NARFE Chapter 378, Lawrence, KS Newsletter

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Timothy Caldwell
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785-841-1408 785-841-1616 785-865-8235 785-764-2210 Wendy Hambly Linda Surritte Leonard Short John Scott John Surritte Sandy Nease 913-845-0121 785-856-0558 785-840-8401 785-542-3510 785-856-0558

LeRoy Hahn of Chapter 378, who donated a quilt for the convention s Alzheimer s auction Chapter 378 and Betty Scribner, Membership Chair, were top Kansas in recruiters in 2012.

SUNSHINE Sandy Nease A card was sent to Mary Margaret Rowen after her knee surgery. Norm Wycoff is in rehab at Pioneer Ridge and Val Romero is recouping at home if you wish to send cards.

Sandy Nease 785-979-5481 HIGHLIGHTS Check out the overview of some of the speakers and meetings at the April 28-30th Kansas Federation Convention hosted by Chapter 1162, Shawnee Mission.

1 NARFE Chapter 378, Lawrence, KS Newsletter 2013 OFFICERS and CHAIRS President 1st Vice President 2nd Vice President Secretary Treasurer Membership Service Officer Public Relations Newsletter NARFE PAC NARFE Net Coor Alzheimer s Chair Legislative Chair Sunshine Tom Huntzinger Roger Lemmons Elaine Seeman Dianne Throop Cheryl Travis Betty Scribner Wanda Lyon Wendy Hambly Linda Surritte Leonard Short John Scott John Surritte Sandy Nease KUDOS & THANK YOU S TO: NARFE Chapter 1162 of Shawnee Mission for hosting a great convention. Hats off to Louis and Louise Bornman for their dedication and service to NARFE. LeRoy Hahn of Chapter 378, who donated a quilt for the convention s Alzheimer s auction Chapter 378 and Betty Scribner, Membership Chair, were top Kansas in recruiters in The Chapter had 9 recruits, 7 of those were Betty s. LEGISLATIVE John Surritte NARFE Legislative Hotline (24/7): U.S. Capitol Switchboard: Check out the Convention report page 2. SUNSHINE Sandy Nease A card was sent to Mary Margaret Rowen after her knee surgery. Norm Wycoff is in rehab at Pioneer Ridge and Val Romero is recouping at home if you wish to send cards. If you know someone who needs a card for illness, sympathy, or a special event, let me know. Sandy Nease HIGHLIGHTS Check out the overview of some of the speakers and meetings at the April 28-30th Kansas Federation Convention hosted by Chapter 1162, Shawnee Mission. (begins on page 2) Complete and return the NARFE Protect America s Heartbeat Questionnaire so NARFE advocates in Washington DC can be more effective. (2nd attachment to Newsletter . Instructions on Page 5 of this newsletter) Check out ideas for advertising NARFE, The Well Kept Secret. It s non-partisan, not a Union, and not involved in management/employee relations. May 2013 MAY 15TH Roger Lemmons The meeting is at Conroy s Pub. The program begins at noon with lunch at 12:30 p.m. followed by a brief meeting. The May program is Master Gardeners Jon Standing and Diane Chrislip. They will discuss gardening and possibly touch on shrubbery and lawn care. The program for June will be Chip Blazer, Director of the Douglas County Community Foundation. He will discuss investment opportunities and gifting of funds and what control you might retain over its use. APRIL 17TH MEETING RECAP Tom Huntzinger, who retired from USGS and is currently a consultant for the non-profit organization Kansas Alliance for Wetlands and Streams, provided us with background and issues concerning water Stream Bank Instability availability and quality. from Excess Runoff Tom reported that the drought cycle is depleting water supplies. Clinton Lake, which supplies Lawrence with water, is at record low. Lawrence is not at a point of water rationing, but is in a warning state. The Kansas River is also low. Most of the summer, intakes on the river were closed, causing a greater draw from Clinton Stream Restoration and Lake. Stability Project Tom described the Upper Wakarusa Watershed and the Wakarusa Restoration & Protection Strategy (WRAPS). The objective is to protect water supplies from contamination and filling with soil too fast. So the 100,000 people served continue to have enough good quality water. The program resources include funding from the EPA is funneled through KDHE and technical support is from NRCIS and FSA. Sediment and nutrients are coming into Clinton Lake 75% faster than projected when the lake was

