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CHAPTER 1072, AURORA NEWSVolume
18, Number 1January, February, March, April 2012
Next Chapter 1072 Meeting Date: Monday, January 2, 2012 at 12:00 Noon Location: Mr. Panda Super Buffet, 2852 South Havana, Aurora, CO 80014 Speaker: Representative from Aurora Punblic Safety will talks
about Senior Safety A WORD FROM THE PRESIDENT By Fred L. Bond, flbond@hotmail.com Hi Chapter 1072 Members. This is my last Newsletter
article as Chapter President. Carol Williams will take over the Presidency at our January meeting. Brenda Rivard
will continue as Treasurer and Jim Seaman is the Secretary. Carol's position of Membership Chair is open. Eileen and I will try to fill in until we find a replacement
for this very important position. I ask all of our members to please consider volunteering for our Membership Chair
position. The inability of many chapters to fill the many positions that are needed
has forced many chapters to disband. I predict that the problem of finding volunteers will force more and more members into the all-State kind of chapter like
Colorado's Chapter 2339. The internet is rapidly giving people a whole new way of approaching problems. In the future we may
have one large NARFE blog representing all Federal Employees and retirees. Well lets remember that some are predicting the
end of all things on December 23 of 2012 so we may not need any more volunteers for our Chapters.
IMPORTANT WEBSITES: NARFE Headquarters: www.narfe.org Colorado Federation: www.narfe-colorado.com Chapter 1072/2339: www.narfecolorado.org Office of Personnel Mgmt: www.opm.gov Social Security Admin: www.ssa.gov
NEW CHAPTER MEMBERS John C. Brethauer
Helen E. Hackett So
Happy to Have You Join Us!
Reinstatements Mary L. Benton Ursula Burr Elizabeth Phillips Julia
F. Williams Welcome Back!
VOLUNTARILY LEFT US Dorothy
B. Alexander Erwin J. Burke Cornelius Brown Evelyn
Dann Aidee Garcia Bill
Harell Betty J. Kayner Frances A. Louselet Hughie
St. Pierre Julia F. Williams Help us Win Them Back!
DECEASED
MEMBERS E. James Carlson Louis
N. Delazerda Wayne E. Lapp Gone
but not Forgotten!
MEMBERSHIP CORNER By Carol A. Williams, VP for Membership, Kit64ten@yahoo.com This will be my last Newsletter report as Vice President
of Membership. I'm currently working on getting membership information up to date once again. Since I had trouble
with my computer, I'm now working on the backlog to get everything current. I will turn over all of my paperwork and
Excel spreadsheets to Eileen and Fred Bond, who have graciously agreed that they would take over Membership. At
this time we have 235 Total Chapter members(voting), 9 Total National Life Members(Non-voting), and 20 Total National Only
Members (Non-voting) for a total of 264 members. It has
been a pleasure getting to know everyone over the past year. I’m looking forward to learning more with the new position
I’m taking over and seeing what we can accomplish down the road. This is not goodbye but just a change in position. I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Kwanza
and a Happy New Year. May your holidays be joyous, wonderful, and the happiest you’ve ever had.
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The following safety reminders were received from the office of Carol Chambers, District Attorney for the 18th
Judicial District (Arapahoe, Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln Counties): DISTRICT ATTORNEY CAROL CHAMBERS’ HOLIDAY SAFETY REMINDERS 1.
CHECK YOUR CREDIT CARD/BANK STATEMENTS FOR UNAUTHORIZED CHARGES AS SOON AS THEY ARRIVE. BETTER YET, CHECK THEM ON LINE FREQUENTLY. With more activity in credit card and bank accounts during the holidays, criminals have an excellent
opportunity to sneak charges that may be over looked on to your accounts. If you fail to notice a fraudulent credit card charge
within sixty (60) days of its first appearance on your account, you will be responsible for paying the charge. And the longer
a fraudulent bank transaction is not reported, the more you may have to pay. 2. CARRY YOUR CREDIT CARDS, DEBIT
CARD, DRIVER’S LICENSE, CASH, CHECKS, AND ANYTHING WITH YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER IN THE SAFEST POSSIBLE MANNER. NOT IN YOUR WALLET IN YOUR BACK POCKET (MEN) NOT IN YOUR PURSE (WOMEN) 3.
