oklahoma - narfe

OklahomaNARFE NewsVolume 3

Issue 2Oct- Dec 2017

The Official Publication of the Oklahoma National Active and Retired Federal Employees

An Oklahoma NARFE update

Region VI at Joint National Executive Board and Federation Presidents’ Meeting in Jacksonville, Florida, July 10-13. From left: Marshall Richards, Region VI Vice President; Patricia “Patsy” Ashton, Louisi-ana President; Willie Chism, Arkansas District 3 Vice President; Dr. John Creswell, Texas President; and Randy Freeland, Oklahoma President.

As I write this we are experiencing an un-believable August and early September with milder temperatures and some rain for most. Fortunately, not the amount our friends in Texas are receiving from Hurricane Harvey. Our prayers are with all of those people.

Not to rehash our State Convention in May, but a few questions were asked that I got answers to at the National Leadership and State Federation President’s Meeting in Jacksonville, Florida in July. Here are a couple of those:

Now that One Member, One Vote is in place per the National and Oklahoma Federation Bylaws, several members have asked me how they will elect officers for Chapters across Oklahoma. I asked Na-tional Secretary/Treasurer, Jon Dowie, about that. His response was that Chapters will be treated differently from National and Federa-tion Officers since members are no longer required to be a member of a Chapter. They do however belong to a Federation and National. So...he stated we should make Chapter Members aware, in whatever method we choose, that a vote will be taken at a certain meeting for officers. Those who want to vote will need to be present. Along that line, Chapters will need to revise their bylaws to be in compliance with National. A couple of chapters have already begun the process and I will be working with the District Vice-Presidents and Chapters to do this over the next year. National has provided a template that should make it pretty easy.

We are seeing a lot of members moving from Chapters to the Na-tional Member list. This is not all bad as some just choose to not attend Chapter Meetings but want to stay a member and receive “limited” correspondence from National and the Federation in their state. I am pleased to tell you, at this time we have 633 NARFE National Mem-bers with Oklahoma Zip Codes. When necessary to contact them for legislative or other reasons, the Federation President and Federation Vice-President for National Legislation have access to their contact information. Remember, a member is a member and we cherish your membership whether you choose to be involved with a Chapter or not.

Some of the State Federation Presidents have expressed concerns with the renewal forms. They fear the way they are constructed they almost encourage members to renew but without continuing their chapter membership. The National Office has since restructured the form to make chapter membership more obvious.

In case you missed it, some of you saw email traffic that indicated a ballot would be in the August 2017 NARFE Magazine to allow mem-bership to change the bylaws to allow a third term for the existing National President. That issue was reversed by the National Execu-tive Board at a meeting on July 13th, thus no ballot was in the August magazine.

National Legislative activities are still a major concern. Be sure to stay tuned to these as you hear about them on the news or read on email, NARFE Magazine, or in your local newspaper. It appears Congress is no longer looking at cutting benefits for just current ac-tive employees but are now looking at benefits for retirees as well.

RANDY FREELANDOklahoma Federation President

Support NARFE PAC as we strive to elect federal active employee and retiree supportive legislators. Remember the statement from former Oklahoma U. S. Senator Tom Coburn? “There is no guarantee to your federal pension based on the economics we face today in this country.” That alarming sentence is probably more appropriate today that when he was still in Washington.

For a bit of good news. No other Chapters have closed in the last quarter. I also don’t see any on the “bubble” to close thanks to many of you for step-ping up to fill leadership positions. It really doesn’t take much of your personal time. We are thankful for your assistance.

I told you in the last issue of Oklahoma NARFE News that our long time Federation Historian, Dor-othy Branson, had retired from the position. I am very pleased to announce that JoAnn Dungan, a long-time member of Chapter 946 in Midwest City/Del City, has accepted the offer from the Federa-tion Executive Board to become our new Oklahoma Federation Historian. I believe you will see more about JoAnn in this newspaper. If you need to con-tact her you can reach her at 405-732-2615 or email at: [email protected]. Additional contact in-formation is available on the Oklahoma NARFE Website at narfeok.org.

Remember our motto, “The “E” is silent but we are not!!!

Our State President, Randy Freeland, busy as always…….rustling a new member for NARFE!(Submitted by Linda Resnick, District V Vice President.)

More inside...State Officers / Chapter Presidents ................. pages 2- 3“I Need Your Help!”.......................................... page 7New Historian to Update History Books ......... page 9Chapter News .................................................... pages 9-12

Members’ Forum............................................... pages 14-15NARFE Application .......................................... page 20In Memory of Our Fallen Members ................ page 22 Chapter Meeting Information ......................... page 24

Oklahoma NARFE NewsPAGE 2

OKLAHOMA FEDERATION STATE OFFICERS

EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

Oklahoma Federation Rewards Program 2017-2018

DISTRICT OFFICERS APPOINTED OFFICERS

PRESIDENTRandy Freeland (#183)5309 West Trenton CourtStillwater, OK 74074 Phone: 405-372-5799 Email: [email protected] 1ST VICE PRESIDENTJames Gillispie (#2184)1410 West 115th StreetJenks, OK 74037Phone: 918-694-9998Email: [email protected]

2ND VICE PRESIDENTCarolyn Harris (#184)5805 Saint James PlaceOklahoma City, OK 73179Phone: 405-261-6149Email: [email protected]

3RD VICE PRESIDENTJames Crowder (#946)2606 N.W. 56th StreetOklahoma City, OK 73112Phone: 405-840-5870 Email: [email protected]

SECRETARYJean McBride-Samuels (#278)114 West 114th StreetJenks, OK 74037Phone: 918-728-9828 Email: [email protected]

TREASURERJohnny Hanlon (#2184)400 West 31st Court Sand Springs, OK 74063-2923 Phone: 918-245-8881 Email: [email protected]

DISTRICT IGary Flinchum (#2184)4915 South 24th West PLTulsa, OK 74107-7726Phone: (918) 445-1008Email: [email protected]

DISTRICT IIRon Vick (#730)108178 North 3818 Road Okemah, OK 74859-5214 Phone: 918-623-1693 Email: [email protected]

DISTRICT IIIJerry Walker (#749)1905 Ronald StreetYukon, OK 73099 Phone: 405-354-7816 Email: [email protected]

DISTRICT IVMarilyn Componation (#946)208 E. Ridgewood DriveOklahoma City, OK 73110-3957Phone: 405-317-0272

DISTRICT V Linda Resnick (#1722) P.O. 5202Edmond, OK 73083Phone: 405-340-3305Email: [email protected]

IMMEDIATE PAST PRES. ADVISORJames Olden (#184)817 NE 50th StreetOklahoma City, OK 73105 Phone: 405-424-3488 Email: [email protected] HISTORIANJoAnn Dungan (#946)728 Crescent CircleOklahoma City, OK 73110Phone: 405-732-2615Email: [email protected]

ALZHEIMER’S COORDINATORBetty Lowrey (#183)3107 South Saddle Rock LaneStillwater, OK 74074-2291Phone: 405-372-1835Email: [email protected]

EDITOR / WEBMASTERNancy Stanphill (#2351)6818 East 65th Place Tulsa, OK 74133-4009 Phone: 918-493-2486 Email: [email protected]

PARLIAMENTARIANNancy Vaughan (#2184)7440 North 420 RoadHulbert, OK 74441 Phone: 918-598-3891 Email: [email protected]

SERVICE OFFICERPamela Burnett (#167)733 SE Sullivan DriveLawton, OK 73501-6548Phone: 580-585-2027Email: [email protected]

Change of address: You will receive the Oklahoma NARFE News at the address on your current NARFE magazine from Na-tional Headquarters. If you change your ad-dress, please notify Member Records toll-free at 1-800-456-8410, send an email message to [email protected], or mail the notification to NARFE National Headquarters, 606 N. Washington Street, Alexandria, VA 22314, At-tention: Member Records. Neither the editor of this publication, nor the Oklahoma Federa-tion of Chapters, nor the publisher can handle such requests.

Contributor’s Instructions: The Oklahoma NARFE News, The Official Publication of the Oklahoma National Active and Retired Federal Employees will be in print ev-ery third month (tri-monthly). To ensure a quality prod-uct we need help and support from you, the members. Material may be edited for grammar, clarity and length. Because of the volume, they will not be acknowledged. Please use the following instructions as a guide for your article submissions. If you have questions please feel free to contact the Editor.

It is incumbent on all federation officers to submit ap-propriate articles and pictures of events occurring in their area of responsibility. Chapter officers and members are encouraged to submit brief articles and pictures of gen-eral interest about Chapter happenings.

Please identify the event and the individuals in the pic-ture and mark the Chapter number on the back of each photo. Photos cannot be returned, so you should not send originals. Articles related to legislative matters and recruiting techniques are especially encouraged. All mate-rials should be submitted to the Editor, Nancy Stanphill, 6818 E. 65th Place, Tulsa, OK 74133, or [email protected]. You are encouraged to use email as much as possible to submit your articles. Articles should be sub-mitted in MS WORD or WORKS (either by mail or email attachment) to the Editor. If you cannot submit in Word or Works, copy and paste the article in the text of an email. Typed, single-spaced material is also acceptable. In order to meet the publisher’s deadline, the editor must receive material no later than the date published in the Editor’s box on the next page.

Privacy: The Federation respects your privacy and will do everything to protect it in the Oklahoma NARFE News. The Federation Executive Board has adopted a policy to only print individual names and phone numbers, but not mail or email address (except the Federation Ex-ecutive Board). Contributors should be aware and comply with this policy when submitting your articles.

Federal Income Tax: Dues payments and gifts or contributions to NARFE are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes. Member-ship dues include subscription to this newspaper.

GUIDELINES FOR PUBLICATION

REGION VI VICE PRESIDENTMarshall Richards106 East Cedar StreetHallsville, TX 75650-6134 Phone: 903-660-2784Email: [email protected]

Reward for using Dues Withholding: (A) Each retired Federal Employee and/or spouse who joins NARFE in the Oklahoma Federation from June 1, 2017 to May 31, 2018 and uses dues with-holding to pay his/her National dues (including chapter dues, if applicable), will be eligible to receive a $40 reward from the Oklahoma Federation. (B) Existing retired Oklahoma Federation NARFE members who switch to dues withholding during the period from June 1, 2017 to May 31, 2018 will be eligible to receive a $40 reward from the Oklahoma Federation. (C) The Recruiter (if identified) responsible for members signing up for dues withholding will also receive $10 from the Oklahoma Federation. (D) The Chapter of a member signing up for dues withholding will also receive $10 (if chapter membership is indicated) from the Oklahoma Federation. (E) Active Federal Employees who sign up as new members will receive a $20 reward incentive from the Oklahoma Federation. Active employees cannot be on dues withholding.

To receive the dues withholding reward incentive, the member, potential member, recruiter, or chapter president (if claiming the chapter reward) will send the Form DW-2 (white form – current members), Form DW-3 (green form – new members), or other suitable form to Johnny Hanlon, Federation Treasurer, 400 W. 31st Court, Sand Springs, OK 74063-2923. To receive the reward for Active Employees, the recruiter or potential member must submit their application for membership to Johnny Hanlon. Johnny Hanlon will forward the Form(s) to the NARFE National Office.

www.NARFEOK.org

NARFE NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS606 North Washington St • Alexandria, VA 22314

Phone: 703-838-7760 • Fax: 703-838-7785Email: [email protected] • Website: www.narfe.org

Oklahoma NARFE News published by: M.D. & Associates, LLC

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Oklahoma NARFE News PAGE 3

CHAPTER PRESIDENTS

The Oklahoma NARFE News

2017 PUBLICATION SCHEDULEArticles must be

submitted by email to the editor by: Dec. 14 for the

January 2018 issue.

Send Us Your Comments.Use our paper as your voice.

