AREA is an affiliate of the Texas Retired Teachers Association (TRTA).TRTA is the only statewide organization in Texas that works exclusively for retired public school and higher education personnel at the legislative level to maintain or improve benefits to all retirees. TRTA is the largest organization of its kind in the United States. 

 

In 2023, due to TRTA’s strong advocacy efforts, the Legislature appropriated approximately $5 billion in general revenue designated for COLAs and supplemental payments for eligible TRS annuitants, the largest amount ever appropriated from the state using only general revenue funds for a TRS benefit enhancement.

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In 2024, TRTA worked with its national coalition partners to repeal the arbitrary and unfair Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO). For more than four decades, TRS retirees who also worked in the private sector before, during, or after their education careers and paid into Social Security saw their Social Security benefits slashed by WEP, simply because they also received a public pension. TRS retirees also had their spousal or survivor benefits cut or eliminated by GPO. TRTA will continue to keep members updated about the implementation of H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act, as benefits are restored for thousands of TRS retirees and millions of public servants.