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NARFE National Website -- NARFE Juneau Chapter #2088
July 1, 2010 - NARFE Urges National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform to Preserve the Earned Benefits of Federal Retirees and Workers
Margaret L. Baptiste, president of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE), in testimony before the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, today urged the 18-member, bipartisan commission to protect the compensation and retirement value of benefits for federal workers, retirees and their spouses and survivors.
Speaking before the Commission created by President Obama to craft proposals to reduce the long term debt, Baptiste noted that while entitlements will be a focus of the group, federal retirement and health benefits differ from other entitlement programs. “There is one significant difference: civil service retirement and health benefits are earned by employees, and designed to attract and retain a skilled workforce. They are not modeled on social insurance, health-based, or means-tested.” Baptiste said.
Over 2.3 million retirees and survivors depend on either the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or the newer Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). “The federal service has always been a program of shared costs between the agency and the worker. Regrettably, the public is often misinformed -- believing federal employees get 'free' or overly generous benefits.” President Baptiste told Commission members. In past, however, civil service pay and benefits have taken outsized reductions during budget cutting legislation, particularly with regard to Cost of Living Adjustments that were canceled in the 1980s without similar action to other federal programs.
Responding that everyone is concerned about the fiscal future facing American, Baptiste observed that the cost of federal retirement programs will barely increase as a share of the Gross Domestic Product in contrast to Social Security and health costs due to increasing retirements on the less costly FERS model.
“In federal personnel programs, that goal must be balanced against the skills, retention and productivity of the next generation of employees -- also a long-term balance. Outsized reductions diminish the federal workforce needed to meet the complexities of globalization, and to make government more efficient and responsive to the taxpayers. Please keep these competing elements in mind as you develop a new fiscal blueprint for America.” Baptiste remarked.
The Commission is schedule to make its recommendations December 2010. Should any proposal receive 14 votes, its recommendations will be considered in an expedited procedure by both the House and Senate without amendment.
# # #
NARFE, one of America’s oldest and largest associations, was founded in 1921 with the mission of protecting the earned rights and benefits of America’s active and retired federal workers. The largest federal employee/ retiree organization, NARFE represents the retirement interests of nearly 5 million current and future federal annuitants, spouses, and survivors.
This message is generated by the NARFE Global Email Messaging System (GEMS). Please do not reply to this message. If you wish to reply to this message, please compose a new message to the sender. To stop receiving these messages, simply visit our web site at www.narfe.org and remove your e-mail address from your membership record or email us at memsrvcs@narfe.org.
This NARFE Legislative Hotline, number 722 was released Friday,
July 2nd. This edition reports on NARFE testimony to the Fiscal
Commission and testimony before the Federal Workforce Subcommittee.
Due to the Independence Day Recess, the next scheduled Hotline is set
for Friday, July 16th. (499 words; 2:58)
Fiscal Commission
hears from NARFE President: On June 30, NARFE President Margaret L.
Baptiste testified before the National Commission on Fiscal
Responsibility and Reform. Baptiste urged the 18-member,
bipartisan commission to protect the compensation and retirement value
of benefits for federal workers, retirees and their spouses and
survivors. More details are available on our web site,
www.narfe.org. The direct link is
http://www.narfe.org/departments/home/articles.cfm?ID=2115 The
Commission’s web site,
www.fiscalcommission.gov, provides further information.
President Baptiste’s full testimony is available to members. Sign
in using your Last Name and Membership ID and then point your browser to
http://www.narfe.org/departments/legislation/articles.cfm?ID=2129
House Subcommittee hears from NARFE member: On June 30,
NARFE member, Patricia Barts, testified at the Federal Workforce
Subcommittee’s hearing on "Temporary Employee Practices: How Long Does
Temporary Last?" Barts, a member of Chapter 718 Cherry Hill, testified
that her employer, the Internal Revenue Service, took 16 years to
upgrade her from a seasonal to permanent worker, which significantly
lowered the annuity she receives in retirement. More information
is available from the NARFE Home page,
www.narfe.org or directly at:
http://www.narfe.org/departments/home/articles.cfm?ID=2116
Patricia Barts’ full testimony is available to members. Sign in using
your Last Name and Membership ID and then point your browser to
http://www.narfe.org/departments/legislation/articles.cfm?ID=2130
Planning/coordinating for August Is ‘Meet Your Candidates
Month’ Because it is the largest block of time when incumbents
need not be on Capitol Hill, the August 7-September 14 summer recess is
NARFE’s “Meet Your Candidates Month.” We are eager to improve on
our successful 2008 election outreach to congressional candidates.
