Midwest Rally
Indianapolis , IN
Saturday, April 19, 2008

 The meeting convened at 10:30 am.

The presentation of colors was provided by the Grissom Air Force Base Honor Guard, and the National Anthem was led by Deb Esselman-Baird-WI. Jacob Maxwell gave the invocation.

Jon Williams, Midwest Area Exec welcomed everyone and gave some of his background. He served at Alternate Exec under Mark Van Hoose. He described how he came to become involved in WASCOE/NASCOE.

Appointment of Secretary : Deb Esselman-Baird was appointed, all in favor.

Appointment of Parliamentary : Dan Root was appointed, all in favor.

Roll Call of Delegates: Done by Secretary

Delegate List

Approval of Minutes : Motion to approve the minutes as posted to the Midwest Area Website by M. Van Hoose/T Shephard. All in favor, motion carried.

Robert Redding, NASCOE Legislative Consultant: This is the 6 th farm bill that he has been involved with. There are a lot of issues involved with this bill and it is probably the worst scenario that he has seen. He discussed the following:

* Farm Bill: Currently on the third extension of the current bill. They will need to get all players engaged. It should come together by April 25 th. He gave some history on the bill. The House came up with $6 billion over the budget and the Senate version over $25 billion over. Now it’s down to over $10 billion over the baseline. Getting the money to pay for the bill is the problem now. There are many debates happening regarding funding. The next meeting on the conference is April 22, hopefully there will be some progress at this meeting. The staff has been working hard behind the scenes. Things are tightening up and when the money is figured out, it can close up quickly. There is a lot of optimism that this can be resolved. Permanent Disaster legislation is very important to FSA and agriculture. Baukus has held firm on getting this legislation, but funding is a problem. The latest offer is $3.8 billion for disaster legislation. There must be a strong nutrition program and some of the disaster money went toward that program. We need to have the disaster legislation in place. The House wants to eliminate or reduce direct payments, but this may only be trimmed back. Payment Limitations is a very large issue. $500,000 AGI has been proposed, but not sure on how this will end up. If we don’t get a farm bill by April 25, what happens? This could get really ugly without a short term extension. Farm groups do not want extensions. It could fall back to the permanent laws. It would not be good for all commodities. There was a report done on the impact of falling back on the permanent law. He has shared this with NASCOE officers. Office Closure language is in both bills. One version has NO office closures, but it remains to be seen how it will be finalized. Info Technology was addressed but you cannot determine that there wasn’t funding allowed. Farm groups have requested IT funding to get the problem resolved. He feels that there will be funding found for IT. Conservation administration: there is a great debate on what agency will actually administer these programs, but it might not happen until reorganization.

* 2009 Ag Appropriations: He is concerned that in FY 2009 farm bill that is has office closure language in it. This would provide some type of insurance for FSA. NASCOE has never been stronger on House Ag Approps. We have many allies with the members of this committee. He is confident that this committee will be of great help to the

agency.

* Reorganization: This not about losing things, but gaining. We need to look ahead to ensure the future of FSA county offices. In 2002, the farm bill should have been a good piece of legislation, but there was no office closure protection in it and conservation administration was also lost. This new bill is our opportunity to make things right. Chairman Peterson is determined to start reorganization after the farm bill is passed. His message is that we should be prepared. We may have a very short time frame to work within to answer questions on reorganization. We need to be ready to deliver a strong NASCOE message. Across the board, commodity prices are strong for now and look to stay strong for a few years. Congress is looking at having FSA administer conservation. There is also concern regarding the number of FSA offices that could administer farm bill programs. NASCOE must be able to support our advocates with information. We could have less money to work with in the new farm. Need to identify how much good the farmers will actually get out of the farm bill. We need to see how things will align with urban constituents and farmers in the future. The non-producing base numbers will expand and this puts pressure on Ag decisions. There is increasing support to move in the direction of green payments. NASCOE must be in a position to deal with issues regarding reorganization. PAC is an area that could be of great assistance when working with legislatures.

Bonnie Heinzman, NASCOE President : She thanked everyone for attending. We work hard and we play hard and that is a good thing. She thanked Darlene Schouten for her hard work as the NASCOE Secretary.

