Federal Legislation
by Paul Schuette
“Our primary legislative objective is to preserve the retirement and insurance benefits we earn as part of the total compensation package of careers in federal service,” NARFE President Margaret Baptiste told a House subcommittee at an August hearing.
Baptiste was among the witnesses appearing before the Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce.
She told the House panel the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) does a good job of negotiating health premiums, but was remiss in declining a federal payment available to public and private employers who provide drug coverage as good or better than Medicare. That payment would have lowered FEHBP costs, she said.
Baptiste was critical of the Administration’s plan to stimulate participation in Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) by offering that option in the two large, government-wide plans. HSAs have the effect of siphoning off younger, healthier enrollees, which would mean higher premiums for retirees and other older participants in comprehensive plans.
“HSAs are a solution in search of a problem; prescription drugs, the greatest cost driver in FEHBP, are a problem in search of a solution,” Baptiste declared.
She put in a plug for passage of premium conversion legislation so federal retirees would no longer be taxed on health insurance premiums. Premiums paid by active employees already are tax-free.
Baptiste asked the subcommittee to support legislation which would offer federal workers additional survivor annuity benefit options.
She called for change in a 1986 budget law which she said unfairly reduced the retirement annuities of employees who worked part-time toward the end of their careers.
Members should be aware that the NARFE national Web site offers easy access to the latest information on legislation important to federal workers and retirees. If you want to dip your own oar into the federal legislative waters (as you should), that site makes it easy to get messages to your senators and representative on Capitol Hill. Here’s a rundown on how you can use the NARFE national Web site to start lobbying them:
Go to narfe.org. Sign in as a member by entering your last name and membership number in the boxes indicated. Once you are signed in, put the pointer on the “Special Section” box at the top of the page, which brings up a menu that includes the “Legislative Action Center.”
Click on the Action Center to bring up the latest information on NARFE legislation along with a box labeled “Take Action.” Click on that to bring up a page with a sample message you can send and step by step directions on how to do it. In addition to “Take Action,” there’s also a box where you can enter your zip code to “Find Your Officials.” That will bring up a lineup of the president, our Maryland senators and the House member that matches your zip code.
Clicking on “Info” below the photo of a senator or House member will bring up contact and other information, including “Cosponsorship Status” on NARFE’s bills. Click on that and you will get a rundown on where the member stands on our legislation and an easy procedure for sending a message via letter or e-mail.
In addition to reporting on the status of pending legislation, the NARFE site offers a wealth of information on other topics important to current or retired feds. Try it. You may like it.
Important Federal Contacts
The phone numbers and e-mail addresses of our elected officials in Washington are on page 4 of our newsletter.
State Legislation
by Ed Bice
The State Legislative Committee met during the summer to develop plans for the 2008 General Assembly session. During the June meeting the committee voted to make the following proposals legislative priorities for 2007 through 2008.
- Public service pensions should be completely exempt from State and local income taxes.
- During either the next regular session of the legislature or any special session to deal with the 1.5 billion dollar structural deficit, NARFE will support a comprehensive reform of Maryland’s tax structure. The most immediate area of action must be the reform of the tax structure. Recent newspaper articles have documented that nearly 50% of the largest companies doing business in Maryland did not pay corporate income taxes in 2004 and 2005. In addition, Maryland’s corporate tax rate is lower than any neighboring state. Excise taxes on some products such as liquors and beer have not been adjusted in over 25 years. Please call your legislators and tell them that you support a complete review and reform of Maryland’s tax structure. Their names and numbers are in my column on page 2 of our September newsletter.
Maryland General Assembly
Would you like to know what's going on in the Maryland General Assembly? Click that link to find out.
Do you know who represents you in Annapolis? Would you like to contact them? Those links are just what you need.
This page was updated September 11, 2007.