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. NARFE National Active & Retired Federal Employees Association Dulles Chapter 1241 Serving Current, Former & Retired Federal Employees, Spouses and Survivor Annuitants In the Dulles Area of Northern

net 1 st Vice President VACANT 2 nd Vice President Kathleen (Kathy) Loftin Re-tired@cox.net Secretary Bill Schmidt Billschmidt39@yahoo.com Treasurer Joseph Irwin irwinjt@gmail.

1 . NARFE National Active & Retired Federal Employees Association Dulles Chapter 1241 Serving Current, Former & Retired Federal Employees, Spouses and Survivor Annuitants In the Dulles Area of Northern Virginia. January 2018 Visit Dulles Chapter website: Dulles Chapter 1241 Officers President Charles (Chuck) McAndrew net 1 st Vice President VACANT 2 nd Vice President Kathleen (Kathy) Loftin Re-tired@cox.net Secretary Bill Schmidt Billschmidt39@yahoo.com Treasurer Joseph Irwin irwinjt@gmail.com Legislative Chair Bill Schmidt billschmidt39@yahoo.com Membership VACANT Chair Website Vicky Duarte Coordinator Cookyflower25@yahoo.com Service Officer Wilma M. Grant Wgrant0208@gmail.com Program VACANT Co-Chair(s) Chuck McAndrew (Acting) Hospitality Chair Shirley Boning Shirley.boning@comcast.net Public Relations Jean White Chair amciv1861@aol.com Alzheimer s Art Brophy Chairs brophyaj@cuisp.com Sunshine Rosemarie Curry Committee Antinori13@gmail.com Chaplain David LeRoy dhlleroy@aol.com Newsletter Editor Patricia M. Wolfe wolfepatriciam@aol.com Newsletter Shirley & Jerry Carpenter Distribution Dutchrose1@verizon.net and jbcarp42@verizon.net Photographer Randy K. Sayles rksayles@verizon.net PRESIDENT S GREETING: Thank you for electing me as your new President for a one year term. I want to thank all of the elected Page 1 of officers for serving and those who have volunteered for committee positions. We still have a number of vacancies including that of First Vice President. As you read this page, you will see the open positions. I need your help in filling these positions. I cannot do it all by myself! We remain very concerned about the continuance of losing members. On December 13, 2017, I was invited by Maxwell Goldman, Political Associate from NARFE National Headquarters, to have lunch with Congresswoman Barbara Comstock, our NARFE National President Richard Thissen and also executives for various associations at a restaurant in Washington, D.C. I attended this luncheon in my official capacity of the 10 th District Congressional District Liaison (CDL). See article on Page 3 of this newsletter. I look forward to working with all of you during 2018 in continuing Dulles Chapter s rich history of outstanding programs and keeping our members informed. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU! Chuck McAndrew, President MEMBERSHIP INFO CURRENT CHAPTER 1241 VOTING & NON- VOTING MEMBERSHIP IS 530 Like other chapters, we continue to lose chapter members at an alarming rate. Our voting strength was 703 in January 1, 2017 with a total voting/non-voting strength of 749. It is 530 total as the NARFE report is no longer showing non-voting at the beginning of 2018,

Transfers out of Chapter: 54 Deceased: 1 Sent Second Notices: 37 It has never been more important to belong to NARFE and we think it s also important to be a part of a chapter.