She discussed the following:

• CED Reclassification . This was initiated by FSA due to workload going away and they need a different process to grade CED’s. Mr. Chott will discuss this more in detail.
• PT Reclassification : This was initiated by NASCOE and has been worked on for 8 years. NASCOE has assembled 4 different groups to work on this issue. Position descriptions have been submitted 3 different times and Washington turned it down every time. Mark Van Hoose is on the PT classification task force now and they submitted positions that they felt were being done right now in the county offices. They are: assistant CED, office coordinator and district specialist. These positions already exist and they need to be recognized. These have been submitted to HRD and a cursory review was done, however, CED reclassification took the foreground. HRD needs to do an official review, then management would have to review and approve them, and State Offices would have to state that they need them. The process is long and she asks for everyone’s patience in this. They are also going to request management to do an audit on work actually done by PT’s.
• Performance Plans and Awards : Why can’t we have a handbook? All we have to work with is notices. The five tier performance plan could be successful and could be a good management tool. It could be beneficial for employees, but before it can be successful, it needs to be revised. At first it was sent out from the top down as a cookie-cutter approach. We need to be able to go to the supervisor and discuss how the individual employee can accomplish what is expected and how they can exceed. Since Awards are tied to performance plans, employees need to know what the guideline is to achieve an award for Outstanding or Superior performance.
• Reorganization : The NASOCE website has the information posted. It is important for NASCOE to be pro-active. NASCOE does not feel this should be leader driven. It needs to be member driven. Employees need to provide input on how to do our jobs better. Look at section 2 of the Task Force Report. It lists options. Status Quo, reassignment of responsibilities and duties (programs, etc), and Agency merger. Mergers can work, but sometimes the individual personalities involved interfere with this process. If you can think of other possibilities, please submit them. If you have any questions, please contact your NASCOE representative.
• Other comments : She has observed how dedicated FSA employees are to their jobs, their families and their spiritual faith. She thanked everyone present for their dedication and their service to FSA.

Q&A Session:

Q: We hear about soil conservation districts being involved in discussions in Washington. There are many of their offices and staff positions cut due to budget, so to have them administer conservation programs in the next farm bill is not feasible. How does congress expect this situation to be capable of administering the conservation programs.

A. Redding: He described the process and he said he will use what was said as a concern to legislators. The County Committee members and farm groups are not flooding Congress with information the structure of the county committee system and it is vital that the importance of the county committee system and administration be communicated to legislators.

Q: Is congress aware of the impact of NRCS not working on CRP anymore.

A: Redding: He doesn’t think that congress is aware of this because it is more of an internal issue. He also discussed the impact of budget on NRCS.

Q: Is congress aware that even though farmers are getting good prices for their crops, they will not be making any more money due to higher input costs? Even though prices are high today, they probably will not remain as such.

A: Redding: Yes and No. The farmers are not telling legislators that they need a farm bill. The pressure from home does not seem as great as in the past. Commodity groups will be the ones that will identify problem areas of the farm bill.

Q: Congress needs to aware of the high input costs. Crop reporting is shared by 3 agencies and the deadline date seems to be dictated by RMA. The role of the District Director in the performance review process needs to be addressed. We need to update our IT system. At this time the system is not working properly and there is great concern about the reliability of the system if and when the farm bill is finally passed. County Committee leasing authority must be restored. It has created a great amount of problems and this needs to be taken care of.

A: Bonnie: As far as the role as the DD as reviewer is concerned, this varies from state to state. We need to watch what is going on and we need a clearer definition of the DD role. Leasing: this is a major problem nationwide. In one state there were 19 leases submitted and the majority were in Washington for over 180 days. There will be Regional Leasing Officers hired to aid in those situations. The jobs will be announced soon. NASCOE will continue to work on this issue.

Q: We must establish firmer relationships with farm groups to aid in addressing problems for FSA.

A: Redding: It’s all about money. Cotton producers are heading up a letter regarding IT issues. NASCOE did not initiate this. The concern is that money for IT will have to come for some other place. The COC needs to be more active. This will be critical in the reorganization process. Farm organizations will be of great assistance at that time. FSA Tomorrow blind-sided NASCOE because USDA went directly to congress and only delivered a memo to NASCOE. We must do a better job in the reorganization discussion.

Q: It sounds like Chairman Peterson is sympathetic to FSA line of thought, is there someone on the Senate side with similar sentiments?

A: Redding, not at this time. There are some who more positive and open-minded, but none as strong as Chairman Peterson.

Q: Is there a memo that the task force can get to the general membership that could be sent to members and encourage their input.

A: Bonnie: She will look into sending out a memo that can be sent out. One of the comments regarding the information on the website is that it is too long and they will work on making this more brief and informative. One thing folks can do is sign up for the email alerts when the website is updated. They are trying to get all the information posted on the site. It is very helpful to sign up for the alerts.

