President’s Message
Will we have May flowers? I've seen many around so far and just love this time of year. Hope you have been able to
enjoy the beauty of Spring. Ted Johnson gave a great, informal yet informational meeting in March. Sorry we did not
see some of you there! By the time you get this we will have also had our April meeting on the local charity, The
Sophia Elizabeth Foundation. In May and June we will collect back packs and school supplies for the foundation. If
you can’t make the meeting, send a gift card so they can get what they need (If you can of course.) We are trying to
do some payback to our community and the world around us. We said goodbye to our hard working Ulysttyne
Williams at our last officers meeting. She has been dedicated to helping our club in so many ways. Good news is she
will stay a member of our chapter. Best of luck Ulysstine in your new adventures in Las Vegas!
▪ Roxie Patterson, President
National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association
Antelope Valley CHAPTER 877 Lancaster, California
Executive Board
Legislation
Introduced to
Change TSP Withdrawal Options:
Sens. Portman and Carper, have introduced
the TSP Modernization Act, which would
provide more flexible withdrawal options for
TSP accounts. The bill would allow multiple,
partial post-separation withdrawals that
participants can time to their individual
needs. Currently, participants who have
separated from federal service are allowed
only two post-separation withdrawals (in
the form of a lump sum payment, a stream
of monthly payments or annuity payments).
For participants who are still working and
are older than age 59½, the bill would allow
multiple age-based withdrawals. Current
rules allow only one age-based withdrawal
for those still working.
The bill also would add flexibility to the TSP
by allowing the election of quarterly or
annual payments and permitting periodic
withdrawals to be changed at any point
during the year. Payments could be stopped
while allowing the account balance to
remain in the TSP. Currently, periodic
payments can be selected only in monthly
intervals, can be adjusted only once per year
and cannot be stopped unless the
participant withdraws the entire remaining
balance. Finally, the bill would eliminate the
withdrawal election deadline. Currently,
participants are required to make a post-
separation withdrawal election by April 1 of
the year following the year in which they
turn age 70½ and are separated from
federal service. This requirement too often
is conflated with the requirement to begin
taking required minimum distributions the
same day, which leads to withdrawals of the
full TSP balance. The Employee Thrift
Advisory Council, of which NARFE is a
member, supports the improvements in
withdrawal flexibility. NARFE recommends
you send a letter to your legislators asking
them to support the bill.
Fiduciary Rule Applicability Date
Delayed 60 Days:
The Department of Labor (DOL) published a
final rule to extend by 60 days the
applicability date for defining who is a
“fiduciary” when providing retirement
investment advice, delaying the full
implementation of the “conflict of interest”
or “fiduciary” rule to June 9, 2017.
President Trump signed a presidential
memo directing the Labor Department to
review the rule to determine whether it
should be rescinded or revised. This delay is
one of the first steps in a process that could
lead to the demise or substantial alteration
of the rule. However, based on the release,
it appears that the DOL does not anticipate
any additional delays beyond 60 days in
setting the definition of who is a fiduciary
and establishing the standards of conduct
necessary to ensure the adviser is acting in
the best interests of the client.
The DOL also does not expect to complete
its review of the fiduciary rule within the 60-
day delay period. The full review is
ATTENTION MEMBERS I NEED YOUR HELP! I have
written in the past months about the changes NARFE HQ
has implemented as a result of the Optional Chapter
Membership decision at the National Convention in
2016. The National Board decided to send out renewal
notices giving members the opportunity to join either as
a National Member only, or continue to pay a small
extra local fee to continue to belong to a chapter. In our
case that extra cost is $5 per year. The way the renewal
form is constructed it gives preference to the National
Member option. The result is that in the first two
months this has been implemented we have had four
members transfer out of the chapter to National
Member status. I don’t know if they made this decision
deliberately or accidentally. But it means they will no
longer receive any communication from us through our
newsletter on issues relevant to our area and our
congressional districts. Nor will they get notifications
regarding our meetings.
So I am asking you to do is this: When you get your
renewal notice pay close attention to the two options
and be sure to check the one that maintains your local
chapter membership. Five dollars is a small price to pay
for a year’s worth of access to our newsletter and the
information we provide at our monthly meetings. If
local NARFE chapters continue to lose members it will
be impossible for us to continue operating at the local
level, and I believe that will have a severe impact on
NARFE’S ability to continue its mission. As we have seen
recently the huge attendance at Congressional Town
Hall Meetings across the country is having an effect on
the political positions of representatives of those
Districts. All politics is local. If you are considering
changing your membership to drop support of the local
chapter I would appreciate a word from you on your
reasoning. You can reach me at (661) 943-4897 or
[email protected]. Thank you!
