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2004 IASCOE/IACS/IASE CONVENTION Starlite Village Motel - Fort Dodge Iowa April 1st, 2nd & 3rd 2004
COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
IASCOE Directors Meeting - Thursday April 1st IASCOE Directors Meeting - Friday April 2nd Benefits and Legislative Committee Minutes - Friday April 2nd Publicity Committee Minutes - Friday April 2nd IASCOE General Assembly - Friday & Saturday April 2nd & 3rd ____________________________________________________
IASCOE DIRECTORS MINUTES April 1, 2004 7:45
P.M. Officers Present: Tom Lane, President; Alan Donaldson, Vice President; Sue Beemer, Secretary/ Treasurer Directors Present: Rosie Kahl, John Bahnsen, Connie Safley, Steve Kennedy, Joni Birkhofer, Rich Kleppe, Dan Wells, Terry Pauling, Tammy Eibey, John Landgraf, Denise Dugan, Vicki Heeren and Sandra Johnson. New Directors Present: Elaine Gordon, Cindy Mensen, Julie Hall and Cindy Pistek. Guests Present: John Bartenhagen, Judy Dameron and Carole Dawson. President Tom Lane called the meeting to order at 7:45 P.M. SECRETARY
AND TREASURER REPORT
The directors reviewed the minutes of the previous meeting. Dan moved and John seconded the minutes be approved as written. Motion carried by all directors. The financial report was reviewed. Rosie moved and Joni seconded the report be accepted. Motion carried by all directors. OLD BUSINESS Web Site – Tammy has already started looking for articles for the next newsletter in June. She would like an article from the officers by the last of May. Articles from directors, county offices employees and state office would be great. Tammy does a tremendous job with the newsletter and her efforts are truly appreciated. Mini Legislative Conference - A big thanks to Mike Houston and Steve Abbas for representing IASCOE in Washington, D.C. during the Mini Legislative Conference. NASCOE has hired the Redding Firm. They seem to be very well respected in WDC and it is good to be connected with them. 2004 Convention – We discussed the committee assignments for Convention. They are as follows: Registration – Steve and Connie Hospitality – John Bahnsen Door Prizes – Rich, Joni and Terry Raffle – Rich, Joni and Terry Year Book/Annual Report – Sue and Jeff Past President/Retiree’s Lunch – John Landgraf Thanks to those who put together the hospitality bags during our meeting. That was great. The breakfast banquet will be at 7:30 A.M. with the Awards Presentation to follow at 8:30 A.M. Speakers will be James Mace, JM Marketing; Derryl McLaren, State Executive Director; Merlin Plagge, State Committee Chair and Doug Frago, Deputy Administrator for Field Operations. The main speaker will be Marilyn Adams, Founder of Farm Safety 4 Just Kids. NEW BUSINESS 2004 Staff Ceiling - We had a very lengthy discussion on 2004 staff ceilings and use of workload to determine this. Currently there is a freeze in place and the State Office has to make a request to Washington to fill vacancies. Tom will take the Directors’ concerns to the Partnership Council meeting at State Office on April 7, 2004. Midwest Area Reports - Tom had handouts for the directors. They were as follows: Midwest Area Report by Dan Root, NASCOE Midwest Area Executive Committee Person; Mini-Legislative Conference Report by Chris Hollis, Midwest Area Legislative Chair; and the NASCOE Position Papers. Three position papers were taken to the hill. They were fiscal year 2005 Appropriations, Homeland Security and Animal Identification. After meeting with RMA officials the Crop Insurance Reform paper will be implemented through the department. Midwest Area Rally – Iowa has several people planning to attend the Midwest Area Rally on April 23 & 24. IASCOE delegates will be Rosie Kahl and Tammy Eibey. COMMITTEE REPORTS Benefits and Legislative – Steve and Terry gave report. Mike Houston and Steve Abbas will have a report on the Mini-Legislative Conference during the Committee Meeting on Friday. Derryl will have comments from State Office and take questions or concerns. The Health Savings Account doesn’t currently apply to FSA but may in the future. Steve and Terry thought this would be a benefit because this account would roll over into the next year versus loosing the unused portion of your savings which is the option that is currently in effect. They will start off their committee meeting going over Benefits – giving the other committee members an opportunity to attend the Legislative portion. Awards – Connie gave report. We have approximately 50 sick leave awards to be presented and 2 distinguished service awards. Scholarships – Vicki gave report. There were 17 applications and 4 will be awarded scholarships of $300.00 each. Cindy Pistek will be chairperson of scholarships for the 2004-2005 year. She hopes to do everything on the web-site, as it would be a savings to IASCOE. She would also like to change the deadline to be postmarked January 31st. Membership – Dan gave report.