2 NARFE FREE STATE CHAPTER 378, LAWRENCE, KS, NEWSLETTER MAY 2013 Page 2 built, and decreasing the lake s capacity. Phosphorous from farm fertilizers causes algae to grow. Dying algae causes the bad taste and smell in the water supply. It is harmless, but not palatable. Decreasing the amount of fertilizer solves the problem. Water treatment plants use activated charcoal to remove the bad taste and odor. Livestock manure, which enters the water supply, can cause the bacteria, blue green algae, to contaminate the water. The watersheds, the land that slopes and drains into streams, used to be all grass. Tiling caused erosion. WRAPS identifies contaminants and the point of contamination. Then determines the most effective treatment to stop the contamination. The program deals with landowners who voluntarily cooperate and are offered funds to help offset the cost of making changes. The program looks for solutions that benefit both the watershed and the farmer. Municipalities have ordinances that can be enforced. In addition to providing solutions to eliminate contamination, WRAPS tries to educate the public and landowners via tours and demonstrations illustrating solutions. Some of the solutions include minimizing the time livestock spend in creeks to reduce manure entering water, reestablishing grass buffer zones to filter water runoff, planting trees and native shrubs to shade water and prevent algae growth, encouraging no-till and leaving stubble, and trapping runoff by seeking sustainable sites to retain excess runoff. Vegetated banks prevent runoff. WRAPS cooperates with public works, Topeka, and Lawrence. Excess runoff is greater on croplands than on native grasslands On native grasslands, a 2 rain would not result in runoff. With croplands, a 2 rain causes runoff. In metro areas, all rain is runoff. Check out the 2 bio-retention cells finished with native landscaping to filter runoff at the south side of 15 th and Wakarusa and Crestline and 15 th St. MEMBERSHIP Betty Scribner No new members this month. I encourage you to talk about NARFE to your government friends and acquaintances. Last month we discussed the insurance NARFE offers its members do you need to renew vehicle or home insurance this spring? Don t forget GEICO. The Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO) is an auto insurance company. Rather than relying on agents to sell policies, GEICO uses a direct-to-consumer sales model and puts funds saved from not paying agent commissions toward the purchase of television advertising, with several campaigns running simultaneously in national markets It provides coverage for more than 13 million motor vehicles owned by more than 11 million policyholders. Another type of insurance coverage that may fit in your plans - senior age whole life, term life, Medicare supplements, hospital income plan, short-term recovery insurance, pet insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, cancer care, enhanced dental insurance and long-term care. NARFE offers these plans and more through NARFE Insurance Services. Just another reason to continue your membership with NARFE as well as Join NARFE! More information about these insurance programs can be found at narfe.org/perks. Betty Scribner, scribner@sunflower.com. NARFE KANSAS FEDERATION CONVENTION 2013 At the 59 th annual NARFE Kansas Federation Convention hosted by Chapter 1162 held April 28 th - 30 th, the Lawrence NARFE Chapter 378 was represented by Tom Huntzinger, Roger Lemmons, Linda Surritte, John Surritte, and Wendy Hambly. The scheduled round table legislative session became a presentation by Kansas Representative Melanie Meier because no national congressmen and only 1 Kansas congresswoman accepted the NARFE invitation to participate in the legislative portion of the convention. Items being considered by the Kansas Congress included: Tax Reform Eliminating income tax credit, eliminating credits for taking care of dependent children (Meier not in favor) Taxing TSP Richie alerted Meier to bill being pushed through. The KS Dept of Revenue said it was correcting technical wording. In reality it would have taxed income from TSP accounts, which are currently non-taxable in KS. As the law now reads all benefits in whatever form. They are trying to remove the in whatever form, so TSP and Survivor Benefits would be taxed. This may end up in court. NARFE is asking all of us to stay vigilant. Heads up Members! CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE and tell them to leave the wording as is and the Department of Revenue from