Q: Performance reviews-there was a training session that described that the performance evaluation will eventually tie into base pay, not just awards. This will become critical in the review process.

A: Bonnie: There has been nothing in writing concerning this, but Activity reporting could have an impact on the entire system. It looks like there will be end of year workload reporting at this time.

Q: There are specific questions regarding the 3 scenarios regarding reorganization. What type of input is NASCOE looking for regarding this? Where do we do from here? Should we go back to the states and encourage the members to send their input on this subject?

A: Bonnie: The membership is to send answers to the subjects on the website. FAQ’s will be posted. The more people involved, the better off we will be.

Q: It is important to be pro-active in reorganization. We need to get a committee together to discuss this with Collin Peterson and this could be of great benefit in the reorganization process. This should happen soon. Nothing will be done until after the farm bill, but we need to be ready to do this soon.

A: Redding: he agreed that we must work with him closely, but Redding believes that Peterson views himself as an advocate for FSA. We must respond to his proposals and offer him finite solutions. This is one of the things that the task force identified and that they need to meet with Peterson.

Q: We must be prepared because reorganization can come at us quickly. We must realize that Peterson has some idea in mind regarding reorganization and do we have any idea of his thoughts?

A: Redding: At this time, everything is on hold until the farm bill is passed.

Jon Williams reiterated that the membership must give their ideas on reorganization and it is very important to read the information on website so they can get an idea on NASCOE’s positions.

Jim Mace, JM Marketing : he announced that he has packets of information available and be sure to pick some up. You have to be aware of the limitations on obtaining long term care and it is important to buy this early before you may not be eligible. There is a report from the Insurance Commissioners regarding types of insurance. Be sure to share this with your staff and the COC.

Lunch

Reconvene at 1:15 pm

Military Tribute : Deb Esselman-Baird

Deputy Administrator of Field Operations Office (DAFO), John Chott: Thanked everyone for their hard work. He has been with the agency since 1979 and since 1990 has been with DAFO. For the last eight years he has been dealing with NASCOE issues. DAFO tries to have representatives at all Rallies. In 2001, the budget was in good shape. After 9-11, things have tightened up. CED upgrades were effective since 2001. He has had to deal with the consent decree issues and FSA Tomorrow and office consolidations since then.

• Office Closures : the appropriations bill is key. Zero personnel offices were still allowed to be closed. FSA Tomorrow proposed to have over 700 offices to be closed and then it was stopped. Now we are operating on the 2008 appropriations bills. Plan was to close 230 offices, 74 were actually closed-18 offices with no personnel have been closed very recently. We are not sure where things are headed at this time. Not sure what will be in the farm bill. The Senate version allows closing offices with 2 people or less and within 20 miles of another office. At this time we are shut down on office closures. Shared management is being used more often. We are not getting more permanent staff.
• Reorganization : a subject that is not being discussed in Washington DC. He feels that staffing should remain static through 2009.
• COT and FLOT position above ceiling : 80 COTS and 60 FLOT positions are funded from Washington. After a year the state absorbs the slot and allows that to be filled again from the Washington fund.
• Farm Bill : The farm bill does have monies set aside for administration.
• Performance Reviews : It is a good system if used properly. The problem is that the cookie-cutter standard has been instituted at this time and we need to approach it from a different point of view. However, we need more training on this in order to do it right. At the AO conference this summer, there will be training done to help develop individual standards that can be used in the field. We need to be sure to have dialog on the standards. Many complaints have come from the field. The DD reviews the CED and PT’s performance. The DD does have the right to change the rating according to the handbook. In some cases it is necessary to have the rating reviewed. It provides checks and balances. Since awards are based on ratings, it can vary between states. Some states requested GS and CO funds to be co-mingled. Too many outstanding and superior ratings cause the award money to be distorted. It is very difficult for supervisors when giving ratings. They hope to provide more guidance on writing standards and doing ratings. It is clear we need to move away from the cookie-cutter approach.
• Leasing - this was left out of the 2006 appropriations bill. There is an issue with leasing authority. There are 16 leasing positions that have been approved. Some states will share a position. Things are slowly getting taken care of. It looks like the old system for leasing is gone.
• CED Classification : Since we are not going to have workload to fall back on, a different system had to be developed. There will be no downgrades when the classification comes through. Bonnie was on the task force. When the position becomes vacant, then the position could potentially be an 11, if the county meets the new criteria. There will no be a lot of downgrades. A review can be requested if the supervisor feels the classification is incorrect. A change came through last year regarding downgrading District Director and that was reviewed and it did not come into effect.
• PT Classification : HRD needs to make a determination on this.
• Farm Loan : there may be a new classification on a position between a FLM and FLO.
• PII : this is very important issue. Different situations come to surface every now and then. It is a constant problem and many different people get involved, OIG, etc. Washington DC is working on taking Social Security numbers off 1099’s.
• Lobbying : cannot use federal equipment to do any type of lobbying. There is a concern about associations using federal equipment for their business. In May, all associations will be meeting in Washington DC to provide clear guidelines on the allowable use of government equipment. We must be very careful on the use of equipment.
• Security Clearances : this is working better because they have a direct line with the FBI. They are now in the process of clearing current employees that have never been checked out. If someone has a felony conviction more than 5 years ago and they have been a good employee, then not much is done. It is not the intent to rummage in your past and alert your supervisor. Washington needs to do the background check and certain circumstances need to be addressed.
• Office Violence: Weekly there are reports regarding violence in the workplace. Some instances are extremely serious. Be alert to co-workers and producers and changes in their behaviors. You must report any type of threat or act of violence. Have not had any one hurt by any producers and remember that some can be barred from the office.
• Questions : Regarding the role of the District Director as a reviewer. More training on performance plans are needed. What steps are being taken to ensure that training and software to be delivered in a timely method to the county offices. Shared management: this is being used more due to the fact that offices cannot be combined at this time. Is there any thought of replacing the current IT system? There is thought to just keep things working the way it is at this time. They are just holding things together. Security ID Cards-the goal is that all employees will have one. Can the money that is saved by not filling CED positions be used to improve IT? NO. What are too many outstanding performance reports? There is really no “ideal” number. There was a lot of discussion on performance reviews.