EDITOR:Nancy Stanphill6818 E. 65th Place

Tulsa, OK 74133Phone: 918-493-2486

Email: [email protected]

DEC

14OKLAHOMA NARFE NEWS – OCT 2017 – VOL 3 ISSUE 2

Published by Oklahoma Federation of Chapters, NARFE Four times per year: January, April, July, October

6818 E. 65th Place • Tulsa, OK 74133

TULSA’S FIRST #278Jean McBride-SamuelsPhone: 918-728-9828Email: [email protected]

TULSA DAY-LITE #2184Gary FlinchumPhone: 918-445-1008Email: [email protected]

TULSA NORTHSIDE #2333Contact District 1 VP Gary FlinchumPhone: 918-445-1008Email: [email protected]

AZALEA MUSKOGEE #22Zolla M. BrooksPhone: 918-348-1882Email: n/a

OKMULGEE & OKFUSKEE #730Ron VickPhone: 918-623-1693Email: [email protected]

TRI COUNTY MIAMI OK #1017Carol MayfieldPhone: n/aEmail: [email protected]

MAYES COUNTY, PRYOR #1787Ronnie DonovantPhone: 918-530-5020Email: [email protected]

PAYNE COUNTY, STILLWATER #183Jim HenleyPhone: 580-336-4288Email: [email protected]

ENID #369Darrell PhillipsPhone: 580-237-3642Email: [email protected]

CHISHOLM TRAIL, EL RENO #749Jerry WalkerPhone: 405-354-7816Email: [email protected]

ALTUS #909Ida Fay WintersPhone: 580-482-8934Email: [email protected]

WEATHERFORD #1346Ed HelmPhone: 580-774-0620Email: [email protected]

CLEVELAND COUNTY #130James McCampbellPhone: 405-364-4669Email: [email protected]

GREAT PLAINS, LAWTON #167Jacquetta J. ChaneyPhone: 580-492-5068Email: [email protected]

MID/DEL, MIDWEST CITY #946Ron CannefaxPhone: 405-259-9979Email: [email protected]

CENTRAL OK, OK CITY #184John GravesPhone: 405-424-2833 Email: [email protected]

SHAWNEE #542Eleanor “Ellie” MacDonaldPhone: 405-273-5177 Email: [email protected]

EDMOND #947Randall KooncePhone: 405-348-4801Email: [email protected]

EASTERN OK CITY, CHOCTAW #1621Laquinia (Buck) LawsonPhone: 405-921-5787Email: [email protected]

NORTHWEST, OK. CITY #1722James StricklandPhone: 405-255-1923Email: [email protected]

SOONER COWBOY #2351Charles StanphillPhone: 918-493-2486Email: [email protected]

IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS AND ON-LINE CONTACTS• Taxes: Annuitant Express, Change Tax Withholding: 1-800-409-6738• Federal Long Term Care: 1-800-582-3337 • www.LTCFEDS.com• Thrift Savings Plan: 1-877-968-3778 • www.tsp.gov• Social Security: 1-800-772-1213 • www.ssa.gov• NARFE Members Records (Email or Address Change): 1-800-456-8410 • [email protected]• National Headquarters NARFE Service Officers: 1-800-456-8410• NARFE Legislative Hotline: 1-877-217-8324 • Federal Legislation - White House: 1-888-225-8418 • Direct Line to Congress: 1-866-220-0044• Congressional Voting Records: www.votesmart.org • www.issues2000.org

www.NARFEOK.org


Like you, it has been a busy summer for me. I delivered 31 brand new school buses, so far, to various locations. Then, in July, we enjoyed a 5 day, Western Caribbean cruise with our daughter and her family. Ports of call were Co-zumel and Progresso, Yucatan.

So how is our membership doing through two-thirds of the year? As a Federation, we have signed up 10 new members. Tip of the hat to 2184 with 4 of that number. Statewide we have had 39 former members reinstate. Congratulations to 183 for bringing 5 ‘back into the fold’. Members who have been dropped from membership during the last 8 months total 160! Chapters experiencing the highest number to drop are: 2351 with 25; 22 with 19; 130 and 184 with 13 each and 2184 with 11. Members who have transferred into chapters were 31, of which, 28 to 2351.

Now for the really big number – members who trans-ferred out of Oklahoma Federation Chapters totaled 185.

This breaks down by chapters as follows: 2351 – 38 mem-bers; 758 – 32 members; 946 – 19 members; 2184 – 13 members; 1722 – 12 members and 11 members each from 130 and 749. The remaining chapters lost less than 10 members to make the 185 total.

Oklahoma Federations lost 65 members who passed away. Those with the most to pass away were: 2184 with 10 and 946 with 11. On a positive note, the Federation had 34 prospects show up on individual chapter reports. We had 176 mem-bers who waited for second notices. Chapters having members with highest number of notices were: 2351 – 29; 946 and 2184 with 18 and 1722 with 15. Finally, as far as reports available we had 120 pay-ment status changes. I know this was a lot of numbers! Some of these could be greatly impacted if we can get members to con-vert to dues withholding, as well as sign new members up on dues withholding. There are a couple of items I think may be of interest to many of you. You probably have not only heard of it, but also utilize – Informed Delivery. With this service, you can log on to usps.gov and set up a notification to your

email or iPhone every day. That way, no matter where you are you will be notified daily what pieces of mail are coming to your mailbox that day. Think that is pretty neat, especially, if you are ‘out’ for a couple of days. The second item, with the up-coming health benefits open season not too far away, the Postal Service has estab-lished a website that you can use to find out what health benefit plan is best for you. It is called Keepingposted.org/hbcheckbook. You can log on – you may need to es-tablish an ID and Password – and input information per-tinent to your health care needs, and then it will provide you a list of providers in your area. You will then be able to compare the plans and as well as the cost. Think this is a neat tool to have that may just take some of ‘heartburn’ out of selecting a health care plan. I do not know if this is restricted to USPS, only. You might try it! Finally, we will be attending (probably have attend-ed by the time you read this) the Region VI seminar in Longview, Texas on September 20 and 21. I will report on that next time. Have a great rest of summer. And, in case, I don’t get another opportunity, Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christ-mas and Happy New Year.

JAMES GILLISPIEOK 1st Vice President

Membership report

As I write this letter, the U.S. is bracing for another hurricane, this time heading for Florida and the east coast. A massive clean-up is now under way in southeast Texas, in the Houston/ Beaumont, Port Arthur areas, from Hur-ricane Harvey. I have communicated with members in the affected areas and other than property damage, they are doing as well as can be expected. When disasters occur that affect Federal Employees and Retirees, financial help is available from the Federal Employee and Education As-sistance (FEEA) program. When I think of FEEA I think of the $1000.00 scholarships that are awarded to children and grandchildren of our NARFE members, and not the disaster side of FEEA. As you know, FEEA is funded entirely by voluntary contributions and during times like this, with Hurricane Harvey aftermath and Hurricane Irma approaching, donations are and will be needed. In the NARFE magazine there is a form that you can use to do-nate, or you can donate online at the FEEA website.

NARFE membership as you know, is still declining. But the good news in this bad news is that the rate of de-cline is slowing from the previous years. Our loss rate for this year through August is 2.82% compared to 7.19% for 2014, 5.02% for 2015 and 4.54% for 2016. Membership retention is up, as is new member recruitment. In Region VI we have a total membership of 16,681 as of September 6. Of that number, 24% (3973) are “National Members.”

The region ended last year with 17,189 members and 21.7% of those members were National Members.

As you can see, more and more of our members are opting to join NARFE or renew their member-ship as National Members, and not joining or renewing chapter membership. Why is that? I

sure don’t have that answer. But you and I can insure that when a new member is recruited and that the new member wishes to join a local chapter, the chapter number must be on the membership application Form 135. I asked that specific question at the Federation President’s meeting in July and I was assured that if a new member wishes to join a chapter and the chapter number is on the form, that new member will be assigned to that chapter. If you experience a problem with a new member not being as-signed to a chapter, send me the details and we’ll correct the error. Also, on the “Local Renewal” letter that current chapter members receive to renew their dues, the options shown on the bottom left, have the number of years to re-new (1 ,2 or 3) and then the membership options, NARFE or NARFE and Chapter (on the actual renewal letter the chapter number and dues is indicated). This is confusing to some members and they checked the NARFE box and not the NARFE and Chapter box that they meant to, to remain in the chapter. Again, if you are having a problem like this, let me know and I’ll get it corrected. But for

some members, belonging to a chapter is just not their cup of tea. Some see no value in belonging to a chapter and others just want to belong to NARFE, support NARFE’s agenda, get the magazine and be left alone. I want to mention one more thing on membership, and that is that the current Recruitment and Retention R & R Journal is now posted on the NARFE website. It is interesting read-ing.

I also want to remind you that for voting in the next election for National Officers will be very different than past NARFE elections. As you know the resolution allow-ing every member to be a voting member (one member, one vote) passed at the last National Convention in Reno. The ballots for the election will be in a NARFE Maga-zine, probably the June 2018 issue. The ballot will contain the candidates for national office as well as any proposed resolutions. Ballots may be cast electronically or returned by mail in the envelope that will be in the magazine. More information on this will be in future NARFE magazines. The next convention that will be held in Jacksonville, FL in August, will be very different from past NARFE con-ventions. The National Officers will have been elected and any resolutions or other matters that were on the ballot will have been accepted or rejected by the membership. I am looking forward to going to Jacksonville and experi-encing this new convention/conference format. It is not too early to start planning for this and I can say that if you go you will enjoy your stay. The hotel is very nice. Enjoy the fall season as winter will be here before we know it. Time does go by faster when you’re older.

Region VI reportMARSHALL RICHARDS

Region VI Vice President


Proposed Federal Pay Increase The 1.9 percent average pay raise includes a 1.4 percent across-the-board increase, and an average increase if 0.5 percent in locality-based pay adjustments. Long-stand-ing statutory policy calls for federal pay to increase at the rate of the Employment Cost Index for private-sector wages and salaries (which most recently increased by 2.4 percent), minus 0.5 percent. Additional locality pay in-creases are intended to close the gap between public and private sector pay. Unfortunately, instead of granting a 1.9 percent increase across the board, with additional local-ity pay increases, the Administration combined the two to

limit the pay raise to an average of 1.9 percent.

House Passes 788 Billion “Minibus” Spending Package The House passed a $788 billion ‘minibus” spending bill, which would fund the Department of Veterans Af-fairs, the Energy Department, the Department of Defense and the legislative branch for the fiscal year 2018. The bill passed by a vote of 235-192. The package includes a 2.4 percent increase in military pay.The spending levels outlined in this package are not likely to become law without additional action to lift the strict caps on spending set forth by the 2011 Budget Control Act. Bipartisan budget negotiations will determine the ul-timate levels, and final appropriations will be determined thereafter. Eight other spending bills which would fund the rest of the federal government, still await action by the House. The current federal spending authority expires in December.

Advancing Advocacy “Focus with Intensity” The federal community is facing many threats during the federal budget process, and your legislators need to hear from you. Let’s stay “Focus with Intensity” on our priorities:• Opposing any cuts to the Earned Retirement and Health Benefits of Federal Retiree.• Opposing Across-the –Board Federal Employee Compensation Cuts.• Supporting Reform of the Windfall Elimination Pro-vision (WEP) That Would Provide Relief to Current Retir-ees.• Oppose Requiring Postal Retirees to Either Purchase Additional Health Insurance Coverage (through Medi-care) or forfeit their Earned Retiree Health Benefits

During our “Grassroots Advocacy Month, I had the opportunity to visit with a couple of Volunteers at the YMCA Military Welcome Center.

Frank Freidhoff and Mike Aston are volunteers at the YMCA Military Welcome Center, located at the Will Rog-ers International Airport. On this particular day, both vol-unteers were awaiting the arrival of Senator Tom Cole and new Military Recruits. Senator Cole would be visiting the Center later in the day to receive a briefing on the purpose and mission of the Center.

As Frank Freidhoff was giving instructions to a new recruit, Mike Aston was kind enough to give me a “Red Carpet” briefing prior to my flight departure.

The Military Welcome Center was originally started by the “Blue Star” Mothers. In 2007 the YMCA took over

the Center. The Welcome Center is totally operated by Volunteers. Director Steven Lee is the only paid employ-ee. A Joint Partnership exists between the City of Oklaho-ma City, Will Rogers World Airport, Air Service YMCA and Earlywine Park YMCA.

The main function of the Military Welcome Center is to be the initial gathering point for inductees into the United States Army. The inductees are transported to Fort Sill, Oklahoma for Basic Training. Individuals that are welcome at the Center include all active military, retired military, veterans, and their families. Visitors to the Mili-tary Welcome Center can enjoy refreshments, use internet access, long distance phone service, and hi-definition sat-ellite TV.

Last month, the Welcome Center had 3,569 visitors, 1,720 were soldiers bound for Basic Training. The total

visitor for this fiscal year is 21,909.

