NOTE: CHAPTER MEETINGS MAY BE CANCELED AT THE DISCRETION OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD. WATCH YOUR MONTHLY NEWSLETTERS FOR NOTIFICATION OF CANCELED MEETINGS.

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1 November 2018 NUMBER General Meeting Date: November 12, 2018 Time: 1:00PM (extended hours-see below) Meeting Place: Westside Improvement Club ( ) 4109 West E Street, Bremerton, WA (National Avenue & E Street) Program: FEHB Health Fair Doors Open at 11:00AM and Close at 2:30PM Open to All Who are Eligible for FEHB Plans NARFE is recognized as the association devoted exclusively to serving and protecting the earned entitlements, rights and benefits of all federal retirees, employees and survivors. Executive Board meetings are held from noon to 2:00PM at the Westside Improvement Club the Wednesday prior to general meetings. Members are welcome to join us. UPCOMING EVENTS * Chapter Meeting HOLIDAY LUNCHEON December 10 th * Chapter Meeting January 14 th * Chapter Meeting February 11 th * Chapter Meeting March 11 th * LEGcon19 March 10 th - 13 th NOTE: CHAPTER MEETINGS MAY BE CANCELED AT THE DISCRETION OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD. WATCH YOUR MONTHLY NEWSLETTERS FOR NOTIFICATION OF CANCELED MEETINGS.

2 Once again we will host an FEHB Health Fair with representatives from the major insurance plans. They will be available to anyone eligible for FEHB benefits (you do NOT need to be a NARFE member). At 1:00pm representatives will explain changes effective January 1 st, Please invite your family, friends and neighbors who are covered by an FEHB plan. PRESIDENT Bill Powers We have a new WSF Olympic Peninsula District IV V.P. It s Bea Bull, our own Chapter 181 secretary! Al Costa, our previous V.P., served for five months after which his wife accepted a job offer in Oregon that she couldn t turn down. We also have a new National President, Ken Thomas; he won the preferential voting runoff. Seven percent of our members voted in this runoff. This was only half a percent below our state and the national voting turnout. Ken will introduce himself in the December issue of narfe magazine. Derek Kilmer, our 6 th Congressional District Representative, was the guest speaker at Port Orchard s biannual October meeting. He reported that the outlook for Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNS), the driver of our local economy, looks excellent. Even if we lose the pending contract for disposal of the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) we have a strong workload for our federal employees. PSNS was recognized by the Department of Defense as the military s outstanding depot-level maintenance provider in fiscal year 2017! Our December holiday luncheon on Dec 10 th will have two sweater contests: One lovely and one ugly. For the ugly sweater, I have a suggestion. The New Beginnings Closet at 4171 Wheaton Way Suite #7 (second floor) is having a free ugly sweater giveaway the week after 2

3 Halloween, Nov. 7 th through 11 th. They are open Wednesday 9:30am to 1:30pm; Friday 3:00pm to 7:00pm; and Sunday 2:00pm to 4:00pm. Stop by and either pick up a sweater for the contest, or donate a sweater for a needy recipient. The Department of Labor s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced that the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2019 is increasing 2.8 percent. This affects Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, and Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) beneficiaries in January. President Trump submitted his intent to freeze current federal employees pay rates for calendar year Congress could override this but the outcome is not certain. Weigh in with your members of Congress, asking them to ensure that federal employees are valued and treated fairly. Steve Ferguson here. LEGISLATIVE UPDATE Steve Ferguson Just a reminder to please contact Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, at and ask that the House endorse a 1.9 percent pay raise for current employees. The website home page has a section labeled Speak Out that gives you direct access to express your request. You can reference H.R The website Congress.gov indicates the resolution is in the Resolving Differences phase. Upon completion of this step it goes to the President for signature. The September Consumer Price Index (CPI) value was released on 11 October It turned out to be That made the 2018 Jul/Aug/Sep CPI-W average When you divide last year s Jul/Aug/Sep CPI-W average value of into this year s Jul/Aug/Sep average value, you mathematically arrive at The 8 3

4 following the 7 was important because our COLA was rounded up to 2.8 percent instead of down to 2.7percent. NARFE Legislative Training Conference March 10-13, 2019 The conference will be held at the Mark Center Hilton Hotel Alexandria, VA. Call to make reservations. Mention NARFE Legislative Conference. Hotel rate: $175 per night (plus tax) Discount parking available. MEMBERSHIP Ralph Sanders November is one of our busiest and most important months of the year. We will again participate in the PSNS Health Fair being held on 6 November We will also have an FEHB health fair at our November General Membership meeting on 12 November There are more specifics on page one (1) of this newsletter. Along with this we will close nominations from the floor and hold elections for two (2) Executive Board members who will serve a two-year term. We hope that you will join us to participate in one or all of these activities. We have one (1) member, if they have not renewed their membership, who will be dropped in November: Ruth Ruef. There are no dropped members for October. Now for the positive side of this report. We have no new members or reinstatements for this month. We do have one (1) prospective member for the month of October: Mo Worley. Thank you for trying out NARFE. I am so excited to have 4