STAY ALERT! KNOW WHO IS AROUND YOU? Victims of crime often state that the perpetrator came
out of nowhere. What they are really saying is they were not paying attention to their surroundings and the perpetrator was
able to get close to them. A person, who appears to be alert and aware of the space around him or her, is less likely to be
the target of a criminal. Pay attention to whom and what is around you as you walk to your car, leave your home or a business.
If you aren’t comfortable with your surroundings, leave or get someone to walk with you. 4. BE CAREFUL
WHEN PURCHASING GIFT CARDS. Before purchasing that gift card, examine it closely, both front and back, for
evidence of tampering. Does it appear that the card may have been removed from the packaging and returned? Has the pin number
been revealed? Clever criminals will remove cards from racks and collect the information from the card, return the card to
the display, and then use the phone number from the card to determine when the card has been activated. They then use the
information they collected from the card to make purchases. The safest cards are those which have not been on an open
display; but regardless of where you get them, all cards should be carefully inspected before purchase. 5.
CUT UP GIFT BOXES BEFORE YOU PUT THEM OUT WITH THE TRASH. A box that contained a new
TV, stereo, IPod, firearm, jewelry, or other item easily sold on the street may attract a burglar that is searching for his/her
next victim. Don’t entice a burglar by advertising that your home has just added items of value.
LEGISLATIVE ISSUES By Eileen Bond, VP for Legislation, eibond@hotmail.com There are a ton of ideas out there on how to balance the budget. I guess we all need to do our part, we just don’t
want to do more than others. One of the plans that NARFE and AARP have been watching is a plan to partially privatize the
Medicare program. This would allow Congress to vote on the amount of "premium support" credits (or vouchers) seniors
receive to buy health care coverage every year. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) plan to gradually
privatize the Medicare program for future enrollees by shifting seniors into private coverage and issuing everyone a "voucher"
with which to purchase insurance. Some of the plans call for a yearly congressional vote to fund the vouchers. There is concern
that the government’s vouchers won’t keep up with premium increases, and as a result, seniors who cannot afford
to pay anything above the government contribution may be stuck in cheaper and perhaps lower quality health plans that contract
with lower quality providers or cover fewer tests and procedures. Higher co-pays is another way to cost shift. There has been
a new agreement between Paul Ryan and Ron Wyden (D Ore) that also includes vouchers for Medicare. FEHBP is not Medicare; it includes working Federal employees, retirees, and their
families. FEHBP contracts with health insurance companies and the Government pays a percent of our premium. Medicare pays
the health care provider directly for the services they provide. What they do have in common is that they are both paid for
by the Federal Government. It’s that bottom line that is my concern. Right now they pay a percent of our premium. So
as the premium goes up, we pay more and so do they. The cost saving might be that they might decide to pay a fixed amount,
that doesn’t change; then we get to pay what is left over – the part that goes up. Congress could also reduce
the percent they pay. Some of us are not on Medicare, so we might think
this is not a problem for us. All the talk is about Medicare and not about FEHBP. Think again, the President's
Commission on Fiscal Responsibility also known as the Simpson Bowles Commision, suggested that such a voucher plan should
be tried on FEHBP for a sort of trial run for Medicare. Smaller test kitchen so to speak. Don't think for a minute
that plan has gone away. The election of 2012 is on a roll. The boundaries for our seven Congressional Districts are set. We went through
a lot of political snipping with a final solution by a Judge. Some won and some lost. They all want to be in safe districts
where they don’t have to do a lot of work or raise a lot of money. As I always say they want to be able to pick their
voters. Democrats Jared Polis (CD 2) lost some of his Democrats in Boulder. Democrat Ed Perlmutter (CD 7) lost the Democrats
in Aurora. Republican Mike Coffman (CD 6) gained the Aurora Democrats (he may not want them). All of these representatives
will have stronger challenges. Republican Representatives Scott Tipton and Cory Gardner won their seats from Democrats during
the Republican sweep in 2010. They will also be challenged in the election of 2012. I am sure that is happening all over the
country. If you are interested in getting involved
and are registered in a political party, the Caucus begins the whole process here in Colorado. The Republican Caucus is Feb
7 (303-758-3333) and the Democratic Caucus is March 6 (303-623-4762). Call to find out your location. At the caucus, people
are elected to attend the County Convention, and at the County Convention people are elected to go to the State Convention.
