NARFE NewsWatch –

NARFE Legislative Hotline – February 17, 2012

MESSAGE FROM NARFE PRESIDENT JOSEPH A. BEAUDOIN

“So far this year, Congress has proposed using federal worker paychecks to offset the costs of the payroll tax holiday, a major highway bill, U.S. Postal Service reform, and to avoid cuts to the Pentagon budget. NARFE members spent the past week fighting back. Thousands responded to our request to phone their members of Congress on February 15 and to send e-mail messages to both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. I am very proud of those NARFE members and invite you to join them by using our Legislative Action Center to send our e-mail message.”

CALL CONGRESS DAY A SUCCESS; CONFEREES TARGET NEW HIRES

While NARFE members were placing phone calls to members of Congress, the House-Senate conference committee was negotiating agreement to extend the payroll tax holiday, assure that Medicare enrollees can find participating doctors and extend unemployment insurance.

Due to NARFE-member actions, focused coalition advocacy and congressional champions serving on the conference committee, current federal employees and retirees have been spared. Unfortunately, H.R. 3630 requires new federal employees to pay an additional 2.3 percent of pay, boosting the FERS employee contribution (now 0.8) to 3.1 percent to offset half the cost of extending unemployment insurance benefits. However, additional federal employee offsets could be on the table for the highway bill, H.R. 7.

SEND AN EMAIL TODAY: CIVIL SERVICE REMAINS TARGET; EMPLOYEES NOW, RETIREES NEXT?

NARFE’s Legislative Action Center, updated February 10, makes it easy for NARFE members to “Protect America’s Heartbeat” by sending our message to your members of Congress, the president and vice -president. Federal employees continue to be singled out without any larger shared sacrifice. Current employees’ pay and benefits are still under siege. If this unfairness is allowed to happen, retirees will be next.

NARFE’s Legislative Action Center allows you to send our updated message to both Congress and the president. Use the following link to tell Washington: “ Shared Sacrifice, Not Civil Service Scapegoating.” (http://capwiz.com/narfe/home/.