Commander January 3, 2019 General Orders #7 2018 2019 Series, published monthly by the VFW Department of Idaho. To be read at regular Post meetings, and placed in file for future reference. HAPPY NEW YEAR 1. Thank you all so much for our first half of the membership year. On Dec 26 th we needed 74 members to achieve 92% in membership. After calling all the District Commanders (Dec 28 & 29) to put a full court press on keeping our members that expired Dec 31 st, the response was overwhelming and 84 members were processed before midnight Dec 29. At this time of this writing, Post are still calling our soon to expire members. Dec 26 th, we had 184 memberships due to expire Dec 31 st. 2. Congratulations to the following Posts for reaching the Dec 31st goal of 92%. a. 889 Coeur d Alene l. 4000 Meridian b. 2909 Priest River m. 7019 Kuna c. 3603 Post Falls n. 3001 Jerome d. 2905 Moscow o. 3604 Buhl e. 3520 Grangeville p. 3646 Glenns Ferry f. 4902 Cottonwood q. 10323 Preston g. 5407 Kamiah r. 1004 Rigby h. 10043 Lewiston s. 5840 Salmon i. 63 Boise t. 7137 Arco j. 142 Idaho City u. 8893 Mud Lake k. 3886 Caldwell v. 9425 St. Anthony 3. Thirteen (13) Posts have reached 100% or more; Priest River 2909 103.70% Caldwell 3886 202.40% Post Falls 3603-105.05% Meridian 400 108.38% Moscow 2905-102.70% Jerome 3001 100.00% Grangeville 3520-107.69 Glenns Ferry 3646 100.54% Cottonwood 4902-101.96% Preston 10323 100.00% Kamiah 5407 101.03% Salmon 5840 102.98% Idaho City 100.00% Kuna 7019 100% As you can see the list is growing. Your Post can be next.
4. Congratulations to the following Districts for reaching 92% on by Dec 31st; One (1), Two (2), Five (5), and Eight (8). Lately District 5 is still leading the pack and the distance between 1 & 2 is growing. 5. Mid-Winter Conference is 10 days away (Jan 10-13) at the Riverside Hotel, 2900 Chinden Blvd in Boise. Meal reservations are due to Headquarters no later than Jan 4 th. If you don t have your reservations made yet, you should call Susan or Tom at Department Headquarters ASAP. 6. The Annual Legislative Reception is on the evening of Jan 10th. This is an important opportunity to meet with your legislators and discuss veterans issues in Idaho. If possible, we hope you will attend. It will be held at the Red Lion Downtowner beginning at 5:00 p.m. Be sure to wear your VFW cap. 7. Posts should begin considering who will be nominated for Comrade of the Year and the Lifetime Achievement Award. Winners will be selected at the Convention in June of 2019 in Lewiston. 8. Nominations for Post Officers will be in March with elections to be held in April. Post Commanders must ensure that all elected positions are filled. 9. Now that we have rung in the New Year, we have to roll up our sleeves to achieve our next goal of 100% by May 1 st. It s not the price you paid to become a member. It s the price you paid to become eligible. We ve Got Your 6 By order of the Commander Attested to:
Adjutant/Quartermaster December 3, 2019 1. Adjutant/Quartermaster Tom Black Comrades, Posts listed as missing/late audits are missing at least the Audit Report through 30 SEP 18, due by 31 OCT and that Report is now 2 months late. The Department is at 92.4% membership; meeting Commander Davis goal for December. Many thanks go out to our State Commander and Membership Chairman as well as the many members working hard all across the State to ensure the success of the Department of Idaho! Mid-Winter is next week (10-13 JAN) and I look forward to seeing everyone there. The National Representatives are VFW Commander-in-Chief BJ Lawrence and Auxiliary National President Sandi Kriebel. Come meet your National leadership. Please remember that registration forms are due at Department Headquarters by Friday, January 4 th. Please remember that I am always here to assist any member or Post with anything needed. I am available at the other end of an email or phone call. 2. The following need to send missing Audit Reports to Department Quartermaster: Posts: 889, 3603, 3296, 8311, 1173, 5423, 2136. Districts: 1 and 4. 4. There are no District Meetings in January. 5. Check List for January 1. Review state incorporation paperwork for your Post. You should get a card from the Secretary of State that must be signed and filled out and returned no later than 60 days from the date on the card. Due this month: Posts 3886, 9036, 9443. 2. Scout of the Year entries due to the Post by March 1 st. 3. Post and District Audit Reports for December due to Department HQ by 31 st. 4. Department Mid-Winter Conference in January. Those attending should already have their reservations. 5. Posts need monthly Community Activity Reports sent to the JVC by the 26 th of the month. Email to jr.vice.commander@vfwidaho.org. 6. Post membership should be 95% by Mid-Winter Conference. 7. District & Posts should interact with their Chamber of Commerce in their communities. 8. Remember to check your State income tax form for the Veterans Support Fund.