We have 16 counties that will receive certificates for either 5 –
10 – 15 – 20 – 25 – 30 – 35 or 40 consecutive years of 100%
membership. Three counties,
Dickinson, Story and Polk have 45 years of 100% membership.
Currently NASCOE has no recognition for a county with over 40 years
of 100% membership. Jeff
Davis brought a sample plaque for the directors to see.
A plaque similar to the one Jeff brought would be approximately
$30.00. Terry moved and Rich seconded we purchase a plaque for all
counties that achieve 45, 50, 55, 60 years (and so on) of 100% membership.
Jeff Davis will have these plaques made and it will be his decision
on the appearance of the plaque. Motion
carried by all directors. For
the 2003-2004 year we had 85.7% membership with 40 associate members. Publicity – Tammy gave report. We discussed this earlier in the meeting when we reviewed the web-site update. OTHER ITEMS -Election of Officers – We will meet at 10:30 A.M. to elect officers and take director pictures. -Wisconsin Convention – Will be held April 16 & 17 -Indiana Convention – Will be June 25 -National Convention – Will be in Baltimore July 28 – 31. -Meeting was adjourned at 10:00 P.M. Back To TopIASCOE DIRECTORS MINUTES
April 2, 2004 10:40
A.M. Officers Present: Tom Lane, President; Alan Donaldson, Vice President; Sue Beemer, Secretary/ Treasurer Directors Present: Rosie Kahl, John Bahnsen, Connie Safley, Steve Kennedy, Joni Birkhofer, Rich Kleppe, Dan Wells, Terry Pauling, Tammy Eibey, John Landgraf, Denise Dugan and Sandra Johnson. New Directors Present: Elaine Gordon, Cindy Mensen, Julie Hall and Cindy Pistek. Guests Present: Mike Houston, Trice Smith, Jolene Fechter, Kathy White, Steve Abbas, Jeff Davis and NASCO President Steve Morrison. President Tom Lane called the
meeting to order. ELECTION OF OFFICERS
First on the agenda was the election of officers. John nominated Tom Lane for President and Dan seconded the motion. Alan moved nominations cease, Connie seconded and motion carried unanimously. John nominated Alan Donaldson for Vice President. Rosie moved nominations cease, Dan seconded and motion carried unanimously. Tom nominated Sue Beemer for Secretary/Treasurer and Connie seconded. Alan moved nominations cease, Terry seconded and motion carried unanimously. OTHER BUSINESS Derryl McLaren, State Executive Director, will talk about staff ceilings and how workload played a part in that determination at approximately 2:15 P.M. at the Benefits and Legislative Committee meeting. He will entertain questions at that time. NASCOE President, Steve Morrison had recently returned from Washington, D.C. and discussed some items. Dollars are very tight and trying to find ways to save money. The contract for training with Farm Loan employees was set up last year and is on going. This will not have a drastic impact in the State Office budget. OMB will address short falls in budget with a new strategic plan that will assign a cost to every output the County Office does. This might be the next opportunity to work on PT classification. OMB’s interest is the dollar bottom line. If we can justify a dollar amount for each job we do we may be able to incorporate that with classification of PT’s. We are also moving towards a pay for performance pay scale. The big push is for completion of certifying our CLU’s as soon as possible. After this is completed it will save many days in workload. It will have a big effect on all compliance activities and reconstitutions. Steve also discussed E-Gov. Only a small amount of producers want to use this at the current time. As time goes on it will play a bigger role in the County Office. Mike Houston and Steve Abbas represented IASCOE at the Mini Legislative Conference in Washington D.C. They presented a very good report on their activities while in Washington. NASCOE has hired the Redding Firm, a very well respected agency on the hill. We took pictures of the 2003-2004 directors and the 2004-2005 directors. Meeting adjourned at 11:55 A.M. Respectfully submitted Sue Beemer IASCOE Secretary/Treasurer PT Taylor County FSA ________________________________________________________