▪ Linda Ingram, 2nd VP
Chapter Newsletter May - Jun 2017
Legislative
President Roxie Patterson
(661) 948-1979 [email protected]
District VIII VP Linda Ingram (661) 943-4897
1st VP and Legislation
Randy Scott (661) 256-3507
2nd VP and Membership
Linda Ingram (661) 943-4897
Secretary and Webmaster
Nancy Bergren (661) 722-2913
Treasurer Betty McLaurin
(661) 942-0658
Services Gary Darcy
(661) 238-5561
Public Relations Leslie Underwood
Social & Sunshine VACANT
Programs VACANT
Alzheimer’s VACANT
Historian VACANT
Editor Stacey Norris
(661) 350-5043
Membership
Legislative Action Center - http://www.narfe.org/legislation/votervoice.cfm
www.narfe.org/chapter877 www.facebook.com/groups/AVNARFE0877
MAY 9th - E-Board & Committee Meeting 10:00am, Betty McLaurin’s home
16th - Membership Meeting 12:00pm, Greenhouse Café
Speaker: Retired Sgt Major Mike Kufchak, Veterans Affairs, IBEW Local Union 11, LA County
Topic: Helping veterans in and around the Antelope Valley.
**We will also have a dedication to all the NARFE members that have passed away.
JUNE 13th - E-Board & Committee Meeting
10:00am, Betty McLaurin’s home
27th - Membership Meeting 12:00pm, Greenhouse Café
Speaker: TBD
Topic: Personal Safety and Security Possible topics include street crimes, home protection, car safety, pros and cons of weapons. Check our Facebook page for further details as we approach June 27th and watch for the official reminder email. https://www.facebook.com/groups/AVNARFE0877/
Upcoming Events
scheduled to take place during the transition
period before the second phase of the rule is
set to begin in January 2018. Fortunately for
TSP participants, the rollover advice portion
of the rule is set to begin June 9, and will be
enforceable. Thank you to those who wrote
to the DOL in support of the rule during the
notice and comment period. NARFE supports
the rule and is concerned by continued
attempts to undo it.
Postal Reform Bill Approved by
House Oversight Committee:
On March 16, the House Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform held a
markup and ultimately approved the Postal
Reform Act of 2017, HR756, without
addressing the concerns of the 76,000 postal
retirees who would be forced to enroll in
Medicare under the bill. NARFE opposes this
bill on the grounds that it would force
current postal retirees onto Medicare in
order to keep their federal health insurance
coverage. Changing retirement benefits after
retirement sets a terrible precedent, and all
members of the federal community should
be alarmed. NARFE has proposed a simple
alternative – allow those 76,000 retirees,
who automatically would be enrolled in
Medicare, a small window of
opportunity to opt out. An opt-out
period would allow postal retirees to
maintain choice when it comes to their
earned health benefits, crucial for those
who are living on fixed incomes and
who have previously declined Medicare.
Under this legislation, postal retirees
who are not currently enrolled in
Medicare would face an additional $134
per month or more in premiums. While
the Postal Service stands to financially
benefit from this enrollment, the cost to
Medicare is upward of $8 billion. NARFE
strongly urges its members to contact
their legislators and ask them to oppose
the Postal Reform Act of 2017 in its
current form. Remember, this bill sets a
dangerous precedent for ALL federal
retirees. A letter can easily be sent by
going to the NARFE Legislative Action
Center.
Make Your Voice Heard in
Congress:
NARFE members are encouraged to use
the new, easy-to-use NARFE Legislative
Action Center to send letters to
members of Congress on a variety of
NARFE issues, sign up for action alerts
and track NARFE-related bills and votes.
▪ Randy Scott, 1st VP
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May 2017
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NARFE Participates in Alzheimer’s Association’s 2017 Advocacy Forum:
Recently, representatives of NARFE joined more than
1,300 advocates from around the country at the
Alzheimer’s Association’s 2017 Advocacy Forum to ask
Congress for increased federal funding for Alzheimer’s
disease research. Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause
of death in America, and is the only disease of the “top
10” that cannot be prevented, slowed or cured. NARFE is
proud of its status as a Zenith Society member of the
Alzheimer’s Association, having raised more than $12
million to date to fund Alzheimer’s research. During the
three-day conference, attendees learned more about the
detrimental effects that Alzheimer’s has on individuals
living with the disease, their loved ones and caregivers.
To wrap up the conference, Capitol Hill was “painted
purple” by advocates who informed legislators and their
staff about what Congress can do to help end this terrible
disease.
The Senate Special Committee on Aging also held a
hearing titled “The Arc of Alzheimer’s: From Preventing
Cognitive Decline in Americans to Assuring Quality Care
for Those Living with the Disease.” Panel witnesses
urged Congress to support Alzheimer’s research and
requested that the National Institutes of Health receive
increased funding for Alzheimer’s research for fiscal year
2018.
A video of the hearing is available at:
https://www.aging.senate.gov/hearings/watch?hearingid=3EB936B9-5056-A066-6056-65C9C60A3361