NARFE federation presidents and national legislative chairs participated
in early planning including regional conference calls in May (June
NARFE, p. 16). Copies of the planning memo and support documents
including a “Candidate Questionnaire” and the new “Fiscal Commission
Talking Points” are posted for NARFE members on our web site and are
available upon request. Chapter officers may want to provide
copies to their members. (On the Legislation home page, use the colorful
Meet Your Candidates Month “CLICK HERE” for supporting materials.)
Baptiste: ENLIST to Defend: Now that President Baptiste has
testified before the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and
Reform, NARFE members must enlist in the defense of our earned benefits.
President Baptiste urges you to join the 6,837 members who have already
enlisted using the Legislative Action Center to send a MESSAGE to your
Representative and two Senators.” (Again, the specific link is
http://capwiz.com/narfe/issues/alert/?alertid=14982226.)
Obtaining the Hotline: Thank you for using the Hotline. This
weekly legislative message is available to telephone callers
(703/838-7780 and toll free at 1-877-217-8234), posted on NARFE's
Internet site, www.narfe.org, made
available to NARFE-Net Coordinators; and sent to over 54,000 GEMS e-mail
addresses. Each delivery channel is a service of NARFE, the
National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association.
This message is generated by the NARFE Global Email Messaging System
(GEMS). Please do not reply to this message. If you wish to reply to
this message, please compose a new message to the sender. To stop
receiving these messages, simply visit our web site at
www.narfe.org and remove your e-mail
address from your membership record or email us at
memsrvcs@narfe.org.
July 10, 2010
NATIONAL OFFICERS REPORT TO THE MEMBERS
As veterans of numerous elections at all levels of NARFE, we are very aware that, sometimes, facts can get “stretched” during the run-up to the voting. This is true for elections everywhere and, we guess, can be called “politics as usual.”
Three of your four National Officers are not seeking election at the National Convention in Grand Rapids. But, in the past few weeks, a number of emails/GEMS messages have been sent to many of you, stating or alleging or insinuating, that “NARFE is having very serious financial problems …” and the National Executive Board (NEB) is giving “scant attention” to this problem. These messages might leave the reader with the belief that the NEB is either ignoring this alleged “serious financial situation,” or are concealing this information from the members. As members of the NEB, we would like to set the record straight.
In the past 24 years, there have been four increases in NARFE dues: 1986, 1991, 1996 and 2004. Each time dues were increased, the projected “life cycle” was 5-plus years.
Obviously, an increase or decrease in membership, the return from our investments, and/or our operating expenses would determine the actual time a particular dues amount would be sufficient to meet NARFE’s needs.
Unfortunately, NARFE has experienced “the perfect storm” in the period since the 2004 dues increase. Our membership has declined an average of 10,000 members annually, which means less dues revenue. This means that NARFE has had to supplement the lost dues income from other sources (i.e. investments, advertisements, donations, etc.).
In 2004, NARFE dues were increased from $20 to $29. In 2004, NARFE had 365,821 members. Today, we have approximately 306,000 members, a loss of nearly 60,000 members. Simple math shows that this loss of membership equates to a loss of approximately $1,740,000. Again, if we add this loss to the loss of income from our investments and factor in any increased costs in our operating expenses, you will see why, despite our best efforts to hold down spending, NARFE has had to supplement our operating income by using money from our investments.
NOTE: NARFE’s 2010 Operating Budget is $240,000 (0.02%) less than our 2004 Operating Budget, despite the fact that inflation increased 20.3% during the same period.
Despite comments to the contrary from some sources, your NEB has not ignored these losses, but has taken steps to reduce NARFE’s annual operating budget. Here are some of the actions already taken by the NEB to compensate for the loss of income:
1- NARFE has reduced staff from 66 to 60.5 since 2004. Where feasible, we are not filling staff vacancies as they occur in order to reduce the staff even further via attrition, a saving of $323,000.
2- NARFE has negotiated a new contract with our data base contractor, a saving NARFE $384,000 annually.
3- NARFE has negotiated a new contract with the printer of NARFE Magazine, as well as reducing the number of pages in each issue, a saving of $245,000 annually.
4- NARFE held one electronic NEB meeting this year and will look at holding future electronic meetings at a saving of $23,000 per meeting.
5- NARFE has purchased new copy and printing equipment to reduce out-sourcing costs. To date NARFE has used this equipment to meet the requests for printed material from members at a saving of over $5,000 a year.