Announcements

Break

Area Committee Meetings – See Midwest Area Website for Complete Committee Reports

Awards-Erin Hreskowsky-Midwest Area Award Members

Service To NASCOE-Deb Esselman-Baird, WI

Service to Community-Steve Abbas, IA

Service to FSA/Agriculture-Steven Turner, IL

Benefits-Dee Ann Lehn : Discussed the Travel site: it has earned $460 in royalties to date. Anyone can use this site. The NASCOE site has updated their benefit information. Many vacation packages can be obtained by contacting places directly. Cell phone discounts are available. The National Chairperson is working on discounts on wellness packages. Blue Cross/Blue Shield also offers discounts for $23 per year. There are negotiations for discounts through Sam’s.

Membership-Ronda Bozek-Smith : Membership is at 88% nationally. There is good information on the membership page of the NASCOE site. Application forms and payroll deduction forms are on the web. We need to share ideas on how to get people motivated, increase membership numbers, and get new employees to join. Anyone who has ideas on membership should send those ideas to Ronda. The state of Indiana did a 770 checklist on why you should become a member.

Publicity-Barbara Stoll : There were issues regarding some items in the manual. The suggestion was to allow the newsletter to be in electronic format. Midwest Area Publicity Winners were announced and given plaques.

Best Website: Deb Esselman-Baird, WI

Best Feature Story-Human Interest: Vicki Reckhemmer, IA-also won the National Award

Best Humorous Story: Charlene Neukomm, IL-she also won the National competition

Best Newsletter single Issue-Teresa Homquist , MN

Best Newsletter- Kent and Diane Mason, IL

Scholarship/Emblems-Tom Oasen : Scholarship Winners for the Midwest Area is Natalie Cleneger, MO. There were 63 applications. NASCOE members scholarships: JM Marketing is sponsoring this and it was determined to give all five applications a scholarship. Patty Taylor, IN and Matthew Wallace, OH won these scholarships in the Midwest. EMBLEMS: There was a free shipping day on Leap day and April’s Fool’s Day. We are at a 9% commission on $20,000. The goal is to sell $30,000 for a 10% return. KEEP BUYING!!!

Programs-Jake Bourget: Has been a Midwest Area committee person for over 10 years. The Program Committee is one of the most successful committees that NASCOE has. The direct line to Washington DC has proven to be very effective. It is getting more popular. There were 68 submissions nationally. Most of them do come from the Midwest Area. If you go to the NASCOE site, all the program issues are posted. Be sure to let others know that they can submit suggestions.

Negotiation Consultant-Charlene Neukomm: Had over 80 items submitted and the issues are reviewed and Darlene Schouten sends them to Washington to be reviewed. The Negotiation Committee will be going to Washington DC the last week of April to do the negotiation process with management. This is a great opportunity for employees to submit suggestions.

