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On January 18^th, I participated in a meeting with employee association representatives from NASCOE, NAFEC, NADD, NASE, FLP Chiefs, Appraiser Association and AOLG Union with National office staff. I will be sending out a full report on the meeting soon. Chris Beyerhelm has asked the employee associations for comments on three topics:

1. Currently payment reminder letters are generated from the Finance Office. Over the years there have been problems/concerns with these letters. Chris is proposing that the Finance Office stop doing this.
2. Chris and his staff are looking at developing a quick simple way to change payment dates. Are we in favor of this and if so, should we limit it to certain circumstances and if so what should they be?
3. Currently when we offer Debt Set Aside, we are required to take a lien on all assets, do we need to continue to do this?

Please send me any comments that you have on these 3 items so that I can respond to Chris.

Maureen Mausbach, NACS President

On January 10^th, I participated in a Conference call with other employee association representatives from NASCOE, NAFEC, NADD, NASE, FLP Chiefs and AOLG Union with Carolyn Cooksie, Mike Wooden, Juan Garcia, Linda Treese, Trina Brake, and Chuck Lippstreu.

Bruce Nelson could not make the call because he was up on the hill discussing the recently announced office closings.

Here are some items discussed during the call:

• The Secretary of Agriculture announced yesterday the plans to close USDA offices
• 131 FSA offices will be closed nationwide. There will be 2113 FSA offices remaining
• 35 of these offices had 0 personnel and the other 96 met the requirements of the Farm Bill, within 20 miles and 2 or less employees
• This is effecting 174 FSA employees in 32 states
• No FLP Type 1 office will be closed (only 1 FLP employee affected)
• The Secretary made this announcement at 1:00 in Hawaii which was 6 pm EST, but SED's were allowed to begin calling affected employees at 4 pm EST as well as the COC's of the affected offices, but were told that contacting the employees was the #1 priority and they were to find them at home if not at work.
• This is a result of our serious budget challenges we are facing
• There are offices where 1 USDA agency is closing and others will remain, this was a decision made because each agency's budget is different and it was made at the Secretary's office
• The savings from closing these offices will allow us to keep the people that we have employed
• Every employee affected by the closings will be offered a job and relocation will be paid if needed.
• A decision will be made by next week if another VSIP will be offered. If offered, affected offices would be the first priority and there is a chance it could be offered in states still over their ceiling. It is not sure if the amount will be $25,000 or less
• Public meetings will be conducted by the SED's and they have been trained in how to conduct these meetings so that they will be consistent across the nation. We will be there to take comments and listen
• Producers will be able to choose which office they want to work with
• The Secretary had brought up Administrative consolidations and at this point we are not sure what that will entail
• At this point the National Office knows what the estimated cost savings are, but not able to provide it to us yet
• Carolyn ended the call with the following comments - We can do this and it will not be easy in all cases, but every employee who wants to be employed will be and we should be able to provide better customer service.

I also want to remind everyone that Kim DePasquale and I will be attending a meeting with the Administrator and National Office staff next week. On this call, they reminded us to submit any questions that they may need to research by Friday, so if you have any concerns, please get them to Kim or me.  I plan to meet with Andy Quinn on Tuesday 1/17 and Kim and I also plan to meet with Chris Beyerhelm on Thursday 1/18, so please get me any questions/concerns you have for either of them.

Maureen Mausbach
NACS President

Joe Austin has accepted a VERA. Joe's last day will be February 3, 2012. Joe has resigned as NACS President and I was elected by the Board to complete Joe's term. Joe wanted to share the following:

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Dear NACS Members:

It is hard to believe we are one half through another year; Zone Meetings are fast approaching and then the Convention.  More notable to me, 28 years and 7 months has flown by.  I have enough years, age and service, with the help of VERA to retire.  My plan and goal was to make the "normal" 30, but a good opportunity has come my way to retire from the Agency and continue to work close in the agricultural field.

Thanks to the membership and board for your support.  I know time and resources are as limited, but I challenge every member, to find a few moments to give NACS.

I wish you all the best and hope our paths cross in the years to come.

Joe Austin
919-202-8931
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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I am honored (and a little overwhelmed) to begin serving as your NACS President. There is a lot going on with NACS and FSA and I just wanted to send you a short update;