5 members transferring into our chapter that I have decided to list them this month: Raejean Bridges-Avalos, Dorothy Hicks, Dick Meryhew, Edward Monk and Richard West. Thank you for joining our Chapter. If you have questions regarding NARFE or Bremerton Chapter 181, please contact any one of our board members listed on the back of this newsletter, or just come to a meeting. The meeting information is listed on the front page of this newsletter. If we have canceled our membership meeting, drop by our Executive Board meeting. You are more than welcome any time. NOMINEES Ex. Bd. Members Don Palmer and Ralph Petersen Don would like to step down; please consider running for that position or any of the positions listed below: Vice President Alzheimer s Chair NARFE-PAC Chair There will be a call for nominations from the floor at the October General Membership meeting. PSNS Health Fair SECRETARY Bea Bull Tuesday, 6 November :00am 5:00pm As in recent years, it will be held in the conference room behind the Navy Museum near Main Gate. The address for the Navy Museum is: 251-1st Street, Bremerton, WA

6 FEHBP OPEN SEASON 12 NOVEMBER 10 DECEMBER FEHB Plan Rates and Brochures I m watching OPM.gov daily for 2019 FEHB premium rate information and brochures. The premium rates are available and I ve added a link to them on the Open Season tab on the District IV website. However, as this goes to print, OPM has not posted access to plan brochures. I will continue monitoring the OPM site and add links as soon as they become available. Holiday Luncheon and Sweater Contest The Willows will host us with the same menu as last year: Salmon with lemon sauce rice pilaf and sautéed asparagus OR Roast beef with au jus and horseradish sauce garlic mashed potatoes and maple glazed carrots The price is $10.00 per person. Reservations are REQUIRED and money must be received by 1 December 2018! Please contact Myra Clodius at to make your reservations: mail checks to her at 912 Vandalia Ave., Bremerton In the past few years there have been Ugly Sweater Contests during the holidays. So, we ll have two contests; one for your favorite/lovely holiday sweater and one for the best ugly sweater. Please do not spend a lot of money on the ugly sweater; a favorite old paint-spattered sweat shirt can be quite festive if the paint colors are read and green. There will be a prize for each category. 6

7 TREASURER Rex Tauscher Our income for September was $ with expenditures of $ Our net worth as of 30 September was $30, A detailed Treasurer s report will be available at our next Executive Board and General Membership meetings. ALZHEIMER S (ALZ) Rex Tauscher The balance in our Alzheimer s account as of 17 October was $ We collected $35.00 dollars following our October meeting from Lorraine Brockerman, Bea Bull, Bill Fuhrmeister, Bill Powers and Rex Tauscher. Additional information on your tax deductible donations to the NARFE Alzheimer s Research fund: Make checks payable to NARFE Alzheimer s Research (NARFE is the key word and is required!). If you use the NARFE magazine contribution form, include Chapter 181 on the form. The correct mailing address is Alzheimer s Association, 225 N. Michigan Ave., 17th Floor, Chicago, IL If you mail it to NARFE headquarters staff, it may not get credited to our Chapter. ALUMINUM FOR ALZHEIMER S NOTE: Chapter 181 is discontinuing this program as of 31 December The Chapter 181 ledger sheet will remain open at the recycle site until that date. You may take your recycling directly to them and request that it be donated to Chapter 181. We will request a check from the recycler at the end of

8 Please donate your aluminum cans and copper to Alzheimer s ALUMINUM/COPPER DROP-OFF POINTS Westsound Recycle 1700 Mile Hill Drive, Port Orchard Tell them your donation is for Bremerton NARFE Chapter 181 Or give to Rex at the next meeting pounds collected in 2018 SUNSHINE COMMITTEE Amber VanSantford Sympathy cards were sent to the families of Camilla Deitz, Clarice O. Parr and Helen Thompson. A get well card was sent to Anna Haynes and a thinking-of-you card was sent to Art and Elaine Haywood. If you know of a chapter member in need of a little sunshine, please contact me so I can get a card out to them. If you have questions or need assistance with this newsletter, please feel free to contact me at tbkbull@gmail.com. Thanks!! Bea Bull 8

9 PRESIDENT Bill Powers VICE PRESIDENT MEMBERSHIP CHAIR Ralph Sanders SECRETARY NEWSLETTER EDITOR Bea Bull TREASURER Rex Tauscher LEGISLATIVE CHAIR Steve Ferguson NARFE-PAC CHAIR Don Palmer SERGEANT AT ARMS William Fuhrmeister CHAPLAIN Myra Clodius SERVICE OFFICER - Vacant contact Ralph Angulo District IV Service Officer ralphangulo@yahoo.com Include the words NARFE District IV Service Officer in the SUBJECT line EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBERS UNTIL DECEMBER 2018 Don Palmer Ralph Petersen UNTIL DECEMBER 2019 Steve Ferguson Amber VanSantford District IV VP Bea Bull tbkbull@gmail.com Region IX VP Richard Wilson narfe1404@comcast.net NARFE DISTRICT IV WEBSITE Webmaster Bea Bull NARFE STATE WEBSITE NARFE NATIONAL WEBSITE LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE SENIOR INFORMATION & ASSISTANCE OR

10 OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT(OPM) Phone: Hours of operation: 7:30AM 7:45PM ET with best time to reach someone being 6:30PM 7:30PM or at 7:30AM Eastern Time. Mailing Address: Office of Personnel Management Retirement Operations Center P.O. Box 45 Boyers, PA OUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES Senator Patty Murray 950 Pacific Avenue #650 Tacoma, WA Tacoma Phone Number D.C. Phone Number Senator Maria Cantwell nd Avenue, Ste 3206 Seattle, WA Seattle Phone Number D.C. Phone Number Congressman Derek Kilmer th St., Suite 500 Bremerton, WA Bremerton Phone Number D.C. Phone Number