Mike and I also had an opportunity to visit about NARFE. I actually had the latest NARFE magazine and NARFEOK newspaper in my purse. Mike is a retired Fed-eral employee. Mike took my picture as I was able to Thank Senator Tom Cole in writing for his support of the Federal Community.

If you would like to become a Volunteer at the YMCA military Welcome Center, contact Director Steven Lee at 405-680-9781.

CAROLYN HARRISOK 2nd Vice President

CAROLYN HARRISOK 2nd Vice President

National legislative update

YMCA Military Welcome Center

Carolyn Harris NARFEOK 2nd Vice President Thanking Senator Tom Cole for his Support of the Federal Community.

Frank Friedhoff and Mike Aston YMCA Military Wel-come Center Volunteers.


On Wednesday, September 6, Gov. Mary Fallin called a special session of the Legislature to con-vene on September 25. The State Supreme Court has changed some of the laws to make it easier to raise some taxes. This guidance will make it easier to comply with the new laws. They will have detailed instructions. This will make the passage of new laws much quicker.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling that upheld the automobile sales tax could give lawmakers an easier way to raise revenue. The court defined the difference between creating a new tax, which requires a supermajority vote, and modifying a tax exemption, which only needs a sim-ple majority to pass. Vehicle sales have historically been exempt from sales tax, but the Legislature removed part of the exemption in May.

U.S. Rep. Jim Bridenstine has been nominated to be the next administrator of NASA, The White House an-nounced recently. Bridenstine, a 42-year-old Tulsa Re-publican, had taken the unusual approach of making clear his interest in the job. Bridenstine’s nomination will now head to the Senate for confirmation. Florida’s senators voiced opposition to the appointment. It’s unclear wheth-er a special election will be held to replace Bridenstine.

Each year, Oklahomans get a chance to vote on state questions that make both minor and major changes in law. Already, there are three that could be put on the November 2018 ballot. One will decide whether to approve medical marijuana. A petition drive last year narrowly gathered

enough signatures to appear on the ballot, but organizers of the campaign finished too late to secure a 2016 vote.

Although the constitutionality of the revenue mea-sures has taken most of the public’s attention since the ses-sion ended in May, it’s still a Band-Aid on a wound that needs a tourniquet. Republican legislators have become so averse to raising revenue they’re creating more prob-lems than they’re solving. This year, most went through the session as though they were trying to hold their breath long enough that their mothers would give up and stop

trying to give them their medicine.

Twenty-eight years ago, amidst a crisis in the Oklaho-ma economy, parents, teachers, business leaders and oth-ers told Oklahoma legislators that to make Oklahoma’s fu-ture better they would need to make Oklahoma’s schools better. Education experts told legislators to make schools better it would take good teachers teaching children who are ready to learn in smaller classes with the latest text-books and technology.

Your teeth matter. That’s the message Dr. Jana Win-

free, the Oklahoma State Department of Health’s dental director, wants to spread. Poor oral health impacts social, mental and physical health and is associated with diabetes, depression, heart disease, stroke and other health prob-lems. And Oklahomans are struggling to gain access to consistent, affordable and available dental care.

By greenlighting a centerpiece of local criminal justice reform, elected Oklahoma City leaders have taken another step toward trimming the incarceration rate, bolstering di-version programs and reducing recidivism in Oklahoma County. On August 29, the city council approved its par-ticipation in an agreement between the county, Edmond and Midwest City to form the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Advisory Council, a collaborative body committed to implementing systemic changes that would cut the jail population and increase alternatives to incarceration.

Our state’s motto, “Labor Conquers All,” indicates the importance our state places on the worker and the realiza-tion that a successful workforce creates a prosperous state. Labor Commissioner Melissa Houston is tasked with pre-serving, protecting and promoting the welfare of the wage earner. Oklahoma’s workers are our state’s greatest asset, and each has the right to work in an environment that is fair, equitable, healthy and safe.

Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) joined several other GOP members of Congress in breaking with President Donald Trump over reports that he plans to end the De-ferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. In a statement released recently, Lankford said the U.S. “must confront the nation’s out-of-date” immigration sys-tem, but that children shouldn’t be held accountable for the actions of parents who immigrated to the U.S. illegal-ly.

The State Supreme Court has changed some of the laws to make it easier to raise some taxes.

JAMES CROWDEROK 3rd Vice President

State legislative report

September 1 through December 31, 2017 is the time frame for our annual National NARFE Member-ship Drive. The Federal Employ-ees Health Fairs held at designated locations each Fall, are an excellent vehicle to recruit and inform potential members of the two primary roles of NARFE. As the District II Vice-Pres-ident, I will ensure each chapter in the District receives a copy of the Health Fair Schedule for different Federal agencies. I anticipate receipt of the schedule by early Oc-tober 2017.

Potential members need to know NARFE serves as the legislative voice for the federal community on Capitol Hill and secondly, is an informational resource on federal benefits. As a member, you are able to greatly assist in the recruitment process and personally impact the growth of the organization. Potential members will need to know 4 essential things about NARFE: 1. What NARFE is, 2. What NARFE does, 3. Benefits of membership, 4. Why the person should join. It is important that you advise a potential member that NARFE is the only organization solely dedicated to protecting and preserving the pay and benefits of all federal workers and retirees.

The benefits of membership are numerous. The pro-spective member will receive the monthly NARFE Maga-zine and Quarterly OKLAHOMA NARFE NEWS pub-lication. Inform the individual of access to the NARFE

Federal Benefits Institute with webinars, resources, and benefit specialists to respond to specific questions. Also mention legislative alerts, member-only discounts, eligi-bility for disaster relief grants, and family members who may qualify for college scholarships.

Recruitment Tips and Tools are available on the NARFE website in “Officer Resources.” I will have bro-chures, magazines and additional recruitment materials at the Health Fairs. As a bonus, you earn $10 for every NEW member you recruit during the National Membership Drive. Don’t forget, the more members you recruit the more chances you have to win the Grand Prize, an Apple Watch. Please refer to page 2 of the Oklahoma NARFE News for the OKLAHOMA Federation Rewards Program for 2017 -2018.

NARFE 2017 membership driveRON VICKDistrict II Vice President


As editor of your quarterly

NARFE Newspaper, I am always looking for worthwhile articles to include in the publication. This quarter it became apparent that arti-cles from our members were going

to be very scarce. I had to go beyond our own members to find content that was relevant in order to have enough to satisfy our requirements for the publisher. I have never had too many articles. I would hate to think we will have to discontinue this newspaper for lack of content. The publisher requires a certain amount of content to balance the number of ads necessary to support the publishing of the paper. We have nearly 3000 recipients of the NARFE NEWS. Surely many of you can agree to write an article.

You may think that unless you are an officer in a chap-ter or the federation, you have no reason to contribute to the newspaper. Of course, we all want to hear from those who work in our chapters and federation. But this is a publication for ALL members in Oklahoma and I want you to feel free to contribute.

As I attend my local chapter meeting, and have had the pleasure to visit other chapters, I hear members vis-it with one another about issues that affect all of us in NARFE. Some have praise for the work of NARFE and the workers who help to make those things happen. Some have concerns about our organization and speak of ways to improve the way it works. Others speak about concerns

in the work place or issues that affect the retiree. All of us have concerns about how congress is going to treat us in their next session. You may have an opposing view to some matter that has been raised.

It would be so helpful to all NARFE members if you would express those same opinions in an article to this newspaper. Members sharing with other members help get everyone on board with the issues that we all face, and the issues that NARFE addresses. Sitting back and saying nothing results in nothing being gained.

I would like to start a section in the newspaper called Members’ Forum. This would be a place to just talk about NARFE as if you were talking to the NARFE friend next to you at your meeting. Perhaps you were impressed by the information presented by the speaker you just heard. Tell us all about it! Perhaps you read an article recently, or saw something on TV that made an impression on you. What are your thoughts about the hurricane disasters and how the response to it was handled. Maybe you have ex-perienced a similar disaster first hand.

You may say, “I am not a good writer. I don’t think I can write this down.” If you will put your ideas in an email to me, I will clean up sentence structure and punc-tuation. That is my job as editor…it is not my job to write the entire paper! I need and want your ideas to share with others.

Of course, a few simple common-sense rules must ap-ply. I cannot publish inflammatory comments about any individual or entity. Your comments must remain non-partisan. If there is any doubt about the content of your article being appropriate, I will let you know. Randy Free-

land and I will make those determinations. Just be polite in presenting your views.

Thank you for helping me with this project. The deadline for the next issue is always printed in the current issue and on the homepage of our website www.narfeok.org. You may send your articles to me by email as a Word attachment, or just write in the body of the email to [email protected]. I can receive your ar-ticles at any time during the quarter. You don’t have to wait until the last minute. I begin compiling the articles as soon as I receive the first one. I will acknowledge receipt of your article so you know I got it.

Through its partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association, NARFE supports research into the cause, prevention and treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and other de-mentias — and, eventually, a cure. There is still so much to do, but with continued NARFE support for Alzheimer’s research, we hope to see an end to this disease. Your continued support is needed and appreciated.

Since 1985 and as of July 31, 2017, the NARFE fund-raising total is $12,380,781.21. During the month of July, 2017, NARFE members raised a total of $24,994.68. The Oklahoma Federation has raised $3340.07 since Jan. 1, 2017.

The Alzheimer’s Association International Confer-ence 2017 was held in London, England, July 16-20, and is the largest international meeting dedicated to advancing dementia science. Featured were more than 90 sessions and 475 presentations. More than 70 countries were repre-sented to discuss the latest dementia research and studies. The AA has provided a webpage listing 21 links to news coverage of the Conference. The internet URL (address) is long, so here is the easy way to find the AA webpage on the internet. Search for “Media Coverage AAIC 2017” then on the list of links that appear, click on “AAIC 2017-Alzheimer’s Association”. You can then select a link for each of the 21 news reports. The applicable news organization is also listed. A few news reports may be du-plicates.

The NBC news coverage of one topic caught our at-tention since my husband and I use CPAP (Continued Positive Air Pressure) machines every night and I suspect

many of you may also. I am providing the article here in its entirety:

NANCY STANPHILLOK Federation Editor

I need your help!

Alzheimer’s reportBETTY LOWREYAlzheimer’s Coordinator


The Washington Post, July 18, 2017By Tara Bahrampour, Health and Science Reporter

Getting a solid night’s sleep is crucial not only for feeling good the next day — there is increasing evidence that it may also protect against dementia, according to new research presented Tuesday at the Alzheimer’s Asso-ciation International Conference in London.

Three studies by researchers at Wheaton College in Illinois found significant connections between breathing disorders that interrupt sleep and the accumulation of bio-markers for Alzheimer’s disease. Treating the problems with dental appliances or CPAP machines that force air into airways could help lower the risk of dementia or slow its progress, the researchers said.

People with sleep-disordered breathing experience re-peated episodes of hypopnea (under-breathing) and apnea (not breathing) during sleep. The most common form, ob-structive sleep apnea, occurs in around 3 in 10 men and 1 in 5 women, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

It occurs when the upper airway closes fully or par-tially while efforts to breathe continue, and it can wake a person 50 or 60 times a night, interrupting the stages of sleep necessary for a restful night. It often starts in middle age, before clinical signs of Alzheimer’s tend to appear.

In one study of 516 cognitively normal adults 71 to 78 years old, those with sleep-disordered breathing had greater increases in beta-amyloid deposits — one of the biomarkers — over a three-year period. This was true re-gardless of whether they had the APOE-e4 gene consid-

ered a risk factor for Alzheimer’s.

A second study found that obstructive sleep apnea was associated with increases in amyloid buildup in older people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and a third found such an association in both normal and MCI sub-jects.

While correlation between sleep apnea and dementia has been documented in the past, these are among the first longitudinal studies to look at the relationship between sleep disruption and the biomarkers commonly associated with Alzheimer’s disease, said Megan Hogan, one of the Wheaton researchers.

Noting that past research has found that the brain clears up deposits of amyloid plaque during sleep, Hogan hypothesized that apnea may impede this process.

“During sleep, your brain has time to wash away all the toxins that have built up throughout the day. Continu-ally interrupting sleep may give it less time to do that,” she said.

