Posted 1/11/2013

Posted 12/3/2012

TO: FOP PRESIDENTS, SECRETARYS & DIRECTORS

AUXILIARY STATE PRESIDENT AND SECRETARY

ASSOCIATE’S STATE PRESIDENT AND SECRETARY

FROM; MARTY WILLIAMS PRESIDENT

SUBJECT: RALLY DAY 2013

RALLY DAY

Our annual Rally day is scheduled for Wednesday, January 23, 2013 at 9:30 A.M. Our meeting will be held at the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) auditorium, 1221 E. Broad Street, Coffee will be served from 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

Directors and Members attending should make appointments with their local

Delegates and Senators for Wedesday January 23,2013 after 12 PM and Also make appointments for Thursday January 24, 2012

Please do this before arriving on above date

BOARD MEETING

Board of Directors Meeting Tuesday January 22, 2013 – Time TBA

At the Hotel

RECEPTION AT CITY HALL

Wednesday January 23, 2013 5:30-7:30

Your reservations for the hotel will be made through the State Office for the State Executive Board and Directors only

Please contact Bonnie 804-745-6720 to reserve your room.

Buses will load at the Hotel on Wednesday Morning at 8:00 A.M.to go to the VDOT Bldg.

All Members are encouraged to ride the bus.

2 Nights stay will be paid for Directors outside the radius of 50 miles one way.

Two days Per Diem & Round trip mileage

ALL DIRECTORS WILL BE REQUIRED TO ATTEND ALL ACTIVITIES AS PART OF RALLY DAY. Buses will be provided to and from the hotel to the meeting and reception

Directors reports are due into the State Office by December 15, 2013

Address to Hotel for Directions

Holiday Inn Richmond Airport

445 International Center Drive,

Sandston, VA 23150

804-236-1111

Posted 11/9/12

• H.R. 324, legislation that would grant Federal law enforcement officers employed by the U.S. Department of Defense statutory arrest authority;
• H.R. 365/S. 657, the "National Blue Alert Act;"
• H.R. 4018/S. 1696, the "Public Safety Officers' Benefits Improvements Act;"
• H.R. 5742/S. 2554, the "Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act;" and
• H.R. 6062, the "Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program Reauthorization Act."

November 12 Congress returns to session.

Week of Nov 12 House GOP leadership elections.

November 14 Senate Democratic leadership elections.

November 15 Senate GOP leadership elections.

November 29 House Democratic leadership elections.

January 1 27 percent cut in Medicare payments to physicians scheduled to take effect.

January 2 Sequestration order scheduled to be entered.

January 3 New Congress sworn in.

January 20 Inauguration Day.

February President's budget due.

March 27 Continuing resolution expires.

April 15 Congressional budget resolution deadline.

May 27 Memorial Day. Earliest date by which reconciliation legislation has ever been adopted.

August August recess has sometimes in the past served as the backstop for adoption of reconciliation legislation.

October 1 FY 2014 begins.

Posted 8/20/2012

National Executive Board Newsletter

Please click here for June E-Newsletter:

Posted 10/17/2011

Many of the politicians working in this building say that we simply have to do more with less. More with less. We keep hearing that, but what they do NOT tell you is what that really means. It means there will be less cops on the street and more crime in your neighborhoods. It means more time to get a fire under control because there will be less firefighters and equipment responding when your home catches fire. It means more crimes will go uninvestigated and less criminals caught and prosecuted. It means your family will be less safe and the officers on the street will be in more danger.

The hiring program administered by the COPS Office has been part of our nation’s crime-fighting strategy for nearly two decades. Community oriented policing, zero tolerance, the broken windows theory, cops on the street. Abandoning these approaches is not a new public safety strategy, this is a public safety disaster. We cannot let this happen to our communities.

Posted 7/21/2011

Chuck Canterbury, National President of the Fraternal Order of Police, welcomed the introduction of H.R. 1332, the “Social Security Fairness Act.” in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“For more than ten years now, the FOP has been pushing for this repeal,” Canterbury said.  “Congress knows this issue well because it’s held six hearings on this issue in last few years.  The repeal of the WEP and GPO should be part of the discussion as Congress grapples with fiscal reform.”
                 
The bill was introduced in the House by Representatives Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA) and Howard L. Berman (D-CA).  The bill, which already has forty-eight (48) cosponsors, would repeal both the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) in current Social Security law.

The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) affects workers who spent some time in jobs not covered by Social Security and also worked other jobs where they paid Social Security taxes long enough to qualify for retirement benefits.  The provision has a disproportionate effect on law enforcement officers, who retire earlier than most other public employees and are more likely to begin a second career after they leave law enforcement.  Officers in this position are penalized and may have their Social Security benefit reduced by up to sixty (60%) percent.

“The WEP substantially reduces a benefit that workers had included and counted on when planning their retirement, and it substantially penalizes lower paid public employees with short careers or, like many retired law enforcement officers, those whose careers are evenly split inside and outside the Social Security system,” Canterbury explained.  “This is a loss of benefits to which they are entitled, not an adjustment for a ‘windfall.’”

Like the WEP, the Government Pension Offset was adopted to shore up the finances of the Social Security trust fund.  This “offset” law reduces by two-thirds the benefit received by surviving spouses who also collect a government pension. 

“Nine out of ten times,” Canterbury said, “this so-called ‘offset’ completely eliminates the spousal benefit even though the covered spouse paid Social Security taxes for many years, thereby earning the right to these benefits.”
                                                     

“The WEP and GPO provisions do not eliminate a windfall for workers, instead they have proved to be a windfall for the Federal government at the expense of public employees.  That’s not right and it’s not fair,” he said.  “Congress should repeal these inequitable provisions and pass the ‘Social Security Fairness Act.’”

 

10/13/2010

 9/30/2010

Written 9/8/2010

Letter from the Governor regarding Law Enforcement

                                   SENATE COMMITTEE APPROVES LEOSA BILL!!!

Chuck Canterbury, National President of the Fraternal Order of Police, welcomed today’s news that S. 1132, the “Law Enforcement Officers’ Safety Act Improvements Act,” was favorably reported by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on a unanimous voice vote.

“I want to first express my deep appreciation to Chairman Leahy for his commitment to this issue,” Canterbury said.  “I know he’s been trying to move the bill for us since late last year, and his persistence paid off today.”

Senator Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT), the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, is also the sponsor of S. 1132.  He had repeatedly placed the legislation on the Judiciary Committee’s agenda, but the weather, pressing nominations, and the threat of controversial amendments forced him to hold the bill over on several occasions.  The bill had broad bipartisan support with Senator Jefferson B. Sessions III (R-AL), the Committee’s Ranking Member, and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) as lead cosponsors.

“We’re very fortunate to have a champion like Chairman Leahy and strong supporters like Senator Sessions,” Canterbury said.  “Many of our retired officers are facing significant hurdles because some States have failed to implement the law as intended by Congress; this bill will really help them overcome those obstacles.”

The bill would improve certain provisions of the Law Enforcement Officers’ Safety Act (LEOSA), especially with respect to retired law enforcement officers, and would make clear that law enforcement officers employed by the Amtrak and Federal Reserve Police Departments, as well as those employed by the executive branch of the Federal Government who are classified as a GS-0083 meet the definition of “qualified law enforcement officer” in current law.  The bill would also lower the aggregate years of service needed to meet the definition of “qualified retired law enforcement officer” from fifteen (15) to ten (10) and removes confusing language related to that same definition.  The bill will now move to the Senate floor for further consideration.