Members Help Steer NARFE’s Platform for Advocacy
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The prompt for this round of the FEDforum is back to square one. This week, hear from the National Active and Retired Federal Employees.
One of our core missions at the National Active and Retired Federal Employees (NARFE) is advocacy on behalf of federal employees and annuitants. And although Election Day is more than two months away, NARFE is back to square one, making plans to engage with the 118th Congress which convenes on January 3, 2023.
NARFE adopts advocacy positions at the start of each Congress detailing specific policy stances. These positions direct and guide NARFE’s leadership and staff regarding whether to support a position—or not—when actions are taken by Congress or an administration.
NARFE advocacy primarily focuses on these priorities:
Defending and advancing the earned pay and benefits of America’s current and retired civil servants; and
Protecting the viability, stability and standards of service of established federal government functions.
NARFE’s members are integral to the process of selecting these positions. This summer, all current members were invited to participate by submitting proposals to add, amend or remove advocacy positions. Chapters and federations could advance proposals that received support during meetings, and proposals by individuals could be considered if they were supported by fellow members in NARFE’s exclusive online community, FEDHub.
NARFE’s Advocacy Positions for the 117th Congress highlighted issues related to retirement, federal pay and workforce policies, health care and postal reform. It included support for some of NARFE’s top priorities, such as repeal of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), but also specific provisions related to the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) program, such as opposition to mandating Medicare Part B enrollment.
Recently, it has guided our advocacy on postal bills, as NARFE took positions related to the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022. Signed into law in March, the bill was the culmination of years of advocacy efforts by NARFE on behalf of feds and aligned with several of NARFE’s 2021-22 advocacy positions:
It preserved mail delivery six days per week across the country.
It relieved USPS of its overly burdensome requirement to prefund its future retiree health care obligations.
It did not add a requirement to enroll in Medicare Part B as a condition for current postal retirees and their spouses to continue receiving FEHB benefits.
After reviewing proposed changes to NARFE’s advocacy positions, an Advocacy Committee has recommended NARFE’s Advocacy Positions for 2023-24 to NARFE’s National Executive Board. Pending approval, NARFE expects to publicize the final document in September; visit www.narfe.org/advocacy to learn more.
You can help NARFE continue its crucial advocacy on behalf of the earned pay, retirement, and health care benefits of federal employees, retirees, and their spouses and survivors—join NARFE today and add your voice to every message we send to Congress.
The column from the National Active and Retired Federal Employees is part of the FEDforum, an initiative to unite voices across the federal community. The FEDforum is a space for federal employee groups to share their organizations’ initiatives and activities with the FEDmanager audience.
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