All along that process you have a voice. From the State Convention you can get elected to go to the National where the presidential
votes are cast. You may not be interested to go the whole way but the beginning at the local level is still very interesting
and worth doing. NARFE
is urging all members to contact their members of Congress to fight back against the unfair scapegoating of federal workers
in the payroll tax holiday debate. The House has passed a bill that would freeze federal worker pay for a third year and make
drastic changes in the federal retirement system to pay for extending the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance. To send
your message to Congress: Representative
Mike Coffman (CD 6) 720-283-9772 Representative
Ed Perlmutter (CD 7) 303-274-7944
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Following is the majority of an article
published on December 16, 2011 by NARFE National Headquarters. November Consumer Price News "Federal retirees will receive a cost
of living adjustment (COLA) to their civil service annuities beginning in January 2012. Retirees in the Civil Service Retirement
System (CSRS) will receive a 3.6 percent increase to their annuities, while retirees in the Federal Employee Retirement System
(FERS) will receive a 2.6 percent increase to their annuities. The new CPI-W figure for November 2011 was 222.813. The average CPI-W for the third-quarter of 2011 was 223.233.
This is the new reference figure for determining the 2013 COLA. To trigger a COLA for 2012, the average CPI-W for the months of July, August, and September of 2011 needed to rise
above the 2008 average for those same months, the last measurement to trigger a COLA (for 2009). It did, by 3.6 percent. While
CSRS retirees receive the full amount of the CPI-W increase as a COLA, current law reduces the FERS COLA by 1 percentage point
for increases above 3 percent. Because the CPI-W
showed declining prices from 2008 to 2009, and while it showed prices increasing between 2009 and 2010, it did not show prices
increasing back to 2008 levels, there has not been a COLA for the last two years. But finally, we had some good news for 2012! Under current law, COLAs for federal retirement annuities, as
well as for military retiree annuities and social security payments, are determined in reference to the Consumer Price Index
for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), which is calculated by economists and statisticians with the Bureau of
Labor Statistics. The CPI-W is the current index used for measuring increases in the prices of consumer goods throughout the
economy. It includes prices on all consumer goods, including food and beverages, housing, clothing, transportation, medical
care, recreation, education and communication, and more. NARFE continues to support strong COLAs based on fair assessments of increases in consumer prices to protect the
value of federal annuities from inflation. Determined
by a different statutorily-set methodology, benefits awarded under the Federal Employees Compensation Act (FECA) to individuals
suffering work-related injuries or illnesses, are adjusted according to each calendar year’s percentage change in the
CPI-W (rather than as measured by the change from the highest previous third quarter average). The December 2010 CPI-W figure
(215.262) was 1.7% higher than the December 2009 index (211.703). Because of this, FECA benefits increased by 1.7%, beginning
March 1, 2011. Looking forward to a potential FECA COLA for March 2012, the November 2011 CPI-W figure (222.813) is 3.51 percent
higher than the December 2010 figure (215.262)."
TREASURER’S ANNUAL UPDATE Cash on Hand Jan 1, 2011 $4,876.53 Receipts Jan - Dec 2011 1,928.06 Expenses Jan –
Dec 2011 1,539.08 Cash on Hand Dec 2011 $5,265.51 Alzheimer’s Contributions Jan 1 2011 – Dec 31 2011 $ 181.00 |
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