Military Officer - March 2007 - (Page 32)

washingtonscene Disabled Retiree Champs Launch Bills Rep. Jim Marshall (D-Ga.) H.R. 333 represents MOAA’s ultimate goal. T Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) wo House concurrent receipt champions have introduced new bills in the 110th Congress — Reps. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) and Jim Marshall (D-Ga.). Following in the footsteps of his illustrious father — retired Rep. Mike Bilirakis (R-Fla.) — Gus Bilirakis has reintroduced concurrent receipt legislation that is very familiar to MOAA members. H.R. 303 would eliminate the 10-year phase-in period for 20-plus-year retirees who have 50-percent to 90-percent disability ratings and also would extend concurrent retirement and disability payment (CRDP) eligibility to similar retirees with 10-percent to 40-percent disability ratings. H.R. 89 would extend eligibility for combat-related special compensation (CRSC) to chapter 61 (disability) retirees forced into medical retirement before attaining 20 years of service. Meanwhile, Marshall has introduced H.R. 333, the Disabled Veterans Tax Termination Act, which is the most comprehensive concurrent receipt legislation ever proposed. Marshall’s all-encompassing bill includes the elements of H.R. 303 and H.R. 89 and also would extend CRDP to chapter 61 retirees with fewer than 20 years of service. In essence, H.R. 333 would vest service-earned retired pay for any servicemember whose service-connected disabilities forced him or her into medical retirement before attaining 20 years. For these servicemembers, retired pay would vest at 2.5 percent of the appli- cable pay base, multiplied by years of service. In effect, that amount of retired pay would be exempt from being offset by VA disability compensation. This is the same formula already being used for chapter 61 retirees with 20 or more years of service. In MOAA’s view, H.R. 333 is the ultimate concurrent receipt goal, though it likely will take continued progress to get there. MOAA is extremely grateful to Marshall and Bilirakis for keeping the interests of disabled uniformed services retirees