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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
February 2025 President, Tony Pizza, The January meeting was a social event, with good companionship and good food. There was a small turnout due to the respiratory illnesses going around and conflicting schedules. I hope all are well for the February meeting. We’re having my second favorite lunch, chicken fried steak (Lasagna is first, of course). The new administration has started off with a shakeup of our civil service system. I hope it doesn’t get worse, but that’s not looking likely. Every day there are new executive orders, some that seem to be unconstitutional. In an article too long for this newsletter you can see what NARFE President Bill Shackelford has said at NARFE Responds to Executive Orders Issued by President Trump – NARFE The latest plan to reduce federal employment is to offer buy outs. It required acceptance within about 10 days. That’s a short time for a big decision, with so many uncertainties about how it’s supposed to work. If someone was already planning to retire or resign, it might be attractive. Not what we wanted to hear. The Social Security Fairness Act that passed last year eliminated the WEP and GPO for annuitants who also receive Social Security. However, it did not provide money to implement the benefit adjustments; much of the work must be done on a case-by-case basis. The benefit changes affect more than 3 million people. The Social Security Administration said that under its current budget, it could take more than a year to adjust benefits and pay all retroactive benefits. Helping people with this "new and unfunded workload" is made more difficult by SSA's ongoing staffing shortages, including operating under a hiring freeze since November 2024, SSA said. The hiring freeze is likely to continue. "All SSA customers, including those not affected by the Act, will face delays and increased wait times as SSA prioritizes this new workload," according to the agency. According to hospital regulations, patients are required to be escorted out in a wheelchair when being discharged. A student nurse was having some trouble with an elderly gentleman who insisted that he did not need a wheelchair. After some discussion about rules being rules, he reluctantly agreed. As she was wheeling him out, the student nurse asked the man if his wife was going to pick him up. "I don't know," he replied. "She's still upstairs in the bathroom changing out of her hospital gown."
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