It may be in the deepest stages of sleep that the clear-ing-up takes place, said Ronald C. Petersen, director of the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging. “If you’re only making it to Stage 1 or Stage 2, and then you start choking or snor-ing or whatever, and you wake yourself up and you do it again and again. You may not even be aware of it, but you may be accumulating this bad amyloid in the brain rather than clearing it,” he said.

In recent research, people repeatedly jolted awake

during the night showed immediate increases in amyloid buildup, Petersen said. And if the sleep disruption con-tinued for a couple of weeks, subjects showed increases in the tau protein tangles that also are associated with Al-zheimer’s.

Repeated deprivation of oxygen to the brain that oc-curs during apnea also may contribute to amyloid buildup, as oxygen regulates an enzyme that plays a role in creating amyloid, Hogan said.

It is not yet clear whether the relationship between apnea and dementia is causative — “whether people with very early levels of brain disease are having trouble sleep-ing, or whether people having trouble sleeping are more likely to develop brain disease,” said Keith N. Fargo, di-rector of scientific programs and outreach at the Alzheim-er’s Association. He noted that animal studies have sug-gested it could go both ways.

“Ultimately it doesn’t matter what the direction is for this to have an effect on your life,” he said. “If you’re wak-ing up your partner multiple times a night or you’re tired all day, then you really, really need to go get checked by your doctor, because it could be a sign of something seri-ous. Or if it’s not, just treating the apnea could help with your day-to-day cognition.”

“A next step in confirming that sleep disruption causes amyloid buildup could be to conduct an intervention with CPAP machines and see if their use reduces the incidence of amyloid buildup,” Hogan and Fargo said.

September 3, 2017 The Coastal Sussex Chapter 1690 of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association presented $5,000 in donations to the local Sussex County branch of the Alzheimer’s Association Del-aware Valley Chapter.

The funds were raised from the NARFE chapter’s annual charity golf tournament to benefit Alzheimer’s, held May 19 at Salt Pond Golf Club in Bethany Beach. Funds were also raised at a live auction of local golf course foursomes.

The contribution is in two parts. A to-tal of $3,160 was donated to Alzheimer’s research, a national fundraising project of NARFE. The chapter also donated $1,840 to the Sussex County branch of the Al-zheimer’s Association to support local efforts to assist families dealing with Al-zheimer’s disease.

Jamie Magee, Sussex County coordi-nator of the Alzheimer’s Association Dela-ware Valley Chapter, thanked the Sussex NARFE Chapter and the participating golf-ers for their commitment to Alzheimer’s. She said, “The Coastal Sussex Chapter of NARFE has for many years provided finan-cial and volunteer support, including rais-ing funds both for Alzheimer’s research and for helping our chapter provide services to families facing the epidemic of Alzheim-er’s here in Sussex County. We are grateful for the NARFE chapter’s many efforts on our behalf.”NARFE Chapter 1690 President Carol We-ber said, “All of us know someone affected by Alzheimer’s, and we are committed as a chapter to helping raise funds to defeat the disease. We thank the many local busi-nesses and individuals who supported this tournament and this important cause to al-low us make this significant contribution.”

Interrupted sleep may lead to Alzheimer’s, new studies show

Federal Retirees Donate $5,000 to Alzheimer’s AssociationA Delaware Chapter’s Fundraiser for Alzheimer’s Research

Shown are (L to R) NARFE Coastal Sussex Chapter 1690 President Carol Weber, golf tournament committee member Ron Weber and Alzheimer’s Association Sussex County Coordinator Jamie Magee.


The Chapter 730 monthly meeting location recently changed, due to unforeseen circumstances, to The Shack Restaurant, 509 W. Main St., Hen-ryetta, Oklahoma. The meeting time will remain the same at 11:00 a.m. The agenda and guest speakers for the remainder of 2017 are as follows:

• September 14th, Jeff Underwood, Field Staff Representative for US Sena-tor James Lankford• October12th, Karen Barngrover with Blue Cross and Blue Shield• November 9th, Donna Summers, with Life Alert• December 14th, Christmas Celebration and installation of Chapter officers

Visitors and prospective members are welcome to attend these meetings.

I am looking forward to working with all the Chapters in updating the Federation History Books, with your help. As you gather your clippings and pictures of your Chapter, please remember to send copies to the Federation Historian, JoAnn Dungan, to be placed in the official Federation History Book. I would like to have individual pictures of all your Chapter’s elected and appointed officers to start with. These will be placed in the current Federation History Book.

In addition, please send photos, write-ups and clip-pings of all significant events, awards, etc. Please annotate the names of the people for all the photos. This informa-tion will be typed and placed with the pictures or events, for your Chapter, and will be retained as the permanent NARFE Historical record. These History books will be maintained indefinitely and will eventually be stored at the Oklahoma History Center, which is a temperature con-trolled environment. These Books can be viewed at the History Center as deemed necessary. However, nothing can be taken out of the books except to make copies of a page at the History center and then be returned to the original book. These become the only official NARFE Historical record books.

We want everyone to be recognized as part of this his-tory. (You can mail your photos, etc. COD if you wish).

JoAnn’s contact information is as follows:JoAnn Dungan728 Crescent CircleMidwest City, 0K 73110-1234

mail: [email protected] • phone: 405-732-2615

Thanks, for your assistance to have a great NARFE Historical record book.

(Editor’s Note: Thanks, Jo Ann, for agreeing to be our Historian. We really appreciate those who are willing to serve our organization.)

JO ANN DUGNANFederation Historian

New Historian to update federation history books

The topic of discussion at the July 19 Shawnee Chapter 542 meet-ing was Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin’s pilot program on veterans’ health care. All people interested in this program were welcome at the meeting and several non-NARFE members attended.

This program is a private/public initiative to develop a comprehensive health care access system for the state’s veterans and is an effort to provide the highest quality

of care to veterans and their dependents. It is open to all Oklahoma veterans, regardless of whether they served in peace time or combat.

The program is being conducted by the “Force 50 Brigade”, a team of 50 recognized business and financial leaders, sports figures and entertainers supporting Okla-homa veterans through public awareness activities and promotional outreach events.

Objectives are to 1) identify gaps in service; 2) im-prove timely access to healthcare services; 3) recommend a system of transitional care for veterans and dependents; 4) improve coordination of healthcare needs; and 5) de-velop a communication and educational process acces-

sible to all Oklahoma veterans and dependents.

The system will cover healthcare services in mental health, home health, nursing care, rehabilitative services, and coordinated access to physician services, laboratory services, pharmacy, and tele-health capability.

This pilot program is currently in the initial data-col-lection stage and the public is being asked to complete a survey available online at: http://www.okvetshealth.com. The survey will be followed by a 3-month period of inter-views, a 6-week statewide veteran’s survey and a 3-month period of analysis and development of recommendations. You can visit the web site for additional information.

Ruth Mae Hughes was 97 years old when she passed away on June 30, 2017 in Enid, Oklahoma. She was born on August 28, 1919 in Texas.

Ruth worked at Vance Air Force Base in Enid and retired in 1980. She immediately joined the NARFE chapter in Enid and became very active. She attended many NARFE state conventions with Ellen Rathjen, even before

Ellen became president. Ruth was our Sun-shine Chairman for over 20 years, sending out get well cards, birthday, anniversary and other cards as needed. She did a lovely job.

Ruth had many good ideas and sugges-tions that were useful to our chapter. She was always warm, friendly, and helpful wherever she was needed. For 37 years, Ruth was a member of NARFE. She was a lovely lady and will be missed. Her daughter lived with her and cared for her for many years as her health declined.

LINDA AGEEVice President, Chapter 542

DIANE LASKYVice President, Chapter 369

Chapter 542 discusses Veteran Health issues

Chapter 369 remembers Ruth Hughes

Chapter 730 changes meeting location


There is more good news from Statewide Chapter 2351 this quar-ter. Last quarter we welcomed Lau-ri Goff to the officers’ list of Chap-ter 2351 to serve as Vice-President. This quarter we have two new members from the Veterans Administration clinic in Tulsa.

At least once a year, I go to the VA clinic for my an-nual check-up and always tell the employees I see that they should belong to NARFE. For several years I have tried to get the RN and MD that I see to join, and they al-ways have said, “Well, maybe someday.” In July when I went in for my annual visit, the RN told me she would be

retiring within a year. At this point I produced the latest NARFE Magazine and asked her to re-consider joining NARFE.

From her office, I was moved to the MD’s office for my annual check-up. Here too, I asked the doctor if she had joined NARFE. When the answer was “No,” I gave her the latest copy of the NARFE Magazine and encour-aged her to join. When she completed checking me and telling me that I looked healthy enough to live another year, I walked past the RN as I was leaving. She handed me her application and check to join NARFE.

A couple of weeks later I got my recruiting bonus check from the NARFE National office which included the bonus for my nurse’s membership AND for my doc-tor’s membership. She had sent in her membership ap-plication a few days earlier.

Now for the bad news. I forgot to tell them that as an active Federal Employee joining an Oklahoma NARFE chapter, they would receive a $20 Reward check from the Oklahoma Federation. This joining bonus is not automat-ic for them. I should have sent their applications to John-ny Hanlon, Federation Treasurer, so he could process their rewards, and then send their applications on to National. I have provided their names and addresses to Johnny, so they should have their $20 checks by the time they get this newspaper.

So, never give up! Keep telling Federal Employees the benefits NARFE provides all Federal employees and retirees. And by them joining NARFE, they help spread the word to others. Too many eligible members have nev-er heard of NARFE.

We welcome our newest members of NARFE to Chapter 2351!

Alzheimer Association NW OK Regional officer, Paula Hucka-baa met with chapter 369 in July to invite us to participate in the “2017 Walk to End Alzheimer” to be held in downtown Enid on August 4th. Although we could not form a team, Enid chapter joined the Walk on the court house lawn to lend support to the rally and to visit the information booths providing Alzheimer’s materials. The rally was well attended by the community, and over $48,000 was raised by the ten teams who walked or ran the one-mile course.

Chapter 369 was represented by President, Darrell Phillips who was greeted by Paula Huckabaa in front of a sponsor’s banner including the NARFE logo.

CHARLES STANPHILLPresident, Chapter 2351

DARREN PHILLIPSPresident, Chapter 369

Good news from Chapter 2351

Chapter 369 met with Alzheimer’s regional officer

The Sponsor’s Banner includes NARFE. Corporate and Senior Groups are frequent sponsors of this event held in various places around our state. Paula Huckabaa and Darrell Phillips at the Walk to End Alzheimer’s.


Ray demonstrated the Chen Tai Chi movements. Yang Tai Chi is another popular form of the exercise.

Master Ray Hildreth speaks to Chapter 2184 about the art of Tai Chi.

The speaker for Chapter 2184 in September was Ray Hildreth. Ray is a longtime member of 2184, and a retired letter carrier. He is a local business owner who operates Ray Hildreth’s Academy of Kung

Fu for adults and children, plus they also specialize in Tai Chi for balance. He spoke to this subject. Master Hil-dreth, with over 48 years of martial arts experience, has an extensive background in Kenpo Karate, Choy Li Fut Kung Fu, San Shou (Chinese Kickboxing) and select rou-tines of the Chen, Yang and Wu Hao Tai Chi systems.

Ray is also the author of Hill 488 (a battle in Viet-nam). Because of this battle, the platoon he was in re-ceived 1 Medal of Honor, 4 Navy Crosses, 13 Silver Stars

and 18 Purple hearts. Ray received the Silver Star and Purple Heart. Not only does he have a book out, but is working on a screen play for a movie about the battle. If someone goes by his store or calls, they can get an auto-graphed copy.

We found Ray’s program about Tai Chi to be an in-teresting introduction to this form of exercise which has its roots related to the ancient form of the Martial Art of Kung Fu. Tai Chi means Grand Ultimate Exercise and there are many health benefits to its practice, especially that of balance. Chen Tai Chi is the most traditional form practiced. Yang style of Tai Chi is another popular form. Ray demonstrated each form. Each form has controlled movements which build coordination, flexibility, strength, and balance.

Probably the most practiced program of Tai Chi is the 24 -step routine. The student would learn each movement and connect it to the next through fluid and graceful mo-

tions. The high level of control is where the benefit is gained. A shorter program of 8 steps allows the practitio-ner to benefit from its movements in a shorter period of time.