IDAHO VFW MEMBERSHIP REPORT PERCENT 92.40% AS OF JANUARY 2, 2019 LOCATION N/R LM LIFE NEW R-NEW CONT TOTAL TOTAL 18 PERCENT FOR 100% FOR 105% 889 Coeur d'alene 1 325 2 2 52 381 389 97.94% 8 27.45 1473 Spirit Lake 0 39 2 0 12 53 65 81.54% 12 15.25 1675 Osburn 0 133 4 1 19 157 177 88.70% 20 28.85 2453 Sandpoint 0 73 5 0 7 85 97 87.63% 12 16.85 2909 Priest River 0 44 5 0 7 56 54 103.70% -2 0.7 3603 Post Falls 0 86 0 1 17 104 99 105.05% -5-0.05 3622 Bonners Ferry 0 35 1 0 6 42 51 82.35% 9 11.55 10320 Clark Fork 0 49 0 0 26 75 83 90.36% 8 12.15 Dist #1 TOT 1 784 19 4 146 953 1015 93.89% 62 112.75 2905 Moscow 0 56 4 0 16 76 74 102.70% -2 1.7 3296 Orofino 1 153 2 0 36 191 215 88.84% 24 34.75 3520 Grangeville 0 103 9 0 14 126 117 107.69% -9-3.15 3913 Kendrick 0 50 3 0 20 73 83 87.95% 10 14.15 4902 Cottonwood 4 72 6 1 25 104 102 101.96% -2 3.1 5407 Kamiah 0 85 0 1 12 98 97 101.03% -1 3.85 8311 Elk City 0 51 0 0 12 63 78 80.77% 15 18.9 10043 Lewiston 4 234 4 3 38 279 288 96.88% 9 23.4 10300 Potlatch 0 52 0 0 16 68 88 77.27% 20 24.4 Dist #2 TOT 9 856 28 5 189 1078 1142 94.40% 64 121.1 AREA 1 TOT 10 1640 47 9 335 2031 2157 94.16% 126 233.85 2738 Payette 0 232 7 1 39 279 365 76.44% 86 104.25 4900 Emmett 0 90 4 0 18 112 152 73.68% 40 47.6 6232 Midvale 1 43 1 0 9 53 59 89.83% 6 8.95 9036 New Plymouth 0 58 4 0 14 76 86 88.37% 10 14.3 11065 Wilder 0 47 1 0 6 54 68 79.41% 14 17.4 Dist 4 TOT 1 470 17 1 86 574 730 78.63% 156 192.5 63 Boise 5 1086 26 14 141 1267 1354 93.57% 87 154.7 142 Idaho City 0 38 1 1 30 70 70 100.00% 0 3.5 1173 Boise 0 55 1 0 7 63 77 81.82% 14 17.85 3465 Nampa 0 66 3 0 10 79 113 69.91% 34 39.65 3886 Caldwell 1 70 54 14 30 168 83 202.41% -85-80.85 4000 Meridian 0 99 24 5 42 170 155 109.68% -15-7.25 5423 Mt. Home 0 74 2 1 11 88 100 88.00% 12 17 7019 Kuna 0 49 5 0 19 73 73 100.00% 0 3.65 Dist 5 TOT 6 1537 116 35 290 1978 2025 97.68% 47 148.25 AREA 2 TOT 7 2007 133 36 376 2552 2755 92.63% 203 340.75
2136 Twin Falls 0 112 4 0 22 138 154 89.61% 16 23.7 2974 Wendell 0 24 0 0 8 32 39 82.05% 7 8.95 3001 Jerome 1 64 7 0 48 119 119 100.00% 0 5.95 3043 Burley 0 56 0 0 10 66 97 68.04% 31 35.85 3078 Gooding 0 10 1 0 6 17 24 70.83% 7 8.2 3604 Buhl 0 48 1 1 16 66 70 94.29% 4 7.5 3646 Glenns Ferry 2 131 3 1 51 186 185 100.54% -1 8.25 Dist 6 TOT 3 445 16 2 161 624 688 90.70% 64 98.4 735 Pocatello 0 107 7 0 24 138 171 80.70% 33 41.55 3884 Montpelier 0 21 0 0 10 31 37 83.78% 6 7.85 9141 Soda Springs 1 33 2 0 12 47 65 72.31% 18 21.25 9443 Blackfoot 1 24 2 1 8 35 45 77.78% 10 12.25 10323 Preston 1 19 1 0 9 29 29 100.00% 0 1.45 Dist 7 TOT 3 204 12 1 63 280 347 80.69% 67 84.35 1004 Rigby 0 196 1 0 2 199 204 97.55% 5 15.2 2146 Idaho Falls 0 195 15 2 39 251 283 88.69% 32 46.15 3012 Rexburg 0 72 8 1 10 91 110 82.73% 19 24.5 5840 Salmon 0 53 4 1 11 69 67 102.99% -2 1.35 7137 Arco 1 55 0 0 2 57 59 96.61% 2 4.95 8893 Mud Lake 0 30 0 0 1 31 32 96.88% 1 2.6 9425 Saint Anthony 0 161 0 0 0 161 165 97.58% 4 12.25 Dist 8 TOT 1 762 28 4 65 859 920 93.37% 61 107 AREA 3 TOT 7 1411 56 7 289 1763 1955 90.18% 192 289.75 15013 AT LARGE 5 216 26 0 15 257 279 92.11% 22 35.95 LOCATION N/R LM LIFE NEW R-NEW CON'T TOTAL TOTAL 09 PERCENT FOR 100% FOR 105% STATE DAVIS 29 5274 262 52 1015 6603 7146 92.40% 543 900.3 AREA 1 DAVIS 10 1640 47 9 335 2031 2157 94.16% 126 233.85 AREA 2 HEYOB 7 2007 133 36 376 2552 2755 92.63% 203 340.75 AREA 3 FOSTER 7 1411 56 7 289 1763 1955 90.18% 192 289.75 DIST 1 English 1 784 19 4 146 953 1015 93.89% 62 112.75 DIST 2 Riener 9 856 28 5 189 1078 1142 94.40% 64 121.1 DIST 4 Spurling 1 470 17 1 86 574 730 78.63% 156 192.5 DIST 5 Suekel 6 1537 116 35 290 1978 2025 97.68% 47 148.25 DIST 6 Brott 3 445 16 2 161 624 688 90.70% 64 98.4 DIST 7 Hollingsworth 3 204 12 1 63 280 347 80.69% 67 84.35 DIST 8 Boomgaarden 1 762 28 4 65 859 920 93.37% 61 107