2 a loss of 219 members with most transferring to NARFE National. During the period November 1, 2017 January 2, 2018: New Members: 0 Reinstated Members: 0 Deceased-Spouse Transfer In: 0 Other Transfers In: 0 Prospective Members: 14 Dropped for Non-Renewal: 5 Transfers out of Chapter: 54 Deceased: 1 Sent Second Notices: 37 It has never been more important to belong to NARFE and we think it s also important to be a part of a chapter. We try hard to provide interesting speakers, have an informative newsletter and we re local your neighbors with many shared interest. Ask a friend to join or renew today if your renewal date is close at Patricia Wolfe & Membership Committee the appropriate number of meals can be ordered and prepared. OUR LUNCHEON WILL BE HELD AT AMPHORA DINER, 1151 ELDEN STREET, HERNDON, VIRGINIA AND BEGINS AT 11:30 AM! Remember! If Fairfax Co. schools are closed because of inclement weather, Dulles Chapter 1241 Luncheon Meetings are also cancelled. NOTE FROM NOVEMBER 27, 2017 LUNCHEON Jennifer Epstein, Education Specialist, National Park Service, gave an interesting and informative presentation with a behind-the-scenes look at some of our famous monuments on the National Mall and other areas. DULLES CHAPTER 1241 LUNCHEON PROGRAM, JANUARY 22, 2018 Speaker: Richard Eimas, Tax Advisor & Enrolled Agent, Block Advisors Tax & Business Services Topic: Impact of Tax Cuts & Jobs Act Luncheon Entrée Choices: Shepherd s Pie w/seasoned Ground Beef, Vegetables, Mashed Potatoes w/cheese Chicken Brochette (Broiled, Marinated Chicken Skewers w/roasted Veggies over Rice Pilaf Pasta Jambalaya w/baby Shrimp, Peppers, Onions, Plum Tomatoes Served with salad, rolls, coffee/tea and dessert L-R Past President Pat Wolfe, Jennifer Epstein, Vicky Duarte DULLES CHAPTER INSTALLS NEW 2018 OFFICERS The cost of the luncheon is $18 which includes tax and a small gratuity. Additional tips are welcome but not required. You may also order from the menu but pay the same amount as you enter the restaurant. Please call your reservation and choice of entree to Shirley Boning at (571) or Shirley.boning@comcast.net no later than Thursday, January 18. Reservations are very important so that Page 2 of 6 L-R President Chuck McAndrew, 2VP Kathy Loftin, Treasurer Joe Irwin, and Treasurer are installed as 2018 officers on December 12, 2017 by Area 10 VP Wilma Grant.

Thanks to your generous donations, Dulles Chapter donated 128 pounds of non-perishable food items that helped many families in need over the holidays.

3 Thanks to your generous donations, Dulles Chapter donated 128 pounds of non-perishable food items that helped many families in need over the holidays. Thanks to Bill Schmidt for delivering the food to Western Fairfax Christian Ministries. Attendees at the annual Holiday Party enjoyed the music of Home Towne Chorus, a delicious meal, and great conversation. We recognized our servers at Amphora Diner Deluxe and helped our neighbors with food donations. It sounds like a success to me. served with Mrs. Hovis brother in the House of Delegates, spoke and introduced Senator Tim Kane, who gave an informal eulogy. Judy Thorne, Congressional District Liaison, 11 th District Congressional District Liaison for 10 th District UPCOMING LUNCHEON PROGRAMS: February 26, 2018 Richard Twombly, Crime Prevention Officer, Fairfax County Police Department March 26, 2018 April 23, TH DISTRICT BUZZ Congressman Connolly, along with fellow Oversight and Government Reform Committee members Elijah Cummings and Jaime Raskin, led 95 members of the House in urging House Leadership not to use federal employees for governmental funding offset. Speaker Ryan and Minority Leader Pelosi were urged to oppose any further cuts to federal employee pay and benefits to offset increased discretionary spending. Enough is enough. The federal workforce should be thanked for their honorable service, not treated like a piggy bank, noted Connolly, Raskin, and Cummings. The upcoming budget battles are something we should closely monitor as federal employees and retirees as the Oversight and Government Reform Committee has many Freedom Caucus members who are always seem eager to use federal benefits to offset cuts. In the last two months of the year, Gerry attended two events in Reston which I attended. Not quite a wedding and a funeral, but a Hunter Mill victory party as we celebrated the wins not only of Hunter Mill candidates, but the wins of progressive candidates from Dranesville, Sully, and eastern Loudoun, some with precincts in Hunter Mill, as well as a sweep of the statewide offices. It is anticipated that the new representatives in Richmond should generally be more favorable to NARFE statewide goals. A memorial service honored the late Mary Ann Hovis, a Sully activist, philanthropist and daughter of the late Pat Jennings, former Congressman from Virginia s 9 th District. Delegate Ken Plum (D-36 th District, who had Page 3 of 6 L-R NARFE President Thissen, Congresswoman Comstock, 10 th District CDL Chuck McAndrew As mentioned in President s Message, I attended a luncheon on December 13 with Congresswoman Barbara Comstock. Both Mr. Thissen and Jessica Klement, Legislative Director from NARFE Headquarters spoke about what has to be done about keeping Government employees on the payroll beyond next week and not to have the Government shut down. They also spoke about other issues affecting Government employees including retired Federal employees. Jeff Marschner, Deputy Chief of Staff/Communications for Barbara Comstock also attended. I mentioned to Barbara that I was currently serving as the 10 th District Congressional District Liaison (CDL) and also that I was elected President of our NARFE Dulles Chapter on December 12, 2017 for a one year term ending December I had the opportunity at this meeting to address Barbara Comstock on some major budget issues. I mentioned that it is so unfair for Congress to always