Benefits and Legislative Committee MeetingApril 2nd Called to order by Steve Kennedy and Terry Pauling at 1:40 p.m. The following committee members were present: District 1 Jeff Davis District 2 Steve Abbas District 3 Karen McNeil District 4 Pat Warmbier District 5 Steve Kennedy District 6 Kathy White District 7 Cindy Bebont District 8 Bart Griffith District 9 Jon Bartenhagen Dan Root, MWA Exec., and Steve Morrison, NASCOE President, were our only guests present at the beginning of the meeting. Steve Waller, CED Clay Co., presented a resolution for Veteran’s Preference for county office employees. The resolution states that county office employees are not eligible for veteran’s preference, as defined in the Veterans’ Preference Act of 1944, as amended. By law, veterans, who are disabled or who served on active duty in the Armed Forces during certain specified time periods or in military campaigns are entitled to preference over others in hiring from competitive lists of eligible and also in retention during reductions in force. The resolution asks that IASCOE establish Veteran’s Preference for county office employees. The resolution received a second from Steve Abbas. After a short discussion on procedure, it was decided that the committee could recommend this resolution to the entire assembly for ratification. If so ratified, the resolution would be sent to NASCOE for further study and inclusion in items discussed with administration at the national level. The motion passed with a unanimous voice vote. Steve Kennedy discussed the new Flexible Savings Accounts and the tax savings each participating individual receives. Reimbursements from some insurance companies are now automatic. Information that sent directly to the insurance company, such as prescriptions, will be forwarded to the FSAP administrators and automatically refunded to the participating individual. This allows for much less paperwork having to be sent in for reimbursement of eligible expenses. Everyone is encouraged to participate in the Flexible Savings Account Program. Health Savings Accounts, which were part of last year’s Medicare bill last year, may be available in the future. More information about Health Savings Account can be found by searching the internet. Disney discount cards have been discontinued, but Sea World and several other attractions still have discount cards available. To obtain a discount card, contact Steve Kennedy or Terry Pauling. Your request for a discount card will forwarded to the NASCOE benefits chairperson. Jim Mace, J&M Marketing, asked FSA employees to review their insurance withholdings, if they have recently switched from the CO to the GS level. The withholdings are not automatically picked up during this transfer, so it is important to verify the premium payments are being withheld. Terry Pauling announced that all of the NASCOE position papers are posted on the NASCOE website, www.NASCOE.org as well as in the March edition of the IASCOE newsletter. The position papers include Animal Identification Plan; Opportunities In Crop Insurance Reform; Homeland Security and the Farm Service Agency; and FY2005 Appropriations. Mike Houston and Steve Abbas represented IASCOE members during the recent Mini-Legislative Conference in Washington D.C. Mike and Steve stated that they met with several of our congressional members or staff, were well received and believed the meetings were very productive. The mini-conference was set up to touch base with key congressional contacts, particularly those dealing with budgetary committees. Mike and Steve indicated that we need to attend local meetings held by our congressional members to keep in touch with them on all issues. The committee joins all IASCOE members in thanking Mike and Steve for representing IASCOE and its members, so well. Terry reviewed statistics from the NASCOE position paper on FSA staffing levels, which show the administration has set FY05 FSA staffing at 9,284 employees. Terry introduced our SED, Derryl McLaren, who spoke about the D.C. staffing level process. Mr. McLaren stated that 2002, 2003 and the estimated 2004 workload numbers were used by planners in Washington D.C. to achieve staffing levels and distribute them to the states. 36 states lost staff positions, 12 states gained staff positions and 2 states remained the same. Mr. McLaren stated that the 1165 series complicated the discussions in their attempt to reduce national staffing levels by 371 positions. The Iowa STC used the average of 2001 and 2002 workload years for each county to distribute staffing positions in the state. Only Type A and Type C workload figures were used in the averages, because Type B workload calculations only deal with temporary programs, such as disaster. The State Office did review 2003 workload numbers, but decided not to use them because the difference was insignificant. The 2001/2002 averages were used last year to make staffing level decisions, so it was decided to continue to use those same levels as the projected 2004 workload was similar in nature to 2001/2002. Iowa is currently overstaffed and will be required to obtain approval from officials in D.C. before filling any positions. We will be able to keep 75 TO employees in FY04. Most of those employees will be used to assist PT’s who are working on GIS.
