It is almost time to get out your toga out and start practicing your Latin – Et tu Bute? The Special Events committee has banned all short swords at the Spring Fling in the Park so we should have a nice peaceful ides. We had a busy Board meeting this month and in addition to Board actions I have included items about Sun Devil Giving Day, which is fast approaching, an article from Jack Burns on Social Security and workers in your home, and finally there is a chance to review the contact information we have for you and send me any changes that need to be made. As usual E-News ends with links to upcoming events.

Board Meeting Notes

• Jeri Meeks submitted a two-page report summarizing the status of several bills of interest to ASURA members, including bills on voting, Universities, and Health/Vulnerable Adults. An old chestnut is making a return visit – creation of a Lieutenant Governor position. You can see Jeri’s complete report in the March Board Minutes on our website.
  
  
  
  The legislation allowing guns on campus (HB2447 and SB1123) still appears to be stalled. The results of the membership survey showed overwhelming opposition to allowing guns on campus. The Board approved a motion, similar to one proposed by Dick Jacob ten years ago, that ASURA opposes guns on campus and requested the ASURA lobbyist to register our opposition to the current bills, which Jeri has done.
  
  
  
  After the meeting Bill Stasi sent me an article from the March 6,2022 East Valley Tribune discussing HB2414, a bill that would allow a gun on school grounds provided it was kept in a car. Since it is already legal to have an unloaded gun on a school campus this bill relieves parents from having to stop and unload their weapons before dropping off or picking up their children.
• Carl Cross reported that Jo Ellen Alberhasky, Bev Buddee, Partha Dasgupta, Terrie Ekin, and Bill Stasi had been elected to the Board. Carl also presented the slate of Officers for next year: President Bill Stasi, Vice President still looking, Secretary Pat Schneider, Treasurer Barry McNeill, and Past President Tara Roesler. The Board approved the slate.
• Joy Shearman reported that of the fifteen applications for next year’s scholarship that meet both ASU and ASURA’s requirements, only six had submitted the required two letters of reference from teacher / employer. The remaining nine were given until March 8 to submit the needed letters.
• Barry McNeill reported the Finance Committee’s recommendation that the Board approve transferring $10,000 from the Operations account to our Scholarship’s endowment located in the ASU Foundation. These excess operation funds were primarily the result of the Pandemic which reduced our operating expenses. The transfer will bring the Operations Account back down to a level consistent with recent pre-Pandemic levels. The Board approved the transfer. The complete committee report is attached to the March 8, minutes.
• There were several event reports.
  
  • Mary Stevens said that twenty-seven had registered for the Spring Fling in the Park (it is still not too late to register, see link below).
  • Barry reported that the Annual Meeting will be held on Tuesday April 19 from 9:30 am to 11:30 am. As was the case last year the meeting will be virtual. The invited speaker is Dr. Amanda Burke who is the Executive Vice President of the Center for the Future of Arizona (CFA), the center Lattie Coor helped create many moons ago. See the Annual Meeting link below for more information.

Sun Devil Giving Day is March 17

Every year, the Arizona State University community comes together to celebrate Sun Devil Giving Day, a university-wide day of giving in which ASU supporters give to their passions through the university.

Your generosity is powerful — on Sun Devil Giving Day and all year round. When you support what matters most to you, you enable ASU students, faculty and staff to make a positive impact on people’s lives and the world they live in.

There are literally hundreds of available programs available for donations. There are four programs which directly benefit ASURA and its programs: Operations, Scholarship, Video History Project, and Adopt-A-Family. To donate to any of these programs click on donate and select ASU Retirees Association in the left column under Category.

An Item from Jack Burns’ Monthly Social Security Column

Jack Burns, Social Security Public Affairs Specialist in Arizona, prepares a monthly report which is shared with the Pre-retirement Committee who pass it on to its distribution list. Jack has given the committee permission to use his material in the E-News. Jack’s column this month had four interesting topics and I selected Workers in Your Home and Social Security Taxes.

Do you plan to pay a cleaning person, cook, gardener, babysitter, or other household worker at least $2,400 in 2022? If you will pay at least $2,400 to one person during the year, which may include transportation, meals, and housing, you have additional financial responsibilities to consider.

When you pay at least $2,400 in wages to a household worker, you must do all of the following:

• Deduct Social Security and Medicare taxes from those wages.
• Pay these taxes to the Internal Revenue Service.
• Report the wages to Social Security.

Accurate reporting is important as employees earn credits toward Social Security benefits and Medicare coverage. You can currently earn Social Security or Medicare credit for every $1,510 in wages that are reported. Generally, people need 10 years of work to qualify for:

• Retirement benefits (as early as age 62).
• Disability benefits for the worker and the worker’s dependents.
• Survivors benefits for the worker’s family.
• Medicare benefits.

You can learn more about reporting household worker income by reading Household Workers www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10021.pdf.

Review of Contact Information

It is getting close to membership renewal time and we would like to know that we have current contact information. Shown below is the contact information we have for you (this part of E-News is unique to you). If you see any changes reply to this email with your update and I’ll make the changes to the database.

First Name:  Barney

Last Name:  Googol

Street Address:   4567 Cloud Lane

City:   Emerald City

State or Province:  Center

Zip or Postal Code: 99-99-99

Country:   Oz

Phone:  666-77-2345

Cell Phone: 934-75-8483 

Email:  barney.google@barney.google.com