4 pick on Federal Government and Federal retirees pensions and health benefits already earned by the Federal employee for budget reductions. I mentioned to Barbara that she and Members of Congress should carefully review all entitlements which make up almost 60% of the Federal budget. Please note that these are my personal ideas and do not necessarily reflect NARFE positons. I suggested that Social Security (SS) could be saved by simply adding five years to each age category for those under 40 years of age and remove the income cap and tax the entire income. The SS Fund is expected to go broke in In my opinion, illegal immigrants who do not pay into the SS Fund should not be entitled to SS. As for Medicare, I suggest simply raising the age to 70 for all employees under 40 years of age. In addition, Congress should review Medicare fraud of approximately $60 BILLION per year according to the Association of Government Accountants and vigorously pursue this blatant fraud. According to AARP, if these suggestions were implemented, the SS Fund and Medicare Fund would eventually end up with surpluses. Barbara stated that the BIGGEST costs of healthcare is Alzheimer s, dementia, and diabetes that are driving up the costs of healthcare. She said that if these diseases could be cured, healthcare costs would be reduced by hundreds of billions of dollars each year. She mentioned that they are close to finding a cure for diabetes and we certainly hope this is the case. Representative Comstock issued the following statement on December 19 regarding her vote on the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act. She stated, I voted for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act because it cuts taxes for hardworking families and businesses and will help revitalize and create a healthy economy where American workers can compete and win. Over the past several weeks I have worked with my colleagues to improve this bill from the initial version the House voted on. I m pleased that this final bill included many of the provisions that we fought to have included in the bill to help hardworking families and businesses. Come to our January luncheon to learn more about how this bill affects you. If you would like to see a brief summary of the tax bill, please contact me by telephone on or by at charles.mcandrew@verizon.net. President/10 th District CDL Charles McAndrew Page 4 of 6 LEGISLATIVE REPORT: National Legislation: The issues facing members of NARFE this month are the same that we were looking at last month. The final funding for the current fiscal year must be sorted out by January 22. While the House has passed appropriation bills for all departments several weeks ago, the Senate is dragging its feet. We can only hope that the Senate will get down to business and sort out its issues and be held accountable if they do not. Along with the funding issue the Senate must lift the borrowing limit to make sure that the government is not using funds from the TSP and other trust funds to continue to operate. There are several other issues that must be addressed this month, but for our members we need to be aware of just how the problems are solved and that the solutions do not impact our annuities. The recently passed tax bill included wording to change how the various tax exemptions are indexed with inflation. The calculations, which had been based on the change in the CPI-U calculation, will now be based on the chained CPI calculation. This will result in a lower increase, and this will save the federal government significantly. NARFE has opposed making the same change in the method for calculating the Federal and Social Security COLA s. The Speaker of the House wants to address entitlement issues this year. By this he is referring to Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security and several other smaller items that the Government funds which are not discretionary. Federal annuities may be one of them. I suspect that little can be accomplished this year with an absolute need to address the DACA Dreamer issue, immigration, building the wall, fixing the national infrastructure and fixing the health care issues. Also, this is an election year for 1/3 of the Senate and all of the House. Every incumbent that is running for reelection will be grandstanding their best position for prospective voters. State Legislation: It is difficult to make many predictions concerning the legislative activity of the General Assembly. Even at this late date it is not absolutely clear who will control the House of Delegates. One district was decided on the basis of a random drawing after it was determined to be a tie. The Republican incumbent won the drawing so there will be a Republican advantage if this holds. The Democratic candidate has the right to ask for a re-count. Since the first things that must be done after an election is to organize the House, this requires a vote to select a Speaker and a vote to establish the operating rules. By Virginia law an issue that receives a tied vote means that the issue fails. If the Republican prevails, Delegate Cox