3 NARFE FREE STATE CHAPTER 378, LAWRENCE, KS, NEWSLETTER MAY 2013 Page 3 ignoring the wording. The Dept of Revenue is telling H&R Block that TSP and Survivor Benefits are taxable. Tax Cuts will cause revenues to fall to property taxes. Federal government owes 60% of KS land, so the 40% owned by individuals will be forced to supply revenue. Money is being taken from school funding to make up the short-fall. No Tax on Food tried to pass this for several years without success. Now the rebate for low income families is removed. Results will be felt next year. Property Tax Relief for those 70 and older huge fight over money given to counties to reduce property taxes. The only property tax relief passed was for big fancy boats. KS Revenue is from income, property, and sales taxes. Business tax breaks alone do not attract businesses. We need good knowledgeable workers. In KC metro feds are largest employer. House Feds call for 10% cut in government will result in $300,000 loss for Johnson county, $75-100,000 loss for Wynandotte and Leavenworth counties and Ft Riley. Short-sighted What we need are long-term solutions. Louis Bornman, KS Federation Legislative Chair, reported the following: COLA Formula - President Obama has thrown us (NARFE) under the bus by considering Republicans proposed change in formula for calculating COLA s for Social Security, Military, Survivor Benefits, Disability Benefits, FERS, and CRCS. The change will actually reduce COLA s by 30%. That compounds over time. The average SS is under $1000/mo. Considering changing SS to allow investment in stock market. Without mandatory SS there won t be any savings. SS is not welfare. It is taxed money going in and taxed when taken out. SS needs to be used for what it was intended. Brownback needs to accept expanded Medicare because individuals are having difficulty finding physicians who accept Tricare Insurance (military) and Medicare. Harold Klegy, Kansas Federation Service Officer presented information concerning the duties of Chapter Service Officers. He distributed the Be Prepared for Life s Events booklet (form F100), can request copies form NARFE National or print the downloadable pdf file on the NARFE website. He emphasized the need to fill out this booklet. He reviewed the assistance a Service Officer should give to remaining family members after the death of a federal retiree or worker. In the event of a death: Notify OPM and return that month s check. OPM sends a paper. Remaining annuity funds- Since our contribution is non-taxable over a 27 year period, there may be sum money left. NOTE that survivors MUST REQUEST remaining funds from OPM. Life insurance - requires an official death certificate and a copy of the marriage certificate. It takes between days to settle. Without spousal benefits the surviving spouse only has health insurance for 60 days. If caring single rather than family health insurance, spouse is not eligible. Life Insurance (FEHB) some insurance companies will help fill out the forms. Their fee can be identified so that the funeral home is paid directly and the balance of the insurance is sent to the family. After noting that Congress adjusted the sequestration of the FFA to ensure no delayed flights for their trips home for recesses, Jessica Klement, National Officer Director of Legislation, presented the following information: Changes to Pay & Retirement- The 3 year pay freeze and other cuts have taken $114,000,000,000 from federal workers. Changes NARFE has initiated- retired federal workers can be rehired, Still on he Table- 1) Changing the formula for calculating COLA s to the Chained CPI, which will mean smaller COLA s, especially over time. (This most likely will go through). 2) Increase retirement age, 3) Elimination of FERS annuity supplement by government. Thus increasing federal workers contribution to debt reduction to $167, 000,000,000. 4) Annuities figured on high 5 rather than high 3. 5) Change FERS multiplier from 1% to 0.7%. 6) Postmaster General Proposal to pull postal workers out of FEHB and create own insurance for postal workers would affect our tool and result in high health insurance costs. The FEHB is a low cost, efficient system and was the model for Obama Care.

