Download Report

Legislative Watch
March 20, 2015
Ted Painter, National Legislative Director
Email: tedscottpainter@gmail.com
Phone: 508-335-3616
In this week’s legislative watch:
AMRA Leadership Meets with Key Members of Congress to Discuss the MCRMC Report
Recent Legislation Affecting Military Retirees
Secretary of the Army Testifies at HASC Hearing on the 2016 National Defense Authorization Budget
AMRA Leadership Meets with Staff of Key Members of Congress to Discuss the MCRMC Report
AMRA’s Executive Director and Legislative Director met with twenty six legislative staff members of key
Congressional and Senate members from March 16th through March 18th. The purpose of these visits
was to inform Members of Congress of AMRA’s 2015 legislative goals, to invite members of Congress to
contact AMRA should they wish to advance legislation relevant to military retirees, and to both gain a
sense for legislators’ thoughts regarding the recommendations outlined in the MCRMC report and to
highlight AMRA’s concerns regarding some of the report’s recommendations.
Meetings focused on members of both the Military Personal Subcommittee and the Committee on
Veterans’ Affairs. During the visits AMRA conveyed its commitment to ending offsets for Concurrent
Receipt of retirement pay and disability pay as well as offsets for Survivor Benefit Plans and Disability
Indemnification Compensation. Each staff member pledged to encourage their committee member to
co-sponsor current legislation that would provide concurrent receipt (HR 303, HR 333, S. 271) and
several have already reported that they have enthusiastically signed on.
In regard to the MCRMC report, most legislators are still in a “wait and see” mode and are continuing to
gather facts and details as well as concerns from Veterans Service Organizations to better understand
the broad strokes of the recommendations that the report outlines. Each welcomed input from AMRA
and carefully listened and took detailed notes regarding our concerns. AMRA has many concerns but for
the purposes of these meetings we focused on three:
1. Protect the current 50% retirement stipend. Do not allow it to be reduced to 40% so that the
government can pay for matching contributions to Thrift Savings Plan investments. The retirement
stipend is insulated from market fluctuations and economic shifts and although we support the
recommended “blended” retirement plan we must ensure that, in the event of another severe
economic downturn, retirees do not face the possibility of having their TSP’s vaporizing and thus be left
with only 40% of their base pay in return for twenty or more years of service. Congress must look to
other facets of the federal budget to pay for the proposed “blended” retirement plan.
2. Fully fund the SPB/DIC program. The report recommends that monthly SBP premiums be raised from
their current 6.5% to 11.25% in order for a surviving spouse to avoid the current dollar-for-dollar offset.
AMRA disagrees with this recommendation because it is tantamount to the retiree funding his or her
surviving spouse’s future disability payment. The key difference between this recommendation and the
current system is that self-funding of DIC would occur on the front end rather than on the back end.
AMRA believes that anything less than a fully funded SBP/DIC program is unacceptable.
3. Provide a 100% health care coverage option for working age military retirees. The recommendations
of the commission do not include an option for 100% health care coverage for working age retirees.
AMRA believes that all military retirees have earned the opportunity to have a 100% health care plan
offered to them by the DoD in return for their years of service. Excluding this demographic from a 100%
health care option is a cost saving measure that Congress needs to address by ferretting out other fraud,
waste, and abuse within the entire federal budget.
These meetings provided AMRA the opportunity to have its voice heard and its concerns considered as
Members of Congress continue to gather facts regarding how, when, and if the recommendations
become law.
Recent Legislation Affecting Military Retirees
The following House Resolutions affecting military retirees have been introduced by members of
Congress:
H.R. 1380: Introduced on 3/16/15 by Congressman Miller (R-FL-1). To amend title 38, United States
Code, to expand the eligibility for a medallion furnished by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to signify
the veteran status of a deceased individual.
H.R. 1384: Honor America's Guard-Reserve Retirees Act. Introduced on 3/16/15 by Congressman Walz
(D-MN-1). To amend title 38, United States Code, to recognize the service in the reserve components of
certain persons by honoring them with status as veterans under law.
H.R. 1500: Introduced on 3/19/15 by Congressman Kline (R-MN-2). To ensure that certain TRICARE
program beneficiaries may enroll in TRICARE Prime regardless of the location of their residence.
AMRA is reviewing these pieces of legislation and a decision to support them is pending.
Secretary of the Army Testifies at HASC Hearing on the 2016 National Defense Authorization Budget
On March 17th the Secretary of the Army, John McHugh, testified before the House Armed Services
Committee hearing on the 2016 national defense authorization budget. During his testimony, the
Secretary warned the Committee of the many sacrifices that will need to be made if the Army is funded
below the 127 billion dollars it requested for fiscal year 2016. He highlighted recent and current
contingency operations that the Army has or is engaged in and warned that these or similar operations
may not be possible in the future if the Army is not funded properly.
In the last year, he said, “the geopolitical landscape has ’morphed‘ to include aggression by Russia in
Ukraine, increased threats from North Korea, and gains by terrorists in Iraq, Syria and Yemen…there has
[also]been the threat from Ebola in West Africa.”
In each of these instances, the Army has been required to react, including deploying to Eastern Europe
as a show of resolve against Russian aggression in Ukraine, deploying to Western Africa to assist with
Ebola outbreaks, and returning to Iraq to assist and advise in efforts against ISIS. "Your Army has been
managing to tackle contingencies around the world, even though they grow at an alarming rate," said
the Secretary.
Secretary McHugh stated that these types of operations are unforeseen and that they will continue to
occur, and that the Army will be unable to react to them adequately unless properly funded.
Speaking about budget cuts and the effects of sequestration on the Army, the Secretary stated that
training and equipping soldiers will be affected and that when called to react to unforeseen threats, the
risk is that the Army may be called upon to send soldiers who are both underprepared and underresourced to complete their missions.
"[This] means people dying, risk means greater injuries, risk means people don't come home," McHugh
said. "Ladies and gentlemen, our Army, your Army, faces a dark and dangerous future unless the
Congress acts now to end these ill-conceived and inflexible budget cuts."
Questions or comments? Use contact information above.