Mr. McLaren noted that Washington D.C. officials reduced FY04 travel funds by 35% on for County Office travel and 5% for Federal travel. Some items to watch for in the future include a new Pay Performance System. NASCOE is currently developing a position paper on this subject. GIS is here to stay. We need to embrace it, develop it into an accurate accounting of our farms, and learn to utilize it to its fullest. GIS will ultimately save us time and precious resources. Finally, it has become clear that officials in D.C. are expecting great things out of e-Gov. We, as county office employees, need to learn how e-Gov works, which will enable us to teach our farm producers how to utilize it for their and our benefit. Having no further business, the meeting adjourned at 3:25 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Steve Kennedy, Co-Chair Terry Pauling, Co-Chair. ________________________________________________________
Publicity Committee Minutes April 2, 2004 1:30 p.m. Neptune Meeting Room Roll Call started the meeting with a representative from each District being present. 1. Larry Lago – Dickinson 2. Lisa Forburger – Kossuth 3. Connie Straw – Howard 4. Deb Ostrander – Green 5. Kitty Benda – Marshall 6. Trice Smith – Benton 7. Carole Dawson, Taylor 8. Elaine Gordon, Union 9. Dee Lehn – Keokuk 10. Tammy Eibey - Chairperson Website and newsletter on the web were discussed with positive comments from the committee. A discussion was held on making sure that all counties in each district are notified to send news articles for the newsletter that is completed quarterly, March, June, September and December. Ways to accomplish this was discussed. We also need to include title, author and County on each article. We had 2 national awards last year in Iowa, Lisa Forburger, Human Interest, and Roseanne Woerner, Humor. Meeting was adjourned at 2:30. Lisa Forburger, Secretary
IASCOE GENERAL ASSEMBLY April 2nd –3rd 2004 Convenes 3:30
P.M.
The 2004 Annual Convention convened at 3:30 P.M. on April 2nd 2004, in the Zodiac Room at the Starlite Best Western in Fort Dodge, IA. The following people briefly addressed the assembly: James Mace – J M Marketing Dennis Olson – State Administration Officer Dan Root – NASCOE Midwest Area Executive Committee Person Steve Morrison – NASCOE President The General Assembly resumed Saturday, April 3rd, at 9:30 A.M. Alan Donaldson, IASCOE Vice President, opened the Saturday morning session. The HHB 1/194th Field Artillery, Fort Dodge, IA had the presentation of colors. Sandy Johnson, PT from Washington County, sang the Star Spangled Banner. Becky Marcum, PT from Monona County, led the assembly in the Pledge of Allegiance. Julie Hall, CED Kossuth County and Steve Waller, CED Clay County had a very nice slide presentation and spiral bound book acknowledging military personnel of FSA employees and their families. Vice President Alan Donaldson acknowledged our out-of-state guests. They were: Steve Morrison, NASCOE President from Missouri Dan Root, Midwest Area Executive Committee Person from Minnesota Mary Aukes and Marilyn Dunn from Minnesota James Mace, JM Marketing
James Mace, representing J M Marketing, briefly discusses some of their insurance policies that are available. Anyone interested in any of the policies they offer, should contact them for further information. Jim then presented IASCOE with a $100.00 donation. Derryl McLaren, State Executive Director Alan introduced Derryl McLaren, State Executive Director. Derryl wants to assure our agency is farmer friendly and keep the farmer headed in the right direction. Everyone needs to embrace change. GIS and E-gov are two very important changes entering our lives. They will have a dramatic impact on compliance workload. Offices will have additional help when we get our maps and start certifying CLU’s. Merlin Plagge, State Committee Chairperson Merlin Plagge, State Committee Chair, was the next speaker. He brought greetings from all the Committee Members. They are as follows: Rozanne King, Rafael Morales, William Northey and