4 NARFE FREE STATE CHAPTER 378, LAWRENCE, KS, NEWSLETTER MAY 2013 Page 4 What Federal Workers Can Do- 1) Protect America s Heartbeat is grassroots advocacy, a bottom up approach to promote federal worker interests. Congress doesn t know what federal workers do, so we need to educate them and put a face on the issues. AUGUST is NARFE s GRASSROOTS MONTH. Members of Congress are back in their districts. Chapters should request a meeting with them. Introduce yourself and your Chapter and state crucial issues. 2) *The NARFE STORY QUESTIONAIRE (a separate document sent with this newsletter) is designed to provide NARFE Headquarters with information on what you did/do as a federal worker. Complete the questionnaire and return it to Wendy Hambly. See instructions Page 5. 3) Members Report Card- The NARFE messaging record for the 112 th Congress was 49,484 activists of 200,000 members sending 602,111 letters and making 33,000 calls. The NARFE messaging record for the 113 th Congress to date is 78,000 letters and 2,000 phone calls made by 13,100 activists. 4) The NARFE PAC is the only way NARFE can contribute to candidates. [Convention raised $1200]. It makes a difference. 5) Utilize Information NARFE Provides-March issues of the NARFE Magazine include the voting records of congressmen. 6) How Can We Do This Better? Make letters specific, stick to one issue. Make the letter look personal by modifying letters NARFE provides. Klement closed with these comments: 1) 20% cutback in workweek results in less annual and sick leave and 35% less into TSP accounts. 2) The climate in the Republican political arena is, if congressmen don t fall in line, the party finds and financially backs primary candidates to replace them on the ballot. Moderates are leaving congress. Federation Officer Reports- Louise Bornman suggested advertising NARFE, which appears to be a well-kept secret. Advertising suggestions included signs on metro buses, bumper stickers (200 for $154), and display signs. Some funds are available from the Federation and National. Louis Bornman suggested contacting congressmen via postcards and a petition format with signatures rather than individual letters. These methods are cost effective. Area 4 VP, Gary Townson recommended calling local representatives. He said numbers count and that all calls, letters, and s to offices are logged. Call and be polite. Alzheimer s Live Auction Report; $2181 raised. Area 1 Delegate Caucus: Louis Bornman was reelected chair. He recommends forwarding his s to your chapter members. He also recommends checking out Senators and Congressmen on Facebook. You can post comments and see everyone else s comments. To get a foot in the door of federal agencies to get the NARFE word out to agencies that NARFE is nonpartisan, is not involved in employee/management relations, and is not a union. Carol Ek, Region 5 VP, reported on new things in NARFE. -The IT Department is making changes. OAM is revising current info for each chapter so online reports are updated daily. The server wants to retire and wants to sell his business and/or his equipment. -Name change to Retirement Benefits Services -NARFE has rebounded financially -NARFE Magazine was redesigned. Comments are welcome. -She suggested trying the new NARFE Online Activities Module (OAM) How-to instructions at ww.narfe.org/chapter672/files/caboam.pdf -Only 24% of members have registered their addresses with NARFE Headquarters. -Recruitment and retention: 1) Over the last 30 years, NARFE membership has decline from 500,000 to 263,000 (37% of possible membership). 2) NARFE contracted Markets General Inc. MGI) to develop new methods and ideas for recruiting new members. 3) NARFE is contacting members on the 2006 list and is being successful get members to return. The OPM listing is the least used tool. 4) Develop your own Elevator Speech to introduce and sell NARFE to prospect members. 5) Order the new F135 membership application Bylaws and General Resolution Committee- no proposed amendments. Courtesy Resolution- Thanks You s to Jesssica Klements, Carol Ek, Janice Neuschafer (KS Federation Alzheimer s Chair), and Chapter 1162 for hosting a successful convention. Kansas NARFE Membership- 1) Start of 2012, 4383 members. End of 2012, 4066

5 NARFE FREE STATE CHAPTER 378, LAWRENCE, KS, NEWSLETTER MAY 2013 Page 5 members. 2) 24,0000 Active and Retired NARFE members in Kansas. Only 17% of eligible belong to NARFE. 3) Free State Chapter 378 of Lawrence, KS recorded the highest number of new members (9) in ) Betty Scribner, Chapter 378 s Membership Chair, recruited the most new members (7) in Kansas. 5) Programs at meetings are important for getting and retaining members. Kansas Legislative Report by Chair Jim Miller 1) House and Senate adjourned with a lot on the table. 2) The Gorilla in the Room is Sales Tax-pass or let sunset. Scrambling for dollars 3) Congress would like to adjourn in 30 days, so contact your reps and make your wishes known. Visit Chapter 1162 website to view Louis Bornman s report concerning meetings in DC. Only 50 s from Kansas members. Mr. Bornman said WE MUST DO BETTER! Our silence gives representatives consent to continue using Federal Employees to balance the budget. ALZHEIMER S John Scott April chapter donations=$22. YTD = $ *HEARTBEAT QUESTIONNAIRE HOW TO NARFE National is using this Heartbeat Questionnaire to collect information for NARFE advocates on Capital Hill to illustrate to congressmen what federal workers do and why their contributions are important to our nation. It is hoped that the information you provide will put a personal slant on federal workers value and enlighten our congressmen as to what we really do and to the valuable services we provide. Take some action. The Heartbeat Questionnaire is a second attachment to the containing your newsletter. It is a Word Document with form fields (gray boxes) that allow you to type in your responses. The boxes will automatically grow to accommodate the length of your responses. You can then return the form via to me at WAH@copper.net. So, click on the attachment. Then under the FILE MENU of your program, select SAVE ATTACHMENT. Tell the computer where to store (save) the file. Once the file is saved on your computer, open it and type in our responses. Just click in the gray box and begin typing. When finished making your entries, SAVE the completed file and return it to me as an attachment in an . I will forward your form to NARFE National Headquarters.

Legislative Update August 30, 2016

2016 NARFE National Convention Legislative Update August 30, 2016 Jessica Klement Legislative Director Agenda Where have we been? Where are we now? What Has NARFE Done for Me Lately? Protect America s