Ray pointed out that he has had several surgeries, in-cluding knees, elbows, and shoulders. He has been able to recover fully and more quickly from each of these surger-ies by practicing Tai Chi. The movements are less likely to reinjure the point of surgery than other more traditional forms of exercise, yet still provide for rehabilitation of the joint. Strong muscles around the joint always provide a protection from further damage.

Ray’s studio near 31st and Memorial in Tulsa teaches classes to adults and children, but he also holds classes in other venues. He will have a class starting in October at the St. Francis Health Zone.

NANCY STANPHILLChapter 2184 Member

Tulsa Day-Lite hosts Tai Chi demo


NARFE Lawton Great Plains 167 has been going strong all summer, except for the month of July, when there is no meeting scheduled. Many of us are out in the community volunteering with various activities, including Rosemary and Becky Skinner who worked the 4th of July concert at Fort Sill.

At our June meeting, we heard from Mr. Marty Con-way, Consultant for Global Health. He stated Global Health is an Oklahoma Policy and does not extend beyond this area. The patient will need a physician referral for the first appointment with a specialist, but thereafter you may schedule your own visits to see the specialist. If you are

out of Network, the company will do balance billing if you owe anything. Medicare works the same with “Global Health” as any other insurance company. For more infor-mation go to www. Global Health, and also see a list of providers. Southwest Medical Center in Lawton is a pro-vider; Comanche County Memorial Hospital is not.

Paula Huckabaa, from the Alzheimer’s Association, joined us for our meeting on August 14th. Sixty-three thousand Oklahomans have Alzheimer’s Disease. Al-zheimer’s Disease is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States. Every 66 seconds someone in the US de-velops Alzheimer’s Disease and it kills more than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. The 2017 Walk to End Alzheimer’s in Southwest Oklahoma was scheduled August 26, at 7:30AM at Elmer Thomas Park. Pat Cam-eron from our chapter walked the event. Paula thanked NARFE for their contributions to the Alzheimer’s Asso-ciation. According to local news more than $70,000 was (See Lawton, page 13)

OCTOBER 4TH MEETING:

Tulsa Day-Lite 2184 will meet October 4th at the Martin East Li-brary, East 26th St. and Garnett Road, 10:30 AM. Our speaker will be Kerin Barngrover with Blue Cross and Blue Shield. Kerin will be presenting a program regarding our Federal health insurance for 2018. This is an important meeting of

interest to all and not to be missed. The annual luncheon has normally been held on this date for several years, but this year it was decided to have Kerin at the library. It is sometimes hard to hear the program at the restaurant. There is a public-address system at the library and the room is larger. Kerin would also prefer it be held at this location. We would like to invite Chapter 278 and 2333 and any other Federal Employees/Retirees to join us for this meeting.

NOVEMBER 1ST MEETING:

The November 1st meeting will be our annual lun-

cheon at the Golden Corral, 71st and Mingo. There will be a sign- up sheet at our October meeting. Or, you may call me at 918-492-2317. We do not have a speaker sched-uled at this time, but will have our normal business meet-ing, socializing and lunch. Members of 2184 will dine free. Guests will be $10.00. When arriving at the res-taurant, go through the line and pick up your drink. Tell them you are with the NARFE group and do not pay. The meeting room is to the right as you enter the restaurant. Our Treasurer will pay the bill in total including gratuity. Guests will pay Opal Hesler $10.00 when they check in.

Northwest Oklahoma City Chapter 1722 welcomed Oklahoma House Representative, Cyndi Munson to the June, 2017 Chapter Meet-ing. She represents House District 85 in Okla-homa City. Rep. Munson reviewed the issues facing the 2017 legislature and identified obstacles to adequate fund-ing of many state programs. She also stressed the need for bipartisan-ship in order to address major needs. She outlined a few of her efforts to achieve common ground. Ms. Munson has visited our Chapter at least once each year since she first ran for office in 2014. She is a dynamic and informative speaker who listened to our concerns as well as stating her own opinions clearly.

Programs for the rest of this year are: September, GEHA Den-tal and Vision Plans; October, BCBS Health Plans; November, Mary Pinzon, Integris Health Educator, Stroke Recognition.

All NARFE members are invited to attend our meetings held on the third Tuesday of the month at 11:00 AM at the Golden Corral, 5702 N.W. Expressway, Oklahoma City, OK.

Tulsa Day-Lite announces meeting schedule

Lawton chapter participated in Alzheimer’s program

Chapter 1722 hosted Rep. Munson

RUBIE HOKANSONLuncheon Chair, Chapter 2184

LINDA RESNICKProgram Chair, Chapter 1722

Oklahoma House Representative Cyndi Munson spoke to Chapter 1722 in June.

Marty Conway of Global Health Insurance.

JACQUETTA CHANEYPresident, Chapter 167


Chapter 278 wants to thank Teri Melton with Cov-enant Place of Tulsa, for speaking to our group in Sep-tember. Covenant Place of Tulsa is Bixby and South Tulsa’s newest Retirement Community, and is located at 121st Street and South Memorial.

We hope to have Kerin Barngrover with BCBS to

speak in October. Tracey Warren with Tulsa Co. Library is slated to speak in November. If you are interested in informa-tion about a specific Health In-surance, Joe Vazzo and I will pick up information at the BCBS luncheon in October, for the year 2018, and have it at November’s

meeting. Just let us know which insurance you are most

interested in.

We are now making plans for the December lun-cheon. If you have a favorite place you want us to con-sider, please bring a menu from that restaurant to the October meeting.

Jane Connell tells us that we may have a Speaker from the V.A. for January.

God Bless, Keep Well, and thank you for being a member of NARFE Chapter 278.

Lawton(Continued from page 12)

raised at the walk.

Our next meeting is September 11th at Brookridge Retirement Community at 11 AM. We will be having our second Bingo fundraiser. On September 21st, we will set up a booth for Fort Sill’s 39th Retiree Open House. We

hope to get new NARFE members.

(Editor’s Note: As this issue goes to press, the Walk to End Alzheimer’s event was scheduled to take place in Tulsa on September 23rd.)

Paula Huckabaa spoke to Chapter 167 about Alzheimer’s at a recent meeting.

Pat Cameron participated in the Alzheimer’s walk on August 26th.

JEAN MCBRIDE-SAMUELSPresident, Chapter 278

What’s happening in Chapter 278


In the summer of 1936, I was a small child of four. It was a long, hot, miserable summer. What the drought and dust storms had not killed, the swarms of grasshoppers finished off. I was born in a small house to share-cropper parents, in an area called Shaw Hand Flats, in what is now the Pryor Industrial Complex (Mid-America Industrial Park). My sister was born in May of that year. I imagine we were fairly poor, but I

don’t remember ever being hungry. There were always chickens to eat and my Dad hunted and fished. Rabbits, squirrels, ducks, raccoons, etc. all tasted wonderful. In other years, there was a large garden and we canned all summer.

Like a lot of other Oakies, that summer our family and other relatives, decided to head for California in search of work. In my memory, we looked exactly like the Joads in ‘Grapes of Wrath’. We owned an old, small pickup and Mother, Dad, my baby sister and I rode up front. My aunt, uncle and their baby and small child were in the back of the truck. To the best of my four-year old memory, there were four or five carloads of us. We all had canvas bags of water on the front of our vehicles, partially to cool the

radiator and also for water to drink.

One day I was riding in the back seat of an aunt and uncle’s car with my cousins and we were playing with our toys (cereal box cutouts) when one of the wheels on our car came off and went flying past us down the road. Quite a shock and we all fell to one corner laughing.

I remember seeing Indians that lived in cave dwell-ings on the side of mountains. Of course, we wondered if they would harm us. To this day, I do not know if this was in New Mexico or Arizona. There were also stands of colorful blankets and baskets for sale by the roadside.

At night, we slept by the side of Route 66 on the few (See Memories, page 15)

It appears that more and more NARFE members are choosing to abandon chapter membership as they renew their NARFE member-ship. While this is understandable in some cases, let me review the

number of reasons why chapter membership is beneficial, and especially one, which you might not have thought about.

Many claim they are not interested in chapter mem-bership since they do not attend chapter meetings. Their reasons might be due to health restrictions, lack of time, or disinterest in the chapter concept. These are valid rea-sons. But have you really considered the value that chap-ters bring to NARFE?

Chapter meetings give those of similar interests an opportunity to visit and share about common values. Be-ing a federal employee is a unique place in life, and in retirement, it brings even more unique ideals. We are a large family who enjoys sharing with one another.

The chapter meeting provides a place to bring in ex-perts in fields of interest to us. How many times have you

had questions about your health insurance as open season comes around? Most chapters meet with field represen-tatives from the companies who provide that insurance. Chapters often have the opportunity to meet with legisla-tive leaders in state and federal positions. The list goes on and on about the areas of interest that programs can cover in a chapter meeting.

Then, let’s consider the value of the leaders in our chapters. They provide an immediate source of help and support to one another. Have you ever had a question or a need that the chapter Service Officer can help with? You are never alone when dealing with the red tape of OPM or Social Security. The Service Officer is there to lend a hand. Other leaders in the chapter keep you abreast of legislative issues which affect your benefits and annuity. They can act in your behalf to get messages to congress of common concerns.

And what about growing our organization? The larg-er we are, the stronger we become. It is often the chap-ter members and officers who are the most vigorous in recruiting new members for NARFE. Chapter members see the real value in the efforts of this organization which is the strongest advocate for the protection of federal employee and retiree benefits. No other organization is 100% interested in our unique situation.

Here is one of the most important reasons to remain

a chapter member. Our state Federation is our local link to the broader organization of NARFE. The officers in our Federation work tirelessly, often behind the scenes, to uphold and protect the values we cherish as federal em-ployees and retirees. They work for us to take our mes-sages to the national level, so that national can go directly to congress. These leaders in the Federation often come from the leaders in our chapters. They are not paid for the work they do. But the work they do is not cheap! It takes money to support their efforts. And where does part of this money come from? It comes from the per capita dues which chapters pay for each member of their chap-ter. As chapters shrink in size, so does the income from the per capita dues which the Federation uses for its mis-sion. Chapter dues are very minimal to the member (often only $5 to $15 per year…at least one Oklahoma chapter charges $0), but the collective effect of these dues to the Federation is great. When the Federation can no longer support itself, it will cease to be. And with it, our local representation to the national organization of NARFE goes away too!

We are pleased to have every NARFE member in our organization…even National-Only Members. But, con-sider remaining a chapter member when you renew your dues, and encourage others to become chapter members.


Why chapter membership?

Members' Forum

Memories of the summer of ‘36RUBIE HOKANSONLuncheon Chair, Chapter 2184


Memories(Continued from page 14)

blankets we had brought. Yes, we were afraid at night. One of my aunts would hide the few dollars they had, twisted up in her hair while we slept. One night we heard some rustling in the brush and you wouldn’t believe how fast we were in our cars and on our way.

For meals, we cooked fried potatoes over a fire of sticks and brush. I can still smell the mesquite bushes when the night air would come.

When we arrived in California, we all stayed with an aunt in a small house. I don’t remember how we managed that. I remember vividly a fig bush in the back yard and to this day, fresh figs are a huge delicacy for me. There were Mexican children next door and they had a blue and white

enamel pan that was a most fascinating and coveted toy. My cousin and I (he was about two years older) decided to swipe the pan and we kept it for a couple of days before the guilt became so heavy, we had to return it - of course when they were not looking. Soon the men got jobs working on building a road over the Tehachapi Mountain. We lived close by in an old, large abandoned bus that was totally gutted inside. We cooked our meals outside and at night we slept in a row on the floor of the bus. During the day, my cousins and I played games and dug through an old junk pile, finding a partial box of discarded cereal, which we ate and actually lived to tell about it.

I do not believe we stayed in California more than six to eight weeks before everyone was so homesick and decided to head back to Oklahoma. I’m sure we didn’t get rich, but imagine every cent possible was saved. When we arrived home, we had to find a place to live as my Dad had sublet the small farm for a year.

Some of the recent, hot, dry summers have brought back memories of 1936 and I think as we age, our thoughts wander back to younger days and there are so many ques-tions we would like to ask and we are likely the only ones left that remember. So many questions left unanswered.

President Donald Trump is authorizing a pay raise to federal civilian employees and uniformed service mem-bers effective Jan. 1, 2018.

Most civilian federal employees will receive an av-erage raise of 1.4 percent, with an additional 0.5 percent adjusted in locality pay for a total of a 1.9 percent.