VFW Department of Idaho Community Service Report December 2018 Total Activities # Members # Hrs # Miles Total Monies Donated Div # Post # Location DISTRICT ONE 2 889 Coeur d'alene 0 0 0 0 $0.00 9 1473 Spirit Lake 52 91 644 4564 $2,258.96 4 1675 Osburn 56 115 336 975 $9,221.50 7 2453 Sandpoint 211 638 2835 9723 $6,015.93 9 2909 Priest River 19 57 109 517 $252.38 6 3603 Post Falls 0 0 0 0 $0.00 9 3622 Bonners Ferry 69 89 223 559 $3,873.26 8 10320 Clark Fork 52 226 948 10683 $1,525.62 TOTALS 459 1216 5095 27021 $23,147.65 DISTRICT TWO 7 2905 Moscow 10 37 112 108 $235.12 4 3296 Orofino 22 49 141 1054 $297.56 7 3520 Grangeville 0 0 0 0 $0.00 8 3913 Kendrick 58 128 214 4186 $586.04 6 4902 Cottonwood 24 119 508 2259 $1,360.52 6 5407 Kamiah 20 177 364 1798 $1,351.72 8 8311 Elk City 0 0 0 0 $0.00 3 10043 Lewiston 70 233 1228 3885 $4,389.71 8 10300 Potlatch 0 0 0 0 $0.00 TOTALS 204 743 2566 13290 $8,220.67 DISTRICT FOUR 3 2738 Payette 0 0 0 0 $0.00 4 4900 Emmett 60 88 506 1110 $3,088.03 10 6232 Midvale 0 0 0 0 $0.00 8 9036 New Plymouth 81 111 936 6092 $7,307.88 8 11065 Wilder 0 0 0 0 $0.00 TOTALS 141 199 1442 7202 $10,395.91 DISTRICT FIVE 1 63 Boise 0 0 0 0 $0.00 9 142 Idaho City 41 124 121 2695 $3,002.30 4 1173 Boise 33 59 125 346 $1,542.37 8 3465 Nampa 78 148 713 3903 $2,491.62 7 3886 Caldwell 50 87 1267 4132 $1,204.48 7 4000 Meridian 57 98 373 2736 $4,095.09 7 5423 Mt. Home AFB 9 18 109 570 $264.80 9 7019 Kuna 0 0 0 0 $0.00 TOTALS 268 534 2707 14381 $12,600.66 Page 1 Date Printed 12/28/2018
VFW Department of Idaho Community Service Report December 2018 Total Activities # Members # Hrs # Miles Total Monies Donated Cat # Post # Location DISTRICT SIX 4 2136 Twin Falls 69 369 3411 13337 $2,293.18 9 2974 Wendell 41 42 88 872 $3,184.33 7 3001 Jerome 84 346 1456 9810 $2,532.40 8 3043 Burley 37 92 716 2548 $3,095.72 10 3078 Gooding 0 0 0 0 $0.00 9 3604 Buhl 75 91 891 4925 $1,361.50 5 3646 Glenns Ferry 224 442 1844 6712 $9,239.68 TOTALS 530 1382 8405 38204 $21,706.81 DISTRICT SEVEN 5 735 Pocatello 71 206 521 6268 $897.52 10 3884 Montpelier 15 91 22 123 $1,502.15 9 9141 Soda Springs 82 186 467 4060 $3,139.93 10 9443 Blackfoot 20 68 151 674 $844.36 10 10323 Preston 3 4 12 0 $50.00 TOTALS 191 555 1173 11125 $6,433.96 DISTRICT EIGHT 4 1004 Rigby 41 286 1051 7666 $1,073.24 3 2146 Idaho Falls 34 290 933 1344 $2,426.73 6 3012 Rexburg 55 307 265 2537 $1,701.18 8 5840 Salmon 8 26 82 238 $293.32 9 7137 Arco 15 106 33 733 $555.62 10 8893 Mud Lake 57 85 256 2563 $358.82 5 9425 St. Anthony 30 157 233 1178 $1,839.92 TOTALS 240 1257 2853 16259 $8,248.83 DEPT TOTALS 2033 5886 24240 127481 $90,754.49 Activities to be reported: Community Activities can fall in several categories, including community involvement, cooperation with other organizations, aid to others, school; and church assistance, safety, Americanism, and youth activities. The reporting date deadline to be included in the next General Orders is the 26th day of each month. Standardized forms are located on the state website under Department >"forms & reports" Melanie Foster Jr. Vice Commander - Idaho Community Activities Chairman mfoster1507@gmail.com Page 2 Date Printed 12/28/2018
