MOAA
(2003 Military Officers Association of America.  Used with permission)

Updated 2 May 2008

Senate Defense Panel: Raise Pay, Not Fees

The Senate Armed Services Committee approved its version of the FY2009 Defense Authorization Act on April 30. This is the first round in determining what Congress will approve for manpower levels, pay and benefit changes, and weapons programs for the new fiscal year.

Among hundreds of other initiatives, the committee's bill would:

• Reject the proposed TRICARE fee increases recommended by the Pentagon
• Increase Army and Marine Corps manpower levels by 7,000 and 5,000, respectively, while reducing Air Force strength by about 13,000 and the Navy by about 4,000
• Authorize a 3.9% military pay raise for 2009, vs. the 3.4% recommended by the Pentagon
• Require the Pentagon to base health care premiums for drilling Guard and Reserve members and families on actual TRICARE costs, which is expected to reduce premiums
• Authorize an extra 500-lb. weight allowance for a spouse's professional books and equipment for government-directed moves
• Require a Pentagon report to Congress by July 1 with a plan to implement flexible spending accounts (FSA) for military members or explain the reasons for failing to do so (FSAs allow payment of out-of-pocket health and child care expenses with pre-tax dollars)
• Allow up to 21 days of paternity leave for active duty personnel
• Authorize health care demonstration programs to test: incentives for preventive health care, subsidized continuation of an employer's family health coverage for activated reservists, and initiatives to improve reserve medical and dental readiness, among other things
• Require the Services to establish a comprehensive suicide prevention policy
• Authorize training and education for military spouses to pursue careers that are portable upon reassignment
• Provide additional protections in determining disability and retirement benefits for wounded/disabled personnel

MOAA is grateful to the Committee, especially for its actions on TRICARE fees, the pay raise, the Army and USMC manpower increases, and the Reserve and spousal initiatives.

We're disappointed at the continued cuts in Air Force and Navy personnel, which are driven by budget considerations rather than actual requirements.

We particularly regret that the Committee was unable to find the budget headroom to address continuing severe inequities for disabled retirees and survivors, but expect to work with our Senate champions - Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), respectively - to address both of these issues in coming weeks.

MOAA also believes it's important not just to put off the TRICARE fees for one more year, but to establish principles in law on this topic, as proposed by Sens. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Chuck Hagel (R-NE). Unless that's done, these fees will continue to be subject to annual threats of large, budget-driven increases. Without any statutory guidelines on what military beneficiaries have earned and why, it's only a matter of time before the military community will get hammered.

The next step on the Senate side will come in May, when the Committee-approved defense bill will come up for consideration by the full Senate. At that time, we'll be working with the above-named senators and others to attach needed amendments to the bill, and will be calling on update subscribers to urge their own senators to support them.

The House Armed Services Committee is expected to draft its version of the defense bill next week.

Ultimately, the House and Senate will have to reconcile their different versions. But that's unlikely to happen until at least September, so we have several months remaining to convince legislators of needed adjustments to the bill.

MOAA Debuts Military Family Action Guide

Interested in getting more involved regarding the issues that matter most to your family? MOAA's new Military Family Legislative Action Guide was written especially to help military spouses and families learn the legislative process, show them how to communicate with legislators, and provide them resources to stay informed about the latest happenings on Capitol Hill.

The online publication also debunks common misconceptions people have about Congress, the rules surrounding a military member's involvement in contacting legislators, and provides information on MOAA's legislative goals for this year.

View the Action Guide on MOAA's Web site.

The Hill Cites MOAA

“The Hill,” the largest-circulation newspaper on Capitol Hill has again recognized MOAA in its annual list of "the best in the business for America's business sectors."

According to the May 1 article, "Retired Vice Admiral Norb Ryan, Jr., Military Officers Association of America... together with retired Col. Steve Strobridge, pack a punch on Capitol Hill representing the largest professional association of military officers."