“I have determined that for 2018, across-the-board pay increases will be 1.4 percent and locality pay increas-es will average 0.5 percent, resulting in an overall average increase of 1.9 percent for civilian federal employees,” Trump wrote in a letter to congressional leaders. “I will specify locality pay percentages for each locality pay area by executive order before the first pay period in January 2018. These decisions will not materially affect our abili-ty to attract and retain a well-qualified federal workforce.”Members of the military will receive an average raise of 2.1 percent starting in 2018.

These numbers were less than many advocate groups

were hoping for, but in these times of economic insecurity, any raise is welcomed. The hurricane and flood disasters recently experienced by citizens in Texas, Louisiana, Flor-ida, and beyond, have vividly shown how valuable federal employees are during these kinds of emergencies. Federal weather forecasters predicted very accurately the scope of the potential problems even before Harvey and Irma made landfall. This information probably saved many count-less lives. People had the opportunity to prepare for, or leave, dangerous conditions. The actual devastation was far greater and dangerous than one could imagine, but emergency responders were quick to act and methodically covered areas to help those in need. Shelters, water and food were supplied to the area quickly. Government relief funds and other help will remain in the areas for the next several months and years as citizens work to rebuild their homes, businesses, and lives.

Since 9/11 there have been a number of disasters, nat-ural and otherwise, which have resulted in more and more government employees working 24/7 to protect our nation and its citizens. It appears that even the news media, who are known for being critical, reported most often that state and Federal employees did a super job of responding to

the great needs resulting from the recent hurricane disas-ters. Many thanks to these faithful and selfless workers.On August 31st in response to the Administration’s pro-posed federal pay increase for 2018, NARFE President Richard G. Thissen said the following:

“NARFE applauds the Administration’s proposed federal pay raise, which allows pay for our nation’s pub-lic servants to keep pace with private-sector wage growth. The 1.9 percent average pay increase in 2018 would be in line with long-standing statutory policy, which directs federal pay to increase at the rate of the Employment Cost Index for private-sector wages and salaries, minus 0.5 per-cent.

“While federal employees will appreciate the raise, an average increase of 1.9 percent is the minimum re-quired to prevent federal pay from declining further, and more rapidly, below market than the current 35 percent wage disparity between public- and private-sector wages. Both Congress and the President should work together to pursue a more robust pay increase to maintain the highly qualified workforce needed to run an efficient federal gov-ernment.”

There is a very good website that provides news that is targeted to federal employees and retirees. It is feder-alnewsradio.com. This is the website of a radio station in Washington, DC (WFED). You can click on the “Listen Live” button and stream their broadcasts. Federal News Radio keeps archives of their most popular programs so

that one can listen to previous broadcasts. There are a couple of programs which I enjoy lis-tening to every week. One of them is “Your Turn with Mike Causey” which is broadcast every Wednesday at 905 AM Central Time. The host, Mike Causey, is a NARFE member who interviews guests who are knowledgeable on news that concern the federal community. One of his best and most frequent guests on the program is Jessica Klement, NARFE Legislative Director. When Congress is in session, the program often concludes with a legislative update from WFED correspondent, Nicole Ogrysko.

Another program which I enjoy following every week is “For Your Benefit” which is broadcast every Monday at 905 AM Central Time. The host, Bob Leins, interviews guests who are experts in federal benefits and personal finance. The program is a paid program of the National Institute of Transition Planning (NITP). The founder of NITP, Tammy Flanagan, is a weekly columnist for govex-ec.com and is a frequent guest. During each Open Season, the program will dedicate a series of weekly interviews with a representative of the largest FEHB carriers.


AL HONGChapter 2184 Member

Federal employees to receive a pay raise

Federal News Radio podcasts

End of Members' Forum


Reprinted from NARFE website07/31/2017

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advo-cacy (OIEA) and Broker-Dealer Task Force are warning the more than 5 million Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) par-ticipants, and investors in other federal government em-ployee retirement plans, that investment scam artists may pretend to be affiliated with a government agency. Federal government agencies, including the SEC, do not endorse or sponsor any particular securities, issuers, products, services, professional credentials, firms, or individuals.

If someone offers you an investment opportunity and claims any affiliation with the federal government, follow these tips:

Do not trust any contact information or a website pro-vided by someone contacting you with an investment idea when that person claims to be affiliated with the govern-ment, the TSP, or government retirement plans.

According to the agency that administers the TSP, the TSP will never contact you by email, telephone, or mail

asking you to provide sensitive personal information such as your account number, Social Security number, pass-word, or PIN.

You can confirm that a seller is not affiliated with a government agency by contacting the agency directly or calling the SEC’s toll-free investor assistance line at (800) 732-0330.

Always be cautious about providing personal infor-mation to anyone you do not personally know. The SEC recently brought an enforcement action against Federal Employee Benefit Counselors (FEBC), a self-described “national consulting group dedicated to educating federal employees,” whose “mission” was purportedly “to help” federal employees “optimize” their benefits. The SEC’s complaint alleges that FEBC and certain of its employees fraudulently induced federal employees to roll over funds from their TSP accounts into privately issued variable annuities. The SEC alleges that the defendants created the false impression that they were in some way affiliated with, or approved by, the federal government and deceived investors about the fees associated with, and the relative attractiveness of, the privately issued annuities. The SEC

alleges the defendants obtained personal information from the employees and then sent them reports that mislead-ingly described the recommended investment option. The defendants allegedly failed to disclose that this “option” involved investing with a third party that had no govern-ment affiliation.

In general, fraudsters may try to deceive investors by using the word “federal” or “government” in the name of their company, copying or imitating government emblems or seals, creating fake correspondence that looks like it is from a government agency, or sending email messages that link to an actual government website. The TSP is a retirement savings plan administered by the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, an in-dependent government agency. The TSP will not contact federal employees about investment opportunities and does not authorize third parties to provide counseling or investment-related services to anyone.

Reprinted from NARFE website08/29/2017

In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, which left un-precedented flooding and damage in Texas and Louisiana, National Active and Retired Federal Employee Associa-tion (NARFE) disaster funds are bringing the federal com-munity together to support those in need of disaster assis-tance.

NARFE partners with the Federal Employee Educa-tion and Assistance Fund (FEEA) to provide emergency grants and loans to federal employees and NARFE mem-bers affected by a declared national disaster through the NARFE-FEEA Disaster Fund. The fund is supported by tax-deductible donations from NARFE members and friends of NARFE and is administered by FEEA.

“I am proud of the NARFE members who have do-nated more than $458,000 in aid to NARFE members who have been affected by natural disasters. I am once again asking them to lend a helping hand if they are able. If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to support

federal employees and NARFE members affected by Hur-ricane Harvey, please visit www.narfe.org/disasterfund,” commented NARFE National President Richard Thissen.

If you are in need of support, NARFE disaster funds in the form of cash grants ($500 maximum per grant per household) are available to all NARFE members in good standing who have been injured, incurred property dam-age or have other needs during and after a declared natu-ral disaster. NARFE contributions are kept separate from FEEA’s own emergency assistance fund and are disbursed to NARFE members whose applications are approved.

“The devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey in com-munities across Texas and Louisiana is heartbreaking, and our thoughts go out to all those affected. NARFE thanks our nation’s federal employees for their exceptional ef-forts to predict the storm’s path and intensity, save lives, care for those in trouble and help rebuild these communi-ties in the coming weeks and months. Employees from several federal agencies have been placed in Texas and Louisiana to respond to the disaster. They include federal meteorologists, transportation experts, emergency man-

agement specialists and countless others who are working around the clock to keep Americans safe and restore liv-ability to the affected areas. These are important jobs, and our federal employees are performing them admirably,” continued Thissen.

NARFE’s involvement with FEEA began following the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Fed-eral Building in Oklahoma City. NARFE chapters, fed-erations and individual members donated $100,000 to the FEEA’s Oklahoma City Fund. NARFE’s Oklahoma City donation helped fund full college scholarships for all 200 children who lost a federal employee parent in the bomb-ing of the Murrah Building. The following year, in 1996, the NARFE-FEEA Disaster Fund was formed.

Visit www.narfe.org/disasterfund to download a bro-chure, donate or apply for funds. For more information on FEEA, please visit: www.feea.org.

(Editor’s Note: The same processes will be in place for those affected by Hurricane Irma.)

Investor Alert: Fraudsters may target federal government employee retirement plan participants

NARFE offers assistance following the devastation of Hurrican Harvey

URGENT! Please inform NARFE Headquarters when you change your e-mail or regular address by calling 1-800-456-8410 or e-mail: [email protected]


Reprinted from NARFE website

Over the years, there has been much discussion as to who makes more money – employees in the public or the private sector. But it’s not as simple as “more” or “less” overall – any study must compare similar types of jobs and similar types of employees. Many politicians, think tanks and even the government have weighed in. Here’s what they’ve had to say, which indicates this debate will continue for some time.

According to the 2015 Federal Salary Council (FSC) annual report, federal employees are paid 34.07 percent less than their private-sector counterparts, based on data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The FSC calculation is based on Bureau of Labor Sta-tistics data, which is more comprehensive and accurate, as it uses a job comparison methodology that measures data from job matches in the public and private sector. The results show a widening pay gap that needs to be ad-dressed, especially as federal salary rates were frozen for three years, and employees received miniscule raises in the subsequent years.

A January 2012 report from the Congressional Bud-get Office (CBO) found that when benefits are weighed, America’s most educated and experienced federal work-ers earn about 18 percent less in total compensation than they would if they worked in the private sector. The report also found that federal workers with less experience and education earned slightly more than their counterparts in the private sector. As such, the report opposes across-the-board changes in pay or benefits for federal employees. Additionally, the study suffers from a few shortcomings:

While the CBO study controls for occupation, general education and years of work experience, it does not take into account level of job responsibility, specialized train-ing and length of tenure with an employer, all of which employers take into account when determining pay. Fed-eral jobs often involve high levels of responsibility and require specialized training or a high-security clearance.

The study also only uses data only through 2010. Over the following three years, federal pay scales were frozen while private-sector wages increased.

The study controls for certain factors, such as age, race and gender, that, legally, are irrelevant for the pur-poses of determining pay.

An August 2013 article published by the Cato In-stitute alleges “the average federal civilian worker now earns 74 percent more in wages and benefits than the aver-age worker in the U.S. private sector.” This conclusion is based on grossly misleading analysis due to use of inapt data and inappropriate comparisons.

Cato relies on data for the total compensation of fed-eral civilian employees that include catch-up payments from the government to the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund (CSRDF) for previously accrued liabili-ties, as well as payments for benefits to those already re-tired. Including payment to those already retired is prob-lematic for several reasons:

Most retirees are covered by the now defunct, older Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), which provides a substantially greater defined-benefit annuity than under the newer Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), which covers most current employees;

Even if the benefit systems for current employees and current retirees were the same, the annual value of ben-efits paid to all retirees is not the same as the annual value of payments made by the government to the CSRDF to fund adequately the future benefits of current employees.

Retirees who were covered by CSRS did not accrue Social Security benefits for their civil service. Thus, part of the benefit is in lieu of Social Security benefits, which CATO did not factor into its private-sector compensation totals.

The Cato analysis fails to take into account any of the important differences in occupation, skill level, age and education that determine salaries. Notably, it fails to con-sider the following:

Federal civilian workers have higher levels of edu-cation: 51 percent of federal employees hold bachelor’s degrees, versus 35 percent in the private sector.

The federal government has a higher proportion of white-collar jobs. Today, blue-collar workers make up less than 10 percent of the federal workforce. Similarly, 49 percent of the federal workforce consists of professionals and managers, compared to only 38 percent in the private sector.

The average age of employees in the federal work-force is 47, while the average age in the private sector is 41.

Federal employees have more on-the-job experience than the average private-sector employee, with 25 percent of federal employees having served their nation for more than 20 years.

Assessing the private versus public sector payA NARFE factsheet

From NARFE NewsWatch Are you taking advantage of all of NARFE’s channels of communica-tion? Every member of NARFE receives a copy of narfe magazine in the mail, of course. And if you are reading this, you are getting NARFE’s weekly electronic news digest, NewsWatch.

But did you know that NARFE is on Facebook and Twitter? On Face-book, our username is NARFE National Headquarters. Our Twitter handle is

@narfehq. Don’t miss out. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to keep informed every day.

