Page 2 - Retiree News Winter 2020

CSEA President Mary E. Sullivan:
Help us make sure all New Yorkers are counted
Sisters and Brothers:
Ihope you
enjoyed
the holiday
season! I
am looking
forward to the
opportunities
we’ll have in 2020 to work together to advance your issues and concerns.
Speaking of the year ahead, CSEA is working hard right now to spread awareness of the U.S. Census count that begins in April, and we need to make sure YOU as retiree members take an active role in making sure everyone is counted!
We are sharing information
to help you understand why
it’s so vitally important for all of us to make sure everyone gets counted. It’s not enough to just get counted yourself... too many New Yorkers didn’t get counted last time around, and our communities lost needed funding. When our communities suffer, we all suffer.
We need your help! Our
Political Action Department has been holding meetings around the state to partner with the Census Bureau and get out the facts, and they will come to your meetings when invited. There are also great opportunities for retirees to work for the Census Bureau, giving you the ability to earn some extra money while making sure people get counted.
However you get involved, I urge you to join us in making sure more New Yorkers are counted. Even if you no longer live in New York, we all have a vested interest in making sure the Census count is accurate. This not only determines our political landscape across our country, but also how much funding our communities receive. It truly impacts all our lives.
I wish all our retirees a happy and healthy year ahead.
In solidarity,
Mary E. Sullivan President
Retiree Executive Committee Chair Millie Lucas:
HMake us count!
appy New ourselves. According to the U.S. Year! As we Census Bureau, 47.8 million — or are gearing nearly 15 percent — of Americans
up for a busy year, our first project is already at hand. It
is critical that we
are all counted in the 2020 U.S. Census.
You probably know that
the Census determines our Congressional representation, including the number of seats and where those districts are located, but there is so much more at stake here.
The Census also determines the scope of federal funding
to our state and localities, including for Medicare Part B, hospitals and nursing homes and infrastructure. Federal money not only helps fund public services and programs that retirees need every day, but it funds the jobs of so many of our CSEA brothers and sisters.
In 2010, only 69 percent of New Yorkers were counted, which led our state to lose $2,000 for every person not counted — every year during the past decade.
We can be part of the solution in more ways than one.
First, we all need to be counted
are age 65 or older, and that total is projected to grow. We need to be accurately counted to ensure that we can continue to have
a dignified retirement with the services we need available to us.
Over the next couple of months, most households will receive an invitation in the mail to participate.
This year will be the first Census that will be primarily conducted online, but you will have the option to respond online, by mail or over the phone. U.S. Census takers will also follow up with households in person.
No matter how you respond, the important thing is that you do get counted!
The second way we can make a difference is by joining the 2020 U.S. Census team. You would be able to work in your community, and there are several types of jobs in both offices and the field. Visit 2020census.gov/jobs to learn more.
In solidarity,
Millie
Hank Wagoner, CSEA Capital Region activist
Mary Lou Dunning, Buffalo-Niagara Frontier Retirees Local activist
CSEA is mourning
the recent loss
of longtime Capital
Region activist
Henry “Hank”
Wagoner, 73, who
passed away on
December 25. He
served our union for more than 40 years. Wagoner was employed at Capital District Psychiatric Center and served as our CSEA Capital District Psychiatric Center Local President for many years.
2
After retiring in 2011, Wagoner continued his union activism through Capital District Retirees Local 999, often helping provide food for the local’s summer meetings held at the Polish American Citizens Club in Albany, where Wagoner was a member. He also volunteered for numerous charitable organizations. His survivors include many siblings and their families; his longtime partner Mary Ann Davis and many nieces and nephews.
CSEA is
mourning
the loss of Mary
Lou Dunning,
a longtime
activist for both
our union’s
Chautauqua
County and Buffalo-Niagara Frontier Retirees Local 903. She passed away on Oct. 16, 2019.
Dunning, who was featured in the Spring 2018 Retiree News, had worked for Chautauqua County from 1980 to 2004, when she
retired. As a county employee,
she had served our union as the Chautauqua County Unit and Local secretary. She also served on her local’s Political Action Committee and as a delegate to the Dunkirk Area Labor County.
After retiring, Dunning continued her CSEA activism with Buffalo- Niagara Frontier Retirees Local
903 and was currently serving
as secretary of the Local’s Unit
3. She also served as an election inspector and in other roles in her community.
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