The rest of the story, of course, is that it's MOAA's 370,000 members and especially the activist subscribers like you who participate in MOAA's legislative alerts that generate the real clout.

We very much appreciate and need your continued support, which is what gets MOAA in the door on the Hill.

Third GI Bill Enters the Fray

A rising tide of public and political interest in overhauling GI Bill educational benefits for today's warriors and veterans is quickly becoming a tsunami. But lawmakers still face enormous challenges in sorting out the competing approaches and finding the money to pay for any one of them - or, preferably from MOAA's standpoint, a bill that combines the most desirable features of each.

The latest entrant is S. 2938, the Enhancement to Recruiting, Retention and Readjustment Through Education Act of 2008, introduced this week by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) with original cosponsors Senators Richard Burr (R-NC) and John McCain (R-AZ).

Among other provisions, S. 2938 would:

• Raise GI Bill benefits from $1101 per month to $1500 (for those who join the military for 3 years) with $2,000 per month at the 12th year of service to entice career service
• Provide higher payments to members attending higher-cost public or private colleges if those institutions agree to waive part of their tuition expenses
• Provide $500 a year for books
• Allow use of benefits to repay up to $6000 in federal student loans
• Permit servicemembers to transfer up to half of their benefits to family members after 6 years of service, or all of their remaining benefits at the 12th year.
• Extend eligibility to service academy and ROTC scholarship commissioned officers (now barred from GI Bill coverage) if they agree to serve an additional 5 years
• Allow an enrollment window for older servicemembers (or retirees who retired after 9/11) who declined to participate in the 1980s-era (and lower-value) Veterans Educational Assistance Program (VEAP)
• Increase Reserve MGIB rates by 100%

The bill was crafted as an alternative to Sen. Jim Webb's (D-VA) S. 22, which would establish a "21st century GI Bill" for post- 9/11 service. Webb's bill has 56 bi-partisan cosponsors including heavyweights Senators John Warner (R-VA), Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Richard Lugar (R-IN). The House companion bill to the Webb measure is Rep. Harry Mitchell's (D-AZ) H.R. 5740, which has rocketed to 261 bipartisan cosponsors in just three weeks.

S. 22 and H.R. 5740 would, among other things:

• Cover the cost of any public college/university education on a state-by-state basis
• Create an "earn as you serve" benefit that would permit reservists to add benefits for each 90+-day tour of active duty, up to the full amount of the active duty benefit for those activated a cumulative total of 36 months or more
• Authorize an extra living allowance for student veterans at the "E-5 with dependents" housing allowance rate for the locality
• Provide up to $1,000 a year for books
• Extend the post-service usage period from 10 to 15 years (vice S. 2938's continuation of 10 years' post-service use)
• Permit service academy/ROTC scholarship recipients to enroll in exchange for a 3 year service extension
• Pay the cost of attending a private college if the college agrees to waive half the difference between the maximum state GI Bill amount the cost of the private school tuition

The third contender is Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin's (D-SD) H.R. 5684, the Veterans Education Improvement Act of 2008, which would, among other features:

• Raise GI Bill benefits to $1450 per month
• Establish an additional living expense allowance of $500 per month starting in 2011
• Allow open enrollment for any active duty member not now enrolled
• Allow use of benefits to repay up to $6000 in federal student loans
• Bar counting MGIB benefits as income for other federal financial aid purposes

The Webb initiative seems to have the most momentum, since it's been out there the longest and was endorsed by most military and veterans' associations before the other initiatives were offered.

But each of the three bills has its relative advantages. The Webb bill has higher payments and cumulative credit for reserve duty; the Graham bill offers transferability to family members, and the Herseth Sandlin bill has protections for other federal education program eligibility.

In the best of all possible worlds, MOAA would like to see major features in each of the three bills combined into a single package and enacted. It's too soon to tell how realistic that might be, but anything can happen in an election year.

But it appears that Congress is at last poised to "re-boot" the GI Bill program to better match the enormous sacrifices of this generation of service men and women and veterans.