Idaho's December 2018 Legislative Committee Member Report (new info: A1, A2, Update, B1, B2, B3, B4)) A. Meetings: 1. As indicated in our report last month, Carmelita and I were celebrating, as all the candidates we campaigned for and supported were elected. They are all big supporters of veterans. Consequently, we will be attending the swearing-in of Idaho Governor-Elect Brad Little in Boise on January 4 th and attending the Governor s dinner and Inauguration Ball the evening of January 5th. 2. We are now preparing for our Idaho Mid-Winter Conference in Boise, January 10-13. We will be attending a reception for the members of the Idaho Legislature who will be in-town after the holidays to open the 2019 Idaho Legislative session. This is a great opportunity to meet all those newly elected members of the legislature and visit with them regarding our veteran s issues and proposed legislative initiatives. I will be conducting the Youth Awards portion of our Awards Banquet Saturday evening when we will recognize and reward the winners of our Department of Idaho s Voice of Democracy and Patriot s Pen contests. We are pleased that our National Commander-in-Chief B.J. Lawrence will be in attendance. He is doing a great job for our veterans. 3. We are still working on, and are hopeful that our legislative initiative on exempting retired military pay from Idaho income tax will gain the required support that it needs to become law. We have sponsors lined up to carry the mail in next year's session of the Idaho Legislature, and are attempting to line up a coalition of supporters in both the House and the Senate. There are 27 other states which exempt retired military pay from state income taxes. We need the technical job skills of these individuals in Idaho to fill many current and projected job shortages of technical skilled workers. However, without this exemption, we cannot compete with other states which currently have this exemption to attract retired military to retire in Idaho. We are also making inquiries and having discussions with various organizations to conduct an in-depth study on the financial effect (pros & cons) on the Idaho State's revenue if our proposed legislation were enacted. Update: Boise State University is working on a study to evaluate the impact and value of our proposed tax relief program. Several retired general officers and other entities have established an organization named the Idaho Defense Alliance a 501(4) (C) non profit. As a C4 organization, they can lobby on behalf of this bill; thereby protecting the C3 status of our veterans service organizations. The Defense Alliance will still require grassroots support from our veterans service organizations. However, Zions Bank and other large organizations have or soon will join the Defense Alliance, as they see the advantage of attracting retiring veterans to make their home in Idaho, to help fill their labor needs. Zions Bank is contributing the first $7,500 of the $16,000 necessary to finance the study. In addition, the commanders of the Idaho VFW and American Legion have sent correspondence out to their respective organizations encouraging them to contribute to the fund raising effort to pay for the study. Hopefully, the results of the study will identify the financial up-side in state revenue from attracting more retired veterans to select Idaho as their retirement home. Once the results of the study are known, we will be in a position to make a decision on the timing to take our legislative proposal back to the Finance & Revenue Committee in the Idaho House of Representatives to exempt retired military veterans from paying State Income Tax on their military retired pay. B. Communications: 1. We sent out emails to all VFW and Auxiliary Members in respond to the VFW Action Corps Alert on supporting the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Action to contact our Senators Crapo and Risch. We also requested that our members ask their family members, friends, neighbors, colleagues, etc. to contact our Senators on Capitol Hill to pass this bill before the end of this year. 2. We forwarded the email we received on the VFW s 2019 legislative priorities out to all of Idaho s VFW and our Auxiliary members for their information and action. 3. A copy of my monthly legislative report is being emailed out to our Idaho VFW membership to keep them informed on issues. 4. In response to your encouragement to participate in the "Meet them in the District" Campaign, and his periodic emails updating information on congressional town hall meetings in various States: I will continue to distribute information to our membership notifying them of planned events in their geographic areas and
encouraging them to attend, armed with National's suggested questions for the visit. We are also encouraging our members to notify their respective congressional District offices that their meeting places are available for town hall meetings. 7. I receive an email newsletter from each of our Idaho elected Congressmen each week. This newsletter details those legislative issues under consideration in Congress and those issues scheduled to be discussed in the near term. This newsletter enables me to keep abreast of issues of interest to veterans and provide timely feedback to my elected Representatives. 8. Have you phoned or emailed congressional staff or legislators on specific issues? Yes, I have emailed each of our Congressional Representatives with the information supplied by your office on each occasion that was appropriate. Each of Idaho's Senate and House Members who were up for election were re-elected. This should be good news for Idaho's veterans, as they are all major supporters of veterans legislative issues on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. 9. How have you shared your information with other VFW members to include: Actively sign folks up for the Washington Weekly Update? Yes Encourage other VFW and Auxiliary members to get involved as a veterans advocate? 10. Report activities at Post meetings or other legislative events, such as town halls, veterans advisory committees, rallies, etc. Yes: We continually report important legislative issues to all levels of our Department of Idaho through emails and other means. In addition, I write newspaper articles which are published in the newspaper and email copies of the articles out to our membership. C. Other: 1. Our Idaho Senator Crapo has once again been appointed to be the Chairman of the Committee to select Senators to serve on the various committees. 2. Our Senator Risch appears to be in line to become the Chairman of the powerful Committee on Foreign Relations. Best wishes for the New Year Bob & Carmelita Jones Legislative Committee Members