Dan Petersen. The State Committee has just completed 8 meetings around the state, discussing procedures with County Committee Members. They feel this opens up the line of communication between SC and COC. We need to have the COC structure in place to insure all programs are carried out in a fair way. The State Committee and County Committee are both very appreciative of all the work it took to accomplish putting the new farm bill in place. Recognition of IASCOE Past Presidents At this time the IASCOE Past Presidents that were in attendance were recognized. They were Larry Niles, Mike Houston, Steve Abbas, Jerry Frank, Jolene, Fechter, Trice Smith, and John Landgraf. The 2004-2005 IASCOE Directors are as follows: Introduction of 2004-2005 Directors District 1: Rosie Kahl and Alan Donaldson District 2: Cindy Pistek and Julie Hall District 3: Tammy Eibey and Cindy Mensen District 4: Cheryl Nickolisen and John Landgraf District 5: Connie Safley and Steve Kennedy District 6: Johi Birkhofer and Rich Kleppe District 7: Sue Beemer and Dan Wells District 8: Elaine Gordon and Terry Pauling District 9: Sandra Johnson and Tom Lane Committee Reports The Committee Chairperson respectfully submitted the minutes from their committee meetings that were held on Friday, April 2nd, 2004. The motion carried to accept all minutes as read. The four scholarship winners were: Bryan Schmidt, Melissa Gerlach, Alycia Heneke and Tyler Schwarck. They each will receive a $300.00 scholarship in the fall to the college they are attending. There were two distinguished service awards this year. Becky Kunze received the Community Service Award and Patrice Smith received Service to IASCOE/NASCOE. Resolution The motion carried to forward the following resolution through the appropriate channels for consideration: NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY IASCOE AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. Formally establish “Veteran’s Preference” according to Title 5, United States Code for the County FSA Office Personnel System in compliance with the Veteran’s Preference Act of 1944. Doug Frago, Deputy Administrator for Field Operations Vice President Donaldson introduced our next speaker, Doug Frago, Deputy Administrator for Field Operations. Doug has held his current position for the past two years and has enjoyed working with NASCOE during that time. It is very important to have representation in Washington. With the completion of DCP the stress level between producers and County Office employees has lowered considerably. PT reclassification across the board isn’t going to happen, but there could be other ways to take segments of that plan and implement those. Doug also discussed budget and staffing. There will probably be no supplemental funding this year. Washington D C looks at all positions to see if they are critical to fill. Employees need to be careful in their decisions in using the Internet. Doug felt NASCOE should focus on things that can be changed such as; COC appointments, receipt for service, customer statement, and office consolidations.
Marilyn Adams, Founder Farm Safety 4 Just Kids Marilyn Adams, President, founder and spokesperson of Farm Safety 4 Just Kids was the guest speaker for the Convention. She had a very nice presentation and slide show explaining her organization. Raffle Winners
Book donated by Marilyn Adams Phyllis Reineke – Taylor County Twenty-five dollar raffle winners were: Terry Dalen – Dickinson County Lorene DeBoer – Lyon County Sally Allan – Butler County Vicki Pederson – Floyd County One hundred dollar winner: Mark VonArb – Sioux County Two hundred dollar winner: Mark VonArb – Sioux County Congratulation to all the winners!! Adjournment Vice President Donaldson adjourned the meeting at 12:30 P.M. Jeff Davis moved and Dan Wells seconded the motion. Respectfully submitted Sue Beemer IASCOE Secretary/Treasurer PT Taylor County FSA ____________________________________________________ Back To 2004 IASCOE Convention Home Page
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