Legislative/CAPWIZ/PAC-Kevin Beekman: he is on the Reorganization task force. Please send any ideas to him. He discussed the following:

* Home email addresses: Please send any home email changes to Kevin right away. Please be very careful NOT to use your work computer for any type of contact with legislators.

* CAPWIZ: overall only 28% actually send out alerts. This is a very effective means of communication with legislators. Tammy Eibey is the national CAPWIZ coordinator.

* Sick Leave- Moran from VA proposed a plan to give you some credit for your sick leave.

* FEHB- a bill was proposed to raise the age of dependent children from 22 to 25. He is not sure that any action will be taken on the two proposed bills, but it is a start. Please be sure to send out any CAPWIZ alerts on these subjects. There is a lot of support for these bills because it affects ALL federal employees.

* PAC- You can send a one-time contribution rather than a payroll deduction if you are uncomfortable with it.

* Farm Bill: the Soil and Water Conservation Districts are against FSA administering conservation because in many states they receive a reimbursement for their help. The local level NRCS employees would rather NOT have the associated paperwork and would prefer to just do the technical work. If congress passes the farm bill, it would create a tremendous amount of work with it being so late in the fiscal year.

* Reorganization: Congressman Peterson, MN, wants to look at reorganization after the farm bill is passed. The congressman is very structured and to the point. He will not discuss any reorganization plans until the farm bill is passed. The task force met in Kansas City to discuss any possible reorganization. NASCOE must be pro-active in this process. There are many facets to this discussion. It was very evident that everyone wanted this issue to be membership driven. The NASCOE website has questions that they want the members to send in their input. The NASCOE officers are going to all the rallies and discuss reorganization and listen to what the members have to say. What are your concerns, fears, ideas? Where do we go from here? All information from the rallies will be complied and discussed and it will be decided where to go from here. We need to find out where Mr. Peterson wants the reorganization to be headed. NASCOE is collecting ideas.

Input/Ideas/Concerns/Questions/Comments from the floor

* Two different managers in the same building create a problem with the GS/CO differences.

* How far does NASCOE want the members go with suggestion?

* Need to keep politics out of the state director and STC positions.

* We need to promote our strengths and what we are good at.

* If we converted to GS, a large number of PT’s would not grade out at 7’s and many CED’s would not grade out at 12’s.

* We need to be careful what we do with our suggestions. NACD was a good example of how we share our information.

* Congress seems to be interested in things that save money. Status Quo seems to be the road to failure. We should embrace any program they want us to administer. Recommendation was “don’t say no” to other programs.

* Emphasize that we can be the lead agency and we adapt well to change. With the CO status, we can bring on temps on a as-needed basis.

* The COC system is important to preserve.

* We must be transparent to the membership will these ideas.

* We can piecemeal changes in responsibilities without actual mergers of agencies.

* Together we stand, divided we fall. We must look at all aspects.

* Congress is facing budget problems and this will continue to be a problem. We must tie in our ideas showing how money could be saved. Status Quo will result in death for our agency. Mergers may not work out well, but we could shift responsibilities.

* GIS offers many opportunities for absorbing responsibilities.

Other Area Business

National Data Base - We must develop a data base for home emails in order to contact members via home computers. Jon has initiated a form that could be of assistance in this process. This has many applications and it is hoped that this can be developed.

Candidacy Announcements: Jon Williams for Midwest Area Exec. Charlene Neukomm for the Midwest Area Alternate position. Darlene Schouten for NASCOE Secretary.

Conventions :

WI and MI: May 2-3

National at Omaha, NE in August

Rally will be in Iowa in 2009. Plans are being finalized

OH-Dublin OH on November 14-15

MN-July 17-18 in New Ulm. Thursday will be golfing. The City of New Ulm will have a German festival.

MO-Aug 22-23 in Columbia.

Motion to adjourn : R Tillman/T. Morrison. All in favor. Meeting adjourned at 4:30 pm

Respectfully submitted,  

Deb Esselman-Baird

Committee Chairpersons

Area Executive Committeeperson	Jonathan Williams, WI
Alt. Area Executive Committeeperson	Charlene Neukomm, IL
AWARDS	Erin Hrsekowsky, IN
BENEFITS	Dee Ann Lehn, IA
EMBLEMS	Tom Oasen, WI
LEGISLATIVE	Kevin Beekman, MN
MEMBERSHIP	Ronda Bozek-Smith, MI
NEGOTIATIONS	Charlene Neukomm, IL
PUBLICITY	Barb Stoll, OH
PROGRAMS	Jake Bourget, WI
SCHOLARSHIP	Tom Oasen, WI
WEBMASTER	Deborah Esselman, WI