The ATPE Governmental Relations team recaps the past week’s education news, legislative and election updates, and regulatory developments.

• Senate majority leader pushes for passage of the Social Security Fairness Act
• Is there a local government runoff election in your area Saturday?
• Enroll in the ATPE Member Advocate Program (ATPE-MAP) program today to prep for session!
• Submit your ATPE Summit breakout session proposals by Jan. 7

We invite ATPE members to discuss the latest Texas education policy news with our ATPE Governmental Relations team in The Rotunda on the new ATPE Online Community. 

GPO/WEP: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is trying to push the Social Security Fairness Act, aiming to pass it before the new Congress convenes. The bill seeks to repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO), provisions in Social Security law that ATPE has long advocated to repeal that unfairly reduce Social Security benefits for public service workers and their spouses. Schumer called on Senate Republicans to join Democrats in supporting the measure, which previously passed the House with bipartisan backing. However, some fiscal conservatives, including Texas Senators John Cornyn (R) and Ted Cruz (R), have expressed concerns over its $190 billion cost (over the next 10 years). On Thursday, the Senate took a key procedural step that has the chamber poised to vote on the bill as early as next Tuesday or Wednesday. Visit ATPE’s Advocacy Central to send a message to Texas’ senators, Sen. John Cornyn (R) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R), urging them to vote for passage of the Social Security Fairness Act. 

RUNOFF ELECTION: Saturday, Dec. 14, is the date for all runoffs resulting from Nov. 5 general elections. That means voters across Texas will determine Saturday who will represent them in local government, including some school boards. Runoff elections are traditionally low turnout, and the combination of general election fatigue plus a Saturday during a holiday season may make turnout even lower than normal. In Travis County, for instance, only 2.43% of eligible voters turned out for early voting in a runoff election featuring contests for Manor mayor, an Austin City Council seat, and an Austin ISD school board position. Consult your county’s election website to find information about any runoff races in your area. 

ATPE-MAP: The response to the new ATPE Member Advocate Program (ATPE-MAP) has been tremendous. “This is some of the BEST training I have every received through ATPE,” shares A. Kay Young Wolfe, a Mesquite ATPE member. “I was extremely impressed with all the areas covered. Who knew I had a resource to find the likely bias of a news agency! Thank you for helping me to be a better advocate for my profession and myself.” Join Kay in completing both the Introduction to Advocacy module and State-Level Advocacy module in order to earn the ATPE-MAP State-Level Advocacy microcredential, which is a prerequisite for attending ATPE Capitol Expeditions during the upcoming legislative session. Learn more about ATPE-MAP and how to enroll at atpe.org/member-advocate-program. Note: Due to the upcoming holiday break, we encourage you to enroll in the modules by Dec. 18 to ensure you have access to the private ATPE-MAP online community throughout the entire break. All members who enroll by Dec. 18 will be added to the community by end of business Dec. 20. If you enroll over the break, your addition to the community will be delayed. 

SUMMIT: The member ATPE Summit Programming Committee is on the hunt for proposals for engaging and empowering professional learning sessions! The 2025 ATPE Summit will take place July 7–9 at the JW Marriott Austin Downtown, with professional learning breakouts occurring the morning of July 9. All Texas educators are invited to submit their ideas for continuing professional education (CPE)-eligible sessions. Find more details at atpesummit.org/call-for-proposals. The submission deadline is Jan. 7. (Just announced: The opening keynote speaker!)