Daily Archives: January 6, 2014

HISD school bus drivers disciplined for praying after child’s death

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HOUSTON (KTRK) — Houston ISD bus drivers came together to support a coworker and to protest a move by the school district.

Several drivers were reprimanded for praying with that coworker, after she lost a child. In response to that — they’re praying even more.

On December 16, a 12-year-old girl was struck by a car as she walked home from school in north Harris County. She would later die from her injuries. She was the daughter of an HISD bus driver, whose coworkers rallied around her.

Bus driver Cynthia Cormier said, “From a parent’s point of view and from a grandparent’s, prayer is the answer.”

As news of the tragedy spread among the community of HISD school bus drivers, they spontaneously prayed for one of their own who was grieving. They joined not holding hands, but by using a back channel on the bus radio system.

Wretha Thomas, with the Educational Support Union, said, “Somebody else heard it and called in and reported it to the administration and they chose to write them up.”

Read more at ABC 13

Current legislation of interest to veterans.

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Veterans and current military members are certainly aware of the reduction of retiree pay while blocking Republican efforts to close tax credits for illegal aliens.

The Air Force Sergeants Association Facebook page has compiled a list of current legislation of interest to the military and veterans.

Many of the efforts address the reduction in veteran retirement in one fashion or another. Democrat Daniel B. Maffei of New York, for example, would restore military pay while closing “corporate tax loopholes.”

The list from the Air Force Sergeants Association is as follows:

H.R. 3787, by Rep. James Lankford, R-Okla., would repeal of annual adjustment of retired pay and retainer pay amounts for retired members of the Armed Forces under age 62. Note: This bill would restore $6 billion to replace the cuts in military retirement by combining DoD and VA drug-buying power, that Lankford contends would save an estimated $7 billion.

H.R. 3788, by Rep. Michael G. Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., (and 45 cosponsors), would repeal the reductions in military retirement benefits made by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013; and require inclusion of the taxpayer’s social security number to claim the refundable portion of the child tax credit.

H.R. 3789, by Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., (and 120 cosponsors), would exempt the retired pay of certain disabled veterans from the reduced adjustment of retired pay and retainer pay amounts for retired members of the Armed Forces under age 62; and prevent any adverse impact of the reduced adjustment on annuities under the Survivor Benefit Plan based on retired or retainer pay.

H.R. 3790, by Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., (and 87 cosponsors), would repeal of annual adjustment of retired pay and retainer pay amounts for retired members of the Armed Forces under age 62.

H.R. 3792, by Rep. Robert J. Wittman, R-Va., would bill to repeal the reduction in the annual percentage increases of retired pay and retainer pay amounts for retired members of the Armed Forces under age 62.

H.R. 3793, by Rep. Daniel B. Maffei, D-N.Y., (and 36 cosponsors), would restore full military retirement benefits by closing corporate tax loopholes.

H.R. 3794, by Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., would repeal the annual adjustment of retired pay and retainer pay amounts for retired members of the Armed Forces under age 62.

H.R. 3797, by Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn., would repeal an annual adjustment of retired pay and retainer pay amounts for retired members of the Armed Forces under age 62.

H.R. 3798, by Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn., would repeal an annual adjustment of retired pay and retainer pay amounts for retired members of the Armed Forces under age 62.

H.R. 3801, by Rep. Darrell E. Issa, R-Calif., would repeal the reductions in military retirement benefits made by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013; and authorize the United States Postal Service to implement a modified Saturday delivery schedule.

S. 1869, by Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., would repeal section 403 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013, relating to an annual adjustment of retired pay for members of the Armed Forces under the age of 62, and provide an offset.

S. 1872, by Sen. Mark L. Pryor, D-Ark., would provide that the annual adjustment of retired pay for members of the Armed Forces under the age of 62 under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 shall not apply to members retired for disability and to retired pay used to compute certain Survivor Benefit Plan annuities.

S. 1880, by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., would provide that the annual adjustment of retired pay for members of the Armed Forces under the age of 62 under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 shall not apply to members retired for disability and to retired pay used to compute certain Survivor Benefit Plan annuities.