5 will be selected as Speaker and will control who is assigned to various committees. If the Democratic candidate should request re-count and win, the leader of each party will have to sort out how the House will be organized. I do not believe that it has happened before. During the sessions of the majority went from a small 2 vote majority of Democrats to a 2 vote majority of Republicans. As a general rule, during this time the chair of the committees rotated between the parties. The committees were essentially tied by party affiliation. This does not mean that there were general party splits in conducting business. Members of the General Assembly have many loyalties. There are groups in urban areas that have like-minded members in both parties as are rural minded members. Issues such as guns and immigration often split more on a regional basis than a party split. This could be an interesting session. The significant change in the party alignment of the House of Delegates puts a question to the idea that gerrymandering defines who sits in the legislature. Bill Schmidt, Legislative Committee Chair electronic only, but we want to serve ALL of our members, so please help us cut costs. I would like to set a goal of five people each month choosing electronic delivery. Contact Newsletter Editor at wolfepatriciam@aol.com. SUNSHINE COMMITTEE REPORTS: A Get Well card was sent to our luncheon server, Mary Watt, who was having hip replacement surgery and to Judy Thorne, 11 th District CDL, who had surgery the first week of January. If you know of anyone who has lost a loved one, is sick or just needs cheering up, please contact President Chuck McAndrew or Rosemarie Curry at (360) or antinori13@gmail.com. STAY SAFE and WARM!!! EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ACTIONS: The Executive Committee did not meet in December. Treasurer reported a bank balance of $9, as of December 31, Distributed November-December 2017 newsletters: 240 and 370 via regular mail. Thanks to Jerry & Shirley Carpenter, Louise Rooney, and Vicky Duarte for distribution. Finalized plans for Holiday Party. Sent letters to members receiving second notices, prospective and new members. Followed up with phone calls and s. ANNOUNCEMENTS: Page 5 of 6 Jan 7-9, VFC Winter Board Meeting Jan 26, NOVA Caucus Meeting April 8-11, 2018 VFC Convention, Charlottesville, VA ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER: Dulles Chapter must reduce its expenses as the membership and dues revenue decreases so I am urging you to please consider getting your newsletter via . You will receive it a few days early, usually see photos from previous luncheon and you can share it with others who may be interested in joining NARFE. Many organizations and NARFE chapters are going to

National Active & Retired Federal Employees Association Dulles Chapter 1241 P. O. Box 294 Herndon, VA 20172-0294 RETURN SE

6 National Active & Retired Federal Employees Association Dulles Chapter 1241 P. O. Box 294 Herndon, VA RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED NONPROFIT ORG U. S. POSTAGE PAID HERNDON, VA PERMIT 6397 Page 6 of 6 Time Sensitive Material Please deliver by January 16, 2018 IMPORTANT NUMBERS: Virginia Fédération of Chapters (VFC) Web site -- NARFE National Web site -- Dulles Chapter Web site -- OPM Retirement Information retire@opm.gov, VA Senate XX (District #) ; VA Delegates XX (District #) NARFE Legislative Hotline ; NARFE Membership Services: CLIP THIS SECTION BELOW AND SAVE FOR FUTURE REFERENCE! nd 33rd 37th 32nd CALL OR WRITE YOUR LEGISLATORS! Virginia General Assembly Senator Janet D. Howell (D) P.O. Box 2608 Reston, VA (703) ; FAX (703) SenHowell@aol.com Senator Jennifer Wexton (D) 20 West Market Street Leesburg, VA (703) District33@senate.va.gov Senator David W. Marsden (D) P.O. Box Burke, VA District37@senate.virginia.gov Delegate Thomas A. Greason (R) Winmeade Dr., Box 427 Lansdowne, VA DelTGreason@house.virginia.gov th Delegate Kathleen J. Murphy (D) 36th P. O. Box 146 McLean, VA DelKMurphy@house.virginia.gov Delegate Kenneth R. Plum (D) 2073 Cobblestone LN Reston, VA (703) ; FAX (703) DelKPlum@house.virginia.gov 37 th Delegate David L. Bulova (D) PO Box 106, Fairfax Station Fairfax, VA (703) DelDBulova@house.virginia.gov 67th 86th Delegate Karrie K. Delaney (D) P.O. Box Centreville, VA Ofc: Capitol: DelKDelaney@house.virginia.gov Delegate Jennifer Boysko (D) P.O. Box 347 Herndon, VA (703) (804) DelJBoysko@house.virginia.gov U. S. Congress US Senate, Washington, DC VA VA Senator Mark Warner (D) 475 Russell Senate Office Bldg. Washington, DC (202) ; FAX (202) Senator Timothy Kaine (D) B40C Dirksen Senate Office Bldg. Washington, DC (202) US House of Representatives, Washington DC th 11th Representative Barbara Comstock (R) 226 Cannon House Ofc Bldg. Washington, DC (202) Representative Gerry E. Connolly (D) 4115 Annandale Rd., #103 Annandale, VA (703) ; FAX (703) (202) ; FAX (202)

NARFE National Active & Retired Federal Employees Association

. NARFE National Active & Retired Federal Employees Association Dulles Chapter 1241 Serving Current, Former & Retired Federal Employees, Spouses and Survivor Annuitants in the Dulles Area of Northern Virginia.