NARFE’s on social media: Join the conversation

Stay Informed!


Reprinted from NARFE websiteJuly 18, 2017

The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) is proud to support the Federal Employee Pension Fairness Act of 2017, which would repeal the two recent increases in federal employee re-tirement contributions. The legislation was introduced by Rep. Anthony Brown, D-MD, who was joined by original cosponsors: Reps. Elijah E. Cummings, D-MD; Peter A. DeFazio, D-OR; Dwight Evans, D-PA; John Garamendi, D-CA; Gene Green, D-TX; Colleen Hanabusa, D-HI; Ha-keem S. Jeffries, D-NY; Barbara Lee, D-CA; Stephen F. Lynch, D-MA; James P. McGovern, D-MA; Grace F. Na-politano, D-CA; Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-DC; Collin C. Peterson, D-MN; Mark Pocan, D-WI; Jamie Raskin, D-MD; José E. Serrano, D-NY; Carol Shea-Porter, D-NH;

Marc A. Veasey, D-TX; Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-NJ; and, Frederica S. Wilson, D-FL.

Beginning in 2013, new federal employees have had to pay more toward their retirement than their previously hired colleagues without any increase in benefits. Those hired in 2013 pay 2.3 percent more and those hired in 2014 pay 3.6 percent more than those hired prior to 2013. Over 10 years, these increases in retirement contributions will amount to a $21 billion loss in take-home pay for these federal employees, and much more thereafter, with no added benefit in retirement. The Federal Employee Pension Fairness Act would repeal both increases.

“These increases in retirement contributions came at a time when federal employees’ pay was frozen, sequestra-tion budget cuts threatened their jobs and unpaid furloughs undermined their earnings,” said NARFE President Rich-

ard G. Thissen. “Over the past several years, federal em-ployees have contributed more than $120 billion toward deficit reduction. It’s time we compensate them commen-surate with their service and sacrifice and repeal these ar-bitrary retirement contribution increases.”

“Passage of this legislation would be the first step to-ward reversing the practice of dipping into the federal em-ployee piggy bank to pay for other congressional priori-ties. It will help to ensure we can recruit and retain the best and brightest into public service. Our country needs a tal-ented and experienced civil service to ensure the faithful execution of our laws and the delivery of services critical to hardworking taxpayers. Providing our public servants adequate compensation is about more than just fairness; it is about maintaining an efficient and effective federal government,” Thissen concluded.

September 1, 2017

As Congress returns from its Au-gust recess, its to-do list is well-known: raise the debt ceiling, pass a budget, fund the government and enact tax reform.

Exactly how it plans to achieve those goals — at what cost, to whom — is more uncertain. But in each case, our nation’s public servants find themselves in the line of fire.

Federal employees are hard-working, middle-class Americans who live and work in every congressional dis-trict. Eighty-five percent work outside the Washington, D.C., area. Two-thirds work to defend our homeland, sup-port our military, or care for our veterans. Nearly one-third of federal employees are veterans themselves.

Yet, federal employees face threats that have become too familiar — a potential government shutdown, an aus-terity budget that threatens jobs and pay cuts through in-creased retirement contributions. As if that wasn’t enough, new proposals have emerged this year that take aim at earned retirement benefits promised in exchange for years of public service. Federal retirees’ quality of life is threat-ened simply because they served our nation.

As Congress debates how to achieve its goals, any of these options remain on the table. No deal has been reached on raising sequestration caps to prevent drastic cuts to agency budgets for the upcoming fiscal year or raising the debt ceiling. It is unclear what spending off-sets will be agreed upon and if federal compensation cuts will be included. Facing a double-edged sword, federal employees must hope for a deal that keeps them at work without gouging their earned pay and benefits.

Meanwhile, the House Budget Committee passed a fiscal year 2018 budget resolution that would tie the fate of tax reform to $32 billion in cuts from federal retirement and/or health benefit programs. Even if a deal is reached on government funding, federal workers will not yet be out of danger.

It is past time for political leaders in Washington to stop scapegoating these individuals, who are simply do-ing the jobs our elected leaders have asked them to do. It starts with rhetoric portraying our nation’s public servants as faceless, overpaid bureaucrats. But it leads to policies that would deprive VA nurses, FBI agents, mail carriers and many other respected public servants, in and out of Washington, D.C., of hard-earned pay and retirement ben-efits.

Notably, President Trump’s budget for fiscal year 2018 proposed eliminating the cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) to federal pensions entirely for recent federal retirees, and reducing them for older federal retirees. Eliminating or reducing COLAs for retirees substantially diminishes the value of their pensions and, therefore, their purchasing power. This could cost the typical retiree more than $100,000 over the course of a 25-year retirement, and even more thereafter, as the lost COLAs compound from one year to the next, and inflation continues to erode the value of the pension.

If you are not already taken aback by this proposal, perhaps you should be. In effect, it’s no different than taking an equivalent amount of money from someone’s 401(k) or individual retirement account (IRA), which, of course, would be illegal.

It also would be illegal to cancel COLAs for an annu-ity purchased from a private insurance company. What’s more, eliminating COLAs for state government employee pensions is actually unconstitutional in some states. It’s simply not unconstitutional for the federal government to do so to federal retirees based on rulings that hold that

COLAs (and perhaps even the underlying pension) are not considered a property right under the fifth amendment. But just because you’re technically allowed to do something doesn’t mean you should. Barely legal is not a reasonable justification for this policy, which would re-nege on commitments made to public servants.Other proposals included in President Trump’s budget would significantly reduce the value of federal pensions for those approaching retirement.

Federal employees with a mandatory early retirement age, such as law enforcement officers, would be particu-larly harmed by the elimination of the annuity supplement, which bridges the gap between the mandatory early retire-ment age and the Social Security eligibility age. Again, by diminishing the value of a pension based on past work, such proposals fail to honor basic promises that we made to public servants across the country.

Budgets from both President Trump and the House Budget Committee call for increasing retirement contri-butions for already vested employees by more than 6 per-cent, without any increased benefit.

This “retirement tax” is nothing more than an outright pay cut for hard-working public servants. This would come on top of recent policies that achieved more than $120 billion in deficit reduction on federal employees’ backs through pay freezes and increased retirement con-tributions for new hires. The tax is a punitive and blunt policy tool that decreases take-home pay and could lead to the loss of the most effective, valuable employees.

Yet, these options remain on the table as members of Congress look for spending offsets for other priorities, from tax reform to increasing the debt ceiling. Thankfully, both Republicans and Democrats have signaled a strong opposition to these proposals. I would urge all members of Congress to oppose them, as well as any bill or resolu-tion that harms the pay and benefits of the nation’s nearly 5 million federal employees, retirees and their families.

NARFE applauds introduction of legislation to repeal increases in federal employee annuity contributions

Public servants brace for impact as Trump looks for budget cuts

RICHARD THISSENNational President


Reprinted from Government Executiveby Erich Wagne

President Trump has announced his picks for Office of Personnel Management director and key posts in the Office of Management and Budget.

Career human resources professional Jeff Tien Han Pon is in line for the top job at OPM, the White House announced Friday night. Pon was most recently the chief human resources and strategy officer for the Society for Human Resource Management, and he was chief operat-ing officer for Futures Inc., a company that helps members of the military find careers in the civilian workforce.

He is a veteran of government workforce manage-ment, having served as deputy director of eGovernment at OPM, where he was involved in the roll-out of the vacan-cy listing site USAJobs. He also was chief human capital officer at the Energy Department.

Randy Erwin, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, said in a statement that his organiza-tion looks forward to evaluating Pon and his credentials to

lead OPM.

“While it is early in the nomination process and we reserve final opinion, we appreciate the consideration to name a nominee with a diverse and rich professional his-tory in federal human capital,” Erwin said. “We look for-ward to learning more about Mr. Pon and we hope that he, if confirmed, will view employee organizations as valu-able and significant partners.”

And National Treasury Employees Union spokesman Tony Reardon said he hopes Pon will continue to support a key council that encourages dialogue between labor and management.

“NTEU strongly supports the National Council on Federal Labor-Management Relations and if Jeff Tien Han Pon is confirmed as Director of the Office of Personnel Management, we hope he will allow this important coun-cil to continue its work improving the federal workplace for employees and taxpayers,” he said.

Max Stier, CEO of the Partnership for Public Ser-vice, endorsed Pon’s qualifications and expressed hope

he could lead the federal government through meaningful civil service reform.

“Fixing the federal government’s broken personnel system requires a director of the Office of Personnel Man-agement who can drive bold changes and understands the challenges that agencies face in attracting and retaining talented people,” Stier said. “Fortunately for federal em-ployees and those who care about an efficient and effec-tive government, Dr. Jeff Pon’s deep experience, leader-ship skills, and first-hand experience with government’s talent issues make him a well-qualified nominee.”

Pon is Trump’s second choice for director of OPM. Bush administration veteran George Nesterczuk was nominated in May, but faced stiff resistance from federal employee unions, particularly over his role in the creation of the National Security Personnel System, an attempt to introduce performance-based pay in the Defense Depart-ment that failed after a court battle. He withdrew his name from consideration on July 31.

(Editor’s Note: This article was written before Hurricane Irma struck the U.S. mainland, but demonstrates how se-riously Congress was considering the matter of disaster preparedness.)

Reprinted from PowerPost by Kelsey Snell September 7, 2017

The Senate approved $15.25 billion in disaster aid as part of an agreement struck by President Trump and con-gressional Democrats that will also raise the federal bor-rowing limit and keep the government open until Dec. 8.

The bill passed by a vote of 80 to 17 on Thursday afternoon. The House is expected to quickly vote on the package, despite growing opposition from fiscal conser-vatives who oppose pairing aid with debt and spending elements.

The Senate legislation includes $450 million for the Small Business Authority disaster loan program and $7.4 billion in grants for housing affected areas in addition to $7.4 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency from the House bill. The Senate legislation also gives Congress until Dec. 8 to negotiate a new spending agreement and increase the debt limit.

Leaders worked through the night Wednesday and into Thursday morning to reach an agreement with conser-vatives like Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) to speed up the timing of a vote on the package. Paul has requested a vote on an

amendment that would use spending cuts to offset the cost of the disaster relief package. “My amendment will give the Senate a chance to fund necessary relief in a fiscally responsible manner,” Paul said in a statement. “I urge my fellow senators to support it.”

Other conservatives, including Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) have called for votes to approve the disaster re-lief without the debt and spending portions announced Wednesday following a meeting between Congressional leaders and President Trump.

McConnell praised that agreement Thursday morning despite broad GOP concerns that Trump caved to Demo-crats on their request that any deadline for extending the federal borrowing limit line up with a short-term spending package.

“It will provide certainty and stability for first re-sponder, state officials and the many others involved in preparing for and recovering from these storms with criti-cally needed emergency funds that will not be interrupted by the prospect of a shutdown or default,” McConnell said on the Senate floor. “Let’s work together and act on this legislation very quickly.”

If approved, the legislation is expected to set the stage for a bruising year-end fiscal battle.

“The president agreed with Senator Schumer and Congresswoman Pelosi to do a three-month [funding ex-

tension] and a debt ceiling into December, and that’s what I will be offering, based on the president’s decision, to the bill,” McConnell told reporters after the meeting. “The president can speak for himself, but his feeling was that we needed to come together to not create a picture of divi-siveness at a time of genuine national crisis.”

The Senate is expected to approve the package when it comes up for a vote and send it to the House for final approval. Leaders are rushing to approve FEMA money before emergency funds run out in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. Some congressional leaders have said they worry the agency’s coffers could run dry by week’s end.

“The legislation before the Senate would address the nation’s most pressing needs,” said Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) in a state-ment. “The serious nature of the natural disasters and fis-cal commitments before us demand the Senate and House act without delay. We need to act to support the victims, volunteers and first responders on the ground.”

Several details of the legislation, including the length of the spending and borrowing agreement, changed through the day Wednesday as GOP leaders finalized the details. Cochran said the final package was reached with support from the White House.

The significant increase in funding in the Senate bill is expected to help shore up emergency disaster relief pro-grams as Hurricane Irma races through the Caribbean to-ward Florida.

Trump announces HR professional as new pick to lead OPM

Senate approves bill doubling hurricane aid package,extending federal borrowing limit


To obtain additional information about NARFE, please complete the card to the left, cut out and mail to:

NARFE Membership606 North Washington St.

