NARFE NC Federation 2010 Legislative Program AREA VI

NARFE NC Federation 2010 Legislative Program AREA VI

GOALS for 2010 • Enlist ALCOs to engage CLOs to move NARFE legislative agenda forward. • Know Legislative Agenda. • Defend Existing Benefits and Entitlements. • Contact national, state and local representatives within Area. • Stay in touch with Federation PAC Chair. • Prepare for May 4 Primary and November 2 Election

Area Legislative Contact Officer (ALCO) • Six ALCOs in Federation. • Principal Contact on legislative Matters Within Area. • Establish Network with CLOs. • Lead/Develop Area Legislative Program. • Keep Area VP and NLO Apprised of Legislative Activity.

Legislative Agenda State Legislative Agenda: • Homestead Act • Bailey Settlement Extension • Senior Tar Heel Legislative Priorities

Homestead Act • Affects permanent resident seniors 70 years and older who have • Lived in and paid taxes on the property for at least five years. • Freezes tax assessment on property for as long as they live there. • Has Strong NARFE Support • Benefits to the State. • Fairer to seniors with fixed income.

Homestead Act (Cont’d) • Bill Number: HB-1130 • Sponsored by Rep Annie Mobley, Womble. • Co-Sponsored by Reps Adams, Blue, Bryant, Earle, Farmer-Butterfield, Fisher, Hall, Holliman, Jones, Parmon, Pierce, Rapp, Starnes, Wray. • Referred to Committee on Aging on 4/7/2009. • Still needs to pass Judiciary and Finance Committees. • Outlook: Up in the Air! • NARFE still has to press NC House Reps.

Bailey Settlement Extension • Fourth Branch initiated study. • NARFE supports passing a statute to exempt all resident military and government retirees from paying NC tax. • Bill Numbers: H. B. 345/S. 233 • In-Migration and Retention Incentive. • Benefits: Homes, growth, service, schools, wealth. • All House and Senate Reps have copy of study. • Outlook: Positive

Bailey Extension (Cont’d) • Referred to Committee on Finance (Both Houses). • Need to Include in Governor’s Budget. • Need Favorable Report from Revenue Law Committee. • Positive Reaction from the Governor’s Senior and Military Advisors. • Positive Reaction from County Commissioners’ Association • More Meetings scheduled in March and April. • Need NARFE Chapter & Local Political Support. • See Next Slide for Supporters.

Bailey Extension (Cont’d) • S-233: Primary Sponsor: Sen Hoyle; Co-Sponsor: Sen Jenkins. • H-345: Primary Sponsors: Reps Underhill, Cleveland, Glazier, Martin. Co-Sponsors: M. Alexander, Blackwood, Blust, Braxton, Cole, Dickson, Dollar, Faison, Goforth, Gulley, Holloway, Hurley, Killian, Samuelson, Tarleton, Tillis, Wainwright, West, Wiley, Wilkins.

Senior Tar Heel Legislature Priorities • • C. A. R. E. Home and Community Care Block Grant Senior Centers. Mixing of Populations in Long-Term care facilities. • Know your Senior Tar Heel Legislature Representatives.

National Legislative Priorities • Obtaining new sponsors for Premium Conversion tax benefits. • Repealing/Reforming Social Security Offsets (GPO-WEP). • NARFE’s Program for 111 th Congress. • Watch Entitlements Carefully, and • Prepare to Defend them.

Premium Conversion – New Sponsors • Health premiums have increased by 10%; cost of living by 2%. • Annuitants pay FEHBP premiums with after-tax funds. • Average annuitant loses $820 p/a. (6% of disposable income) • Federal employees are surprised to learn they will no longer receive premium conversion when they retire.

GPO/WEP • GPO: Prevents retiree from collecting both a government annuity based on their own work and SS benefits based on their spouse’s work. • Two-thirds of annuity offsets SS benefits. • Adverse affect on low-income widows. • WEP: This SS amendment greatly reduces SS benefit of retiree who also receives government annuity. • Average loss per month: $355 ($4, 260 p/a).

111 th Congress and NARFE • Still in effect until new Congress is sworn in in January (112 th Congress). • Preserving and Enhancing Existing Benefits still High Priority. • Expect further action on Health Care Reform, H. R. 3962. • FERS • With Primaries and General Election Approaching, not a lot will get done.

Defending Existing Benefits and Entitlements • 111 th Congress must deal with $3. 8 trillion President’s budget (deficit neutral? ). • Commission on Debt Reduction. • CSRDF might be targeted to help finance other programs. • There are ways our entitlements could be affected in 2010. • Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid shortfalls will be high on agenda. • Health Care. Hold your breath!

Contact Your Representative • Federation goal is to contact all national, state, and local representatives in your area. • In NC, there are: Two Senators; 13 District Representatives; 50 NC Senators; and 120 House Districts. • In Area VI: Two Congressional District Reps; 5 NC Senators; and 10 House Districts. • Also in Area VI: 20 County Commissioners and 20 Representatives to the Senior Tar Heel Legislature.

Strategy • Familiarize yourself with talking points. • Find out who sponsors and co-sponsors are of important legislation. • Get new sponsors where none exist. • Identify chapters nearest to all District Offices, County Commissioners and Tar Heel Reps. • Prepare for May 4 Primary. Learn about candidates and provide them info on NARFE. • Follow-up periodically. • Watch for National’s Action Alerts and Gem Messages.

Stay in Touch With PAC Chair • The PAC Chair communicates directly with NARFE National. • Co-ordinate and/or recommend PAC activity with/to PAC Chair. • Report all PAC matters to ALCO who will in turn report to NLO (might be some duplication here). • Here again, probably not much activity until the campaign starts after primary results are known. • PAC Chair is Jim Whitten: jlw_bjw@northstate. net

Useful Links • NARFE National Website: www. NARFE. ORG • (click on legislative department). • Federal Times Weekly: www. federaltimes. com • Congressional Record: www. gpoaccess. gov/crecord • Federation Website: www. ncnarfe. info • (go to NLO library).

• Questions?