transmuted into political hay
C- make a plan to pay it over a reasonable time
The Virginia Retirement System has an unfunded liability of 17 billion dollars because of underfunding by the state in 16 out of the last 20 years. The Governor’s budget would ask teachers and state works to contribute 5% (employee share).
2. If I have $800 million in my left hand, and pass it to my right hand, I have
A – $800 million more than I had
B -$17 billion to eliminate the VRS unfunded liability
C – $800 million
If state employees and teachers contribute 5% ($800 million) to the VRS, the total amount going into VRS would remain the same. There would be no change in the unfunded liability. The state and local governments would save 5% (they are currently paying employer and employee share). The long-term unfunded liability is $17 billion.
3. If public schools are important to you, you would
A – reduce funding by almost 15% over the last two years
B- ask localities to fund a 3% teacher raise
C – ask localities to fund a 3% teacher raise and fund the state’s share
State per pupil funding for public schools funding has been reduced by almost 15% in the last two years.
State funding as a percent of the budget is at an all-time low of 29.88%.
The state is proposing a 3% pay increase for state employees along with a 2% bonus, but no increase for teachers.
4. If you promised to pay someone millions of dollars over two years, after one year you should
A – change your mind and stop the payment
B- deny you made such a promise
C- make the payment
Last budget year, the state promised localities one-time money over two years to help soften the blow of changes to the composite index. This index determines the percent the state contributes to local education budgets. The Governor wants to divert these “hold harmless” funds.
5. If you wish to build roads, you should
A – borrow money by issuing bonds, so that you will be gone before the principal and interest payments start
B – take the money from state employees and teachers
C – raise taxes in line with services
Virginia has fully funded the VRS in only 4 of the last 20 years. The money the state has “saved” has allowed the state to continue to operate without raising revenues. In other words, state employees and teachers have been paying for the roads, bridges, and other favorite projects of the Governor and General Assembly.
In the current budget, the Governor proposes issuing bonds for road projects. When the principal and interest comes due, he is apparently counting on federal dollars. However, his own party, at the federal level, is expected to slash those funds.
6. If you borrow 620 million dollars, at the end of the year you have
A- a surplus
B- a liability you can ignore
C- a 620 million dollar liability
Lat budget year the State “borrowed” 620 million from VRS. At the end of the budget year Governor McDonald proclaimed, and took credit for, a budget surplus of $220 million. The VRS money has yet to be paid back.
What can you do?
VEA Membership numbers matter. Membership provides the dollars that fund VEA lobbying efforts at the state level.
-Talk to a peer about joining AEA.
Voices are heard. Remember those Abusive driver fees? They were rescinded after an email campaign. Remember the closed interstate rest stops. They reopened in response to citizen outcry.
-Check out these websites.
Copy and paste these url’s into a browser
What is the General Assembly doing TODAY that is impacting education, your job, and your retirement?
http://www.veadailyreports.com/
Find and write to your legislators, by zip code
http://capwiz.com/nea/va/issues/alert/?alertid=22240516&queueid=6328663511
VEA website with all the above and more
http://www.veanea.org/
-Talk to your peers and your friends outside of school. Build momentum for an active democracy.