Federal Economic Stimulus Package: Confusing language

From Molly Ganz, May 2, 2008

Subject: Re: Retired teachers won't get "stimulus."

Hi folks,

This item has been nagging at me :-/ Maybe we should wait and see if anyone gets the stimulus tomorrow. (Direct Deposits to be received tomorrow if SS# ends in 00 through 20)

I kept reading that IRS FAQ question: "Is pension income from employers considered income for the Economic Stimulus Package?"

What eventually caught my eye is the phrase "from your employer." STRS is not our "employer." Agree? So does that make a difference? STRS is really ours... the teachers, not the school districts. Right? Does this make sense to you?

However, the answer to that IRS question is: "No, pension income is not included in eligible income."

Hopefully, ORTA is indeed mistaken in its interpretation of the IRS eligibility requirements and/or the IRS didn't use the proper language in its response to the question and in so doing confused the whole issue for a bunch of us. I suppose we'll know soon.

Molly G