Sample TPEA Letter
| [DATE] |
||
| The Honorable [Senator's Full Name] The Texas Senate P.O. Box 12068-Capitol Station Austin, TX 78711-2068 |
or |
The Honorable [Representative's Full Name] Texas House of Representatives P.O. Box 2910 Austin, TX 78768-2910 |
Dear Senator [Last Name] or Representative [Last Name]:
As a proud Texas state employee I’m asking for your support on issues that are critical to all state workers and essential to preserving quality state services. Texas employees are proud to work in the most efficient state government in America, but we need your help to maintain quality state services for the people of Texas.
Please support the Texas Public Employees Association (TPEA) legislative agenda for the 2009 Legislature, which includes modest across-the-board pay raises in both years of the next budget cycle, additional raises for the highest turnover occupations, and funds for merit pay awards for all state agencies. State employee pay is significantly below that paid by other employers in Texas for comparable work, so continued progress on employee pay is necessary to prevent crippling turnover in the workforce. TPEA also supports maintaining current health care benefits for active and retired employees. And finally, TPEA is supporting efforts to restore the ERS Retirement Trust Fund to actuarial soundness to allow a long-overdue benefit enhancement for state retirees.
Please support the TPEA legislative agenda during the 2009 session. Taken together, the TPEA legislative agenda represents the necessary ongoing investments in the state workforce to mitigate employee turnover and assure the continued efficient delivery of quality services that Texas taxpayers deserve. State workers are very productive, in fact, despite the growth in demand for state services over the past decade, general state government agencies operate with 4 percent fewer employees now than a decade earlier.
We sincerely appreciate efforts by previous legislatures to address state employee pay and benefit issues. The state workforce is an asset that has served Texas taxpayers well, but it will require ongoing investment to remain efficient and productive.
We appreciate your leadership for Texas and Texans and we all thank you sincerely.
Sincerely,
[Signature]
[Mailing address and home phone number]