What Can NARFE Advocates Expect in 2022?

LEARN MORE about how you can take action to protect your earned pay and benefits by reviewing NARFE Grassroots materials at www.narfe.org/advocacy.

Welcome to the second session of the 117th Congress. NARFE members committed to protecting their earned pay and benefits are probably wondering what to expect from Congress or what can be done differently in 2022 to finally get bills supported by NARFE pushed successfully through the legislative process.

Last year, NARFE’s advocacy focused on increasing cosponsors of its priority bills, including the Social Security Fairness Act, H.R. 82/S. 1302, a bill to repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO), and the Public Servants Protection and Fairness Act, H.R. 2337, a bill to reform the WEP. Because of member advocacy, these bills garnered significant support, as demonstrated by the total cosponsors for each bill: at press time, H.R. 82 had 237 cosponsors, S.1302 had 36, and the Public Servants Protection and Fairness Act had 183. These totals allow NARFE’s advocacy efforts to hit the ground running in 2022 to further increase the cosponsors of each bill.

So, what’s ahead for advocates in 2022?

Let’s start with the obvious. 2022 is a midterm election year, which means the entire House of Representatives is up for re-election. Therefore, there will be ample opportunities to engage with incumbents as they spend more time in their districts working to gain your support.

An election year always provides good opportunities for NARFE members, especially advocacy leaders, to discuss NARFE’s priorities with a larger audience. Getting to know candidates for Congress while they are on the campaign trail helps determine where they stand on NARFE issues, while engaging with incumbents running for re-election allows advocates to establish new relationships or strengthen existing ones. If the incumbent doesn’t have a history of supporting NARFE’s legislative priorities, use this time to educate them. Collaborating with headquarters’ advocacy staff before attending candidate events helps ensure that members have the right information to engage successfully.

Stay informed on the issues by accessing up-to-date issue briefs, fact sheets and other resources on NARFE’s website at www.narfe.org. Lawmakers depend on constituents to share how policies affect them and the community. So, wellinformed, articulate advocates help lawmakers make better decisions while advancing NARFE’s priorities.

Effective NARFE advocates are consistent, patient and proactive. They ensure that a message reaches its target by utilizing multiple communication channels when answering a NARFE call to action. For example, after visiting NARFE’s Legislative Action Center to send an email message to their lawmaker, advocates also post a tweet on the topic. Follow-up emails, tweets, Facebook posts and phone calls guarantee that their voices are heard.

NARFE thanks you in advance for your advocacy and looks forward to a successful 2022. Contact us at advocacy@ narfe.org if you would like to learn more about how you can lend your voice to NARFE advocacy in 2022.

—BY MARSHA PADILLA-GOAD, DIRECTOR, GRASSROOTS