Clyde Hamner Readies for new Role as President of Louisiana Retired Teachers Association

Clyde F. Hamner, a resident of Terrebonne and a member of the Terrebonne Parish Council, has been elected as the state president for the Louisiana Retired Teachers Association (LRTA), a nonprofit member driven organization for public education retirees. LRTA plays a key role as an advocate for state legislation that safeguards and enhances retirement benefits for over 83,000 individuals receiving pensions from the Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL). Hamner also serves on the TRSL Board of Trustees where he sits on the Investment Committee. The TRSL Board is responsible for making and approving investment policy for the system’s assets, currently valued at $27 billion.

The mission of LRTA is to promote the professional, social, and economic welfare of all Louisiana retirees. To that regard, Hamner says, “I believe that anytime someone has a chance to offer to serve people who share the same passion as you, it is a blessing. I cannot think of a more important calling than the opportunity to serve our members and the retiree community.”

As president of LRTA, Hamner will assume leadership of the organization dedicated to protecting and improving the state’s teacher pension plan. Among his duties for LRTA, Hamner will appoint all standing and special committees of the organization and preside over all meetings of the association, including the LRTA Executive Board. In addition, he will work with the Executive Director and staff of LRTA to meet the goals and legislative priorities of the association.

As an advocate for all retired public employees, Hamner has testified several times in the Louisiana Legislature in both the House and Senate on bills affecting the pension plans of state retirees. He has traveled to Washington D.C. to lobby members of Congress for the repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset (WEP/GPO) of Social Security that reduces the pensions of public employees, including policemen, firefighters, and teachers. He was instrumental in setting up a historic Congressional Field Hearing of the House Ways and Means Committee held in Baton Rouge, securing witnesses to testify before members of Congress on how WEP/GPO has affected their lives as retired citizens.

After working for 33 years in education roles in Louisiana, Hamner retired from the Terrebonne Parish school system as an administrator. He joined the Terrebonne Retired Teachers Association (TRTA), the local affiliate of LRTA, following his retirement. He served as an officer of TRTA and later became a member of the LRTA Budget Committee and Legislative Committee. He then served as LRTA Second Vice President and became chairman of the State Program Committee and chairman of the State Legislative Committee. He was elected as LRTA First Vice President in 2022 before being elected as LRTA President.

In addition to serving on the Terrebonne Parish Council as District 6 representative, Hamner is chairman of the Council’s Policy, Procedure, and Legal Committee. Before being elected to the Parish Council, Hamner served five years on the Terrebonne Parish School Board for District 6 where he was Chairman of the Finance, Insurance, and Section 16 Lands Committee and the school board’s Legislative Liaison. Additionally, Clyde is an actively involved member of the Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce.

In October, Terrebonne Parish will host the LRTA state convention at the Marriott in Houma. For more information about LRTA, visit lrta.net.