Alexandria, Virgina 22314-9705

Visit narfe.org often. You’ll find the latest information on issues critical to the federal community.

Stay Informed!

by Tammy Flanagan,National Institute of Transition Planning

Once you’ve made the decision that you’re ready to retire, it’s time to select a specific date within your desired timeframe. Let’s look at some specifics related to picking a date next year.

Your retirement coverage under the Civil Service Retirement System (including CSRS Offset) or the Fed-eral Employees Retirement System (including transfers to FERS) will be an important factor in choosing the best date.

CSRS You can choose a retirement date on the first, second or third day of any month and your retirement will com-mence the following day. So, for example, if you retire on Oct. 1, your salary will end close of business that day and your first retirement benefit will be paid on Nov. 1, cov-ering the remainder of October. If you retire on any day after Oct. 3, then your first retirement benefit will be paid on Dec. 1, covering the month of November. You would forfeit the October CSRS retirement benefit.

The best dates for CSRS in 2018 will be Jan. 3, Feb. 2,

March 2, March 31, April 3, May 3, June 1, June 30, July 3, Aug. 3, Aug. 31, Oct. 3, Nov. 2, and Nov. 30. Jan. 3, 2019 would also work, because it’s within the 2018 leave year.

FERS All immediate, optional FERS retirement benefits commence the first day following the month of retirement. This means that regardless of retiring Oct. 1, 2, 15, or 31, your first FERS retirement benefit will be paid on Dec. 1 for the month of November. Your salary will cease on the last day of your federal employment. If your goal is to have your retirement benefit begin in October, then Sept. 30 would be the best date. FERS employees should focus on choosing a date at the end of the month, even if it is a Saturday or a Sunday, since these days can be included in the computation of service credit.

Retiring at the end of a leave period can be good, even though your salary will stop on that date and your retirement won’t start until the first day of the following month. This is because you will be paid your salary for the days that you worked during that last month, which could be more valuable than the retirement benefit you would forfeit. Because the benefit is computed very differently under FERS than CSRS, be sure to consider the tradeoff

of salary for retirement benefit when you are choosing an end of the leave period retirement date that isn’t near the end of the month.

Also, remember that your payroll office pays your sal-ary two weeks behind and the Office of Personnel Man-agement may take a few months to process your retire-ment application. So, your first retirement payment may not arrive on the first day of the month. You may receive several interim retirement payments from OPM until your claim is finalized and monthly payments begin.

Leave Considerations Is it important to you to receive a large lump sum pay-out of your annual leave? If the answer is yes, the end of the leave year is the time to plan your departure. FERS employees would benefit from a Dec. 31, 2018 departure and CSRS employees might choose Jan. 3, 2019. Although this won’t be the end of the leave year, it will allow you to accrue 25 leave accruals and receive your first retirement benefit for the month of January (payable on Feb. 1).

If maximizing your lump sum annual leave payout is not that important to you, then remember you will be paid for your accumulated and accrued annual leave regardless of the exact date you retire.

Best dates to retire in 2018


The Office of Personnel Management effectively made no progress in its handling of the backlog of federal retirement claims in August, although the number of new claims declined.

According to statistics released Tuesday, the back-log of retirement claims at the end of August was 17,125, slightly higher than the 17,091 reported at the end of July. But the number of claims OPM received dropped from 10,070 in July to 7,136 last month.

The percentage of claims processed within 60 days since last October improved slightly, from 55 percent in July to 57 percent last month. The total number of claims processed last month was 7,102, a modest decrease from the 7,509 completed in July.

Last month, OPM officials confirmed that President Trump’s temporary hiring freeze, implemented in January and lifted in May, had an impact on the agency’s ability to keep up with demand. The new data was released just days after Trump nominated Jeff T. H. Pon, a longtime human

resources professional, to be director of the agency.

Meanwhile, federal agencies are continuing to help with disaster relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey and the approach of Hurricane Irma, which could make landfall in Florida this weekend. Jack Corrigan re-ports that the Thrift Savings Plan last week gave federal workers impacted by Harvey the temporary ability to make “financial hardship” withdrawals, allowing employ-ees with certain medical, legal or property expenses ac-cess to money in their retirement accounts.

“TSP also waived the rule barring employees from contributing to their investments in the six months after making a withdrawal, meaning employer contribution matching still applies.

All Harvey-related withdrawal requests must be sub-mitted to TSP by Jan. 24 with distribution dates before Jan. 31. Employees must withdraw at least $1,000 and cannot request an additional withdrawal for at least six months.

Such changes are common after disaster strikes. TSP implemented similar rules in the aftermaths of hurricanes Matthew and Sandy, and also during the government shut-down in October 2013.”

Additionally, the Federal Employee Education and Assistance Fund, an independent nonprofit that provides emergency financial assistance and scholarships to civil-ian federal employees and their families, is offering di-saster relief grants for federal employees affected by the storm. OPM reported last week that nearly 60,000 federal workers live or work within Harvey’s path.

Eligible employees can receive up to $500 through the program. Applicants must be full- or part-time permanent federal civilian or postal employees who have been with the federal government for at least one year, or a member of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees As-sociation. Grant funds can be used to pay for major home repairs that aren’t covered by insurance, temporary hous-ing or beds that were destroyed in the storm.

OPM treads water on retirement backlog,Harvey response continues

The following members of NARFE from Oklahoma chapters have passed away during the period June 1, 2017 through August 31, 2017 as reported to Headquarters. If you know of a name that is missing, please call Headquarters at (703) 838-7760. Don’t assume NARFE knows.

22 JODY HELEN R130 TREAT DALE W184 BRISCO KATHERYN L278 JONES ARNOLD MYRTLE V278 FRAZIER LOUIS369 HUGHES RUTH M730 INGRAHAM DONIVAN L909 BAYLESS SAMUEL M

946 WALKER JEAN E946 ALLEN JANE W946 ALLEN R D946 GREGORY EMMA946 WILLHITE ERMA JEAN1017 DICK BETTY L1722 MCQUOWN M ANNE1722 MULLINS BOBBY D

1787 KENNEDY NELLIEJEANNEE2184 LOOPER JOHN C2184 HIGHTOWER LOUISE2184 OSBURN PAULA S2184 ANDERSON HILMA2351 MENZEL RONALD GEORGE

Chapter Last Name First Name Chapter Last Name First Name Chapter Last Name First Name

In Memory of Our Fallen Members



The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) is the only association dedicated to safeguard-ing and enhancing the benefits of America’s active and retired federal employees, and their survivors. NARFE is an advocate for both active and retired federal employees before Congress and the White House. Membership in NARFE totals 300,000

federal workers and retirees. • NARFE sponsors and supports legislation to protect the earned retirement benefits and general welfare of members. • NARFE’s years of experience on Capitol Hill and in federal agencies have made NARFE a respected

name among members of Congress and a key player in the federal community.

NARFE Working Hard for YOU!“95 Years Strong”

Oklahoma NARFE NewsPAGE 24 Non-profitOrganizationU.S. POSTAGE

P.O. Box 1841St. Charles, MO 63302-1841

PAIDSt. Louis, MO

Permit No. 5584

Chapter 278 • Tulsa’s First• Meeting place, Kaiser Library, 5202 S. Hudson, 1st Tuesday each month except June, July and August, at 5:00pm. Luncheon months in May and December. Chapter 2184 • Tulsa Day-Lite • Meeting place, Martin East Library, E. 26th St and S. Garnett Rd, 1st Wednesday each month, 10:30am.

Chapter 2333 • Tulsa Northside• Meetings discontinued until further notice.

Chapter 22 • Azalea / Muskogee• Meeting place, Kiwanis Sr. Center, 2nd Thursday each month, 1:30pm. Except Christmas dinner.

Chapter 730 • Okmulgee / Okfuskee Counties• Meeting place, Shack Restaurant, 509 West Main, Henryetta, OK. 11:00am, 2nd Thursday each month, May meets at OSU IT in Okmulgee. Chapter 1017 • Tri-County / Miami, OK• Meeting place, Montana Mike’s, 840 N. Main St, Miami, OK, 3rd Monday each month, 11:30am, except June & December.

Chapter 1787 • Mayes County / Pryor• Meeting place, Mid American Grill, 3rd Thursday each month, 11:30am, Except July & August. Chapter 183 • Payne County / Stillwater• Meeting place, New China Restaurant, 3rd Friday each month at 11:00am, except August.

Chapter 369 • Enid• Meeting place, Golden Corral, 4629 W. Owen K Garriott, Enid, 2nd Monday each month at 11:30am.

Chapter 749 • Chisholm Trail / El Reno• Meeting place, Swadley’s, 1629 E. Highway 66, El Reno, 3rd Monday each month 11:30, except March, April, June and August at 6:30pm.

Chapter 909 • Altus• Meeting place varies. Contact President for meetings.

Chapter 1346 • Weatherford• Meeting place, Mark Restaurant, 601 E. Main, 2nd Monday each month at 5:30pm, except July.

Chapter 130 • Cleveland County• Meeting place, Furr’s Buffet, Moore, OK, 3rd Wednesday each month at 11:15am, except August.

Chapter 167 • Great Plains / Lawton• Meeting place, Brookridge Retirement Center, 7802 NW Quanah Parker Trailway, Lawton, 2nd Monday at 11:00am, except July.

Chapter 946 • Mid/Del / Midwest City• Meeting place, Twin Hills Club, 3401 NE 36th, OKC, 4th Friday each month at 11:30am, except August.

Chapter 184 • Central OK / OK City• Meeting place, The Incredible Pizza 5833 Northwest Expressway OKC, OK 73132, 3rd Thusday each month at 11:00am.

Chapter 542 • Shawnee• Meeting place, Shawnee Senior Citizen, 401 N. Bell, 3rd Wednesday each Quarter at 11:00am. January, April, July & October.

Chapter 947 • Edmond• Meeting place, OK Christian University, Memorial Dr, Edmond, OK. 4th Tuesday at 11:30am, except June & July.

Chapter 1621 • Eastern OK City / Choctaw• Meeting place, Eastern OK Tech Center, 3rd Tuesday each month at 11:30am, except for August.

Chapter 1722 • Northwest / OK City• Meeting place, Golden Corral, 5702 N.W. Expressway, OKC, 3rd Tuesday of each month at 11:00am, except December.

Chapter 2351 • Sooner Cowboy / Statewide Chapter• Meets biennally on the day before the opening of the State Convention.

Chapter Meeting Information

The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association is the only organi-zation solely dedicated to protecting and preserving the pay and benefits of all federal workers and retirees.

NARFE Is Your Legislative Voice NARFE’S national legislative program is advanced in Congress by a team of influ-ential lobbyists, backed by an informed network of grass-roots activists in every state and congressional district, and a member-supported Political Action Committee. Your membership strengthens our collective voice on Capitol Hill and fortifies our national outreach.

With dwindling budgets, many agencies are forced to consolidate and share human resource management. Timely and reliable answers to complex questions have become harder and harder to find. NARFE encourages your queries and answers them. Those most frequently asked appear in narfe magazine and are periodically published in a compendium. You’ll find answers to questions you haven’t even thought of yet! Here’s a sampling.

Q I’m nearing retirement and am a CSRS-Offset employee. How will this affect my retirement?

Q Is it worth it in terms of annuity payout to pay my military deposit before I retire from federal service?

Q I’m in the middle of a divorce. What do I need to know about how my future federal retirement benefits will be affected?

Q Can I cover my grandchild as an eligible dependent under my FEHBP plan?

Q Should I enroll in Medicare when I am eligible?

NARFE Is Your Information Resource The award-winning narfe magazine provides in-depth coverage of issues affecting the federal community; timely accurate and understandable information on changes or your benefits; insight on how new legislation will affect you; answers to federal benefits FAQ’s updates on NARFE’s legislative agenda; financial planning tips; and much more.

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Members-only section of the NARFE website with up-to-the-minute information and a Legislative Action Center.

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Scholarship and disaster-relief grant qualification.

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Membership is open to civilians who are or will be eligible to receive an annuity or survivor annuity from the federal retirement programs of any agency of the United States government including:

• Retirees• Active employees• Spouses and surviving spouses of those eligible to join NARFE• Former employees• A former spouse who is legally entitled to federal survivor annuity


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