Our deadline to reach 290 cosponsors for HR 82 is urgent. We need 9 more Representatives (author Rodney Davis counts as one of the 290) NOW! We are invoking the Consensus Calendar rule ("Rule of 290") to force HR 82 to the House floor. This rule can only be used between March 1 and Sept. 30. Once the 290 cosponsor threshold is reached, the bill's author may file a motion to put it on the Consensus Calendar. Then, the bill must maintain the 290 cosponsors for 25 LEGISLATIVE DAYS before it can be scheduled.
The procedure is outlined here: https://www.congressionalinstitute.org/117th-congress-house-floor-procedures-manual/xvii-consensus-calendar/
We have until Sept. 30 to accomplish this. There is some discrepancy about the count of the 25 legislative days which we're attempting to clarify now. Whatever your conclusion, it's clear that we have very little time left to get those 9 cosponsors. July 26th is the deadline that is being reported after I participated in a Zoom call with moderators from the FB group, Repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision-WEP & Govt. Pension Offset-GPO on establishing State Coordinators and contacting the freshman class of U.S. Representatives that are not cosponsors of H.R. 82. They have each day on their FB page a campaign called Fresh Faces of the 117th Congress.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1315898065249754/permalink/2109220592584160/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1315898065249754/permalink/2109759745863578/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1315898065249754/permalink/2110414745798078/
Please contact the above listed Representatives and ask them to support H.R. 82.
Many people are asking for a sample letter to email. You can start with the following explanations, but then you need to add YOUR OWN STORY of how WEP and/or GPO effect YOUR life:
Here is a sample email or read this during phone call:
Please repeal The Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset by cosponsoring H.R. 82! We have 281 cosponsors, but we need 9 more ASAP! The WEP is Unfair! Americans across the country pay into Social Security and expect to receive the benefits they have earned when they retire. Unfortunately, because of a well-intended but flawed policy known as the Windfall Elimination Provision, or the WEP, some workers — specifically teachers, firefighters, police officers and others who have paid into Social Security for part of their careers but not all of it — are not treated fairly. The Government Pension Offset is also unjust! It reduces the spousal or survivor Social Security. 71% of people affected by the GPO lose ALL of their Social Security spousal or survivor benefits. Older teachers with a $3,000 a month pension lose $24,000 every year. This penalty usually eliminates ALL the Social Security retirement benefits a public worker’s spouse has paid in for them.
I will be serving as a State Coordinator for the State of Maryland. I am asking constituents in the States of Maryland and Virginia to also contact their Representatives and Senators or if you know of an organization, business or union representative i.e., Fraternal Order Police, or D.C Teachers Union request that their legislation secretary contact the Representatives and Senators in their State.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1315898065249754/permalink/2084480948391458/
https://m.facebook.com/groups/1315898065249754/permalink/2093267660846120/
Congressman Kweisi Mfume was not listed in the Facebook campaign, but he is not a cosponsor of H.R. 82 from the State of Maryland, and please reach out to him and his staff.
Email / Constituents [MD-07]—https://mfume.house.gov/zip-code-lookup?form=/contact/email-me
Email—Chief of Staff Eric Bryant at eric.bryant@mail.house.gov
Message/Facebook—https://www.facebook.com/kweisi.mfume.754
https://www.congressweb.com/aila/legislators/info/mbr_id/228/
If anyone else wants to serve as a State Coordinator for Maryland, contact Peter Joyce the President of Repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision-WEP & Govt. Pension Offset-GPO or myself and for the State of Virginia or any other State in addition, there are 6 non-voting members, representing the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and four other territories of the United States: American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, please contact Peter Joyce.
https://m.facebook.com/groups/1315898065249754/permalink/2108127629360123/
Please join #RepealWEP
Please read and share my petition, where you can find useful info listed below i.e.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/261424602509432/permalink/402994165019141/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/261424602509432/permalink/422455563073001/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/261424602509432/permalink/427399395911951/
Https://change.org/Act2RepealWEP_GPO