6 - NARFE has reduced travel expenses for the entire NEB: National Officers only attend Federation Conventions every other year and RVP’s limit their travel to Federation meetings/conventions. This results in saving NARFE thousands of dollars every year.
7- NARFE is saving money by providing more materials/forms/reports/etc to members electronically.
And, we can assure you that the NEB continues to look at what other measures need to be taken to reduce costs.
A final note. We delayed requesting any dues increase until the 2010 National Convention in order to allow adequate time to hear from our members. As good stewards of your money, we have cut costs and tried to maximize the time between any requested dues increase.
To those members who allege that the NEB were not aware of our financial situation, we would advise them that the four National Officers meet weekly to discuss any pertinent items, including our budget and/or financial situation and the National Treasurer and/or the Director of Finances make a presentation at each NEB meeting. Your Board is familiar with our financial situation (monthly reports are provided to them) and we can state unequivocally that we are not broke. NARFE has sufficient funds to continue operating through the end of this year and part of 2011. NARFE also has a “contingency fund” of $2 million which, as noted by our Auditors in the June issue of the NARFE magazine, “has been designated by the NEB to pay operating expenses should the Association’s operations be disrupted by an unforeseen event.”
We urge members to approve a dues increase proposal at the National Convention in order to prevent us from dipping into the contingency fund. We trust our members and believe that the members will approve an increase in dues in order to preserve our organization and to continue NARFE’s efforts to protect our earned annuities and earned benefits.
Margaret L. Baptiste Joseph A. Beaudoin
Nathaniel L. Brown Richard C. Ostergren
This is also available to you on the web: http://www.narfe.org/departments/home/articles.cfm?ID=2134
By The Washington Post's Lisa Rein:
The House approved legislation Wednesday that would jumpstart the federal government’s telework program by expanding work-at-home options. The vote was 290-131.
A similar bill passed the Senate in May, and the policy has broad support from the Obama administration. A new survey of federal workers released this week found that just 10 percent do their jobs from home.
Under the measure, agencies would be required to appoint a telework managing officer, with the goal of setting up a policy that boosts participation. Workers who handle secure or classified information would still report to the office. Work from home would be permitted as long as it doesn’t hinder the agency’s operation. The Government Accountability Office would be required to gather data on whether the program is working.
Supporters, including sponsors John Sarbanes (D-Md.), Frank Wolf (R-Va.) and Gerald Connolly (D-Va.) say the Telework Improvements Act would save millions of dollars a year in lost productivity during weather-related shutdowns. With fewer cars on the road, air pollution and commuting costs would go down, they say.
Opponents had cited concerns about potential breaches of computer security and worries that workers might not answer calls if they’re at home.
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Low Vitamin D in Senior Citizens Signals Cognitive Decline; Higher Parkinson’s Risk
An estimated 40 to 100% of seniors in U.S. and Europe are deficient in vitamin D: linked to fractures, various chronic diseases and death
MORE: http://www.seniorjournal.com/NEWS/Nutrition-Vitamins/2010/20100712-LowVitaminD.htm
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What to expect from the new Office of Management and Budget director
Federal Times
President Obama has called in a ringer to fix the federal government's budget — and his renewed focus on the deficit could end up hitting feds where it hurts. Jacob "Jack" Lew, who was selected last to replace Peter Orszag as director of the Office of Management and Budget, headed the agency in the late 1990s, when the Clinton administration and congressional Republicans reached an agreement to balance the budget and turned deficits into a $236 billion surplus.
Pharmacists back measures to cut feds' prescription drug costs
Government Executive
A group representing independent pharmacy owners, managers and employees is urging the Office of Personnel Management to take a number of steps to ensure federal workers get the best deal on prescription drugs. The National Community Pharmacists Association, which represents more than 22,000 independent community pharmacies nationwide, sent OPM a letter urging increased oversight of pharmacy benefit managers, the companies that administer prescription drug programs under various health plans. More http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=45725&sid=2
The 10 biggest retirement planning errors federal employees make
We all make mistakes, but some are more costly than others. Ed Zurndorfer, registered employee benefit consultant, talked with Federal News Radio about the 10 biggest mistakes federal employees make when planning for retirement and how to avoid them. More http://www.federalnewsradio.com/index.php?nid=15&sid=2009864
Government Executive
A group representing independent pharmacy owners, managers and employees is urging the Office of Personnel Management to take a number of steps to ensure federal workers get the best deal on prescription drugs. The National Community Pharmacists Association, which represents more than 22,000 independent community pharmacies nationwide, sent OPM a letter urging increased oversight of pharmacy benefit managers, the companies that administer prescription drug programs under various health plans. More http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=45725&sid=2
The 10 biggest retirement planning errors federal employees make
We all make mistakes, but some are more costly than others. Ed Zurndorfer, registered employee benefit consultant, talked with Federal News Radio about the 10 biggest mistakes federal employees make when planning for retirement and how to avoid them. More http://www.federalnewsradio.com/index.php?nid=15&sid=2009864
JULY 2010 CONSUMER PRICE NEWS
The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers
(CPI-W) increased 0.03% percent from June to July. Released by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov/cpi or 202/691-6994) on August
13, the CPI-W for July is 213.898. For purposes of calculating the next
COLA (cost-of-living adjustment), the index, which will be averaged with
the August and September indices, is still 0.74 percent below the 2008
third quarter average base index of 215.5. (Due to price deflation, in
the past measurement year, the 2008 third quarter average is still the
point of comparison.) August consumer price indices will be released
Friday, September 17, 2010.
Benefits awarded under the Federal
Employees Compensation Act (FECA) to individuals suffering work-related
injuries or illnesses are adjusted according to each calendar year’s
percentage change in the CPI-W. July’s index, 213.898 is 1.04 percent
higher than the December 2009 index, 211.703.
|
CPI-W |
Monthly % Change |
% Toward Next COLA |
|
|
Oct. |
211.5 |
0.1 |
-1.9 |
|
Nov |
212.0 |
0.2 |
-1.62 |
|
Dec |
211.7 |
-0.1 |
-1.8 |
|
Jan |
212.6 |
0.4 |
-1.4 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
June |
213.839 |
-0.1 |
-0.8 |
|
July |
213.898 |
.03 |
-0.74 |
Under federal pay law, the president has an annual opportunity with an Aug. 31, deadline, to make a federal pay raise recommendation that could become the default raise for the following January if Congress does not enact a specific figure. That would be an opportunity for President Obama to once again back the 1.4 percent January 2011 raise he recommended earlier this year. MORE: http://www.fedweek.com/showItem.php?ID=6890
Your TSP: Roll it or leave it?
If a financial advisor is suggesting that you roll your money into an individual retirement account, ask why. Is it because the IRA is really a better investment, or is it that he/she will earn a fee from the transaction? There are specific tax rules about taking money from your thrift savings plan and moving it to an IRA or other tax advantaged account. MORE: http://www.fedsmith.com/article/2526/your-tsp-roll-leave.html
Pension max
If you wait until age 70 to start Social Security benefits, you'll give up current income but get larger checks later. Survivor benefits is one advantage. It could take 20 years to make up for the money you lose by not taking benefits sooner. A 70-year-old retiree might not live past 90 but there's a much better chance that his 65-year-old spouse will survive him and outlive age 85, perhaps by 10 or more 20 years. MORE: http://www.fedweek.com/RFPR/showItem.php?ID=3358
Will you get a larger retirement check in 2011?
A frequent question asked is: "Will I get a COLA increase next year?" A closely related question is: "If federal employees get a 1.4 percent pay increase next year, does this mean that retirees get the same increase?" Here is a third question: "My health insurance, food costs and related expenses are higher. Won't this require Congress to give us a COLA increase next year?" Here is a quick answer to all three questions: No.
More: http://www.fedsmith.com/article/2533/will-you-get-larger-retirement-check-2011.html
More than 3 million seniors may have to switch drug
plans
The Associated Press via Google News
Share
A plan by Medicare to try to
make it simpler for consumers to pick drug coverage could force
3 million seniors to switch plans next year whether they like it
or not, says an independent analysis. That risks undercutting
President Barack Obama's promise that people can keep their
health plans if they like them.
MORE:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j9a4NhJMu0YU4habnaMIAS1JbuLAD9HQC04G0
Feds overpaid? OPM launches study to get at truth
Federal Times Share
The
federal government, smarting from months of accusations that its
employees are vastly overpaid, in September will begin
reconsidering the way it determines the gap between federal and
private-sector employees' pay. Office of Personnel Management
Director John Berry said that pay and economic experts from his
agency, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Labor
Department will review the method the government uses to measure
pay — which consistently finds federal employees earn 22 percent
less on average than their private-sector counterparts — and
decide whether any changes are needed.
MORE:
http://www.federaltimes.com/article/20100818/BENEFITS01/8180301/1046/BENEFITS01
FAA Regional Administrator Robert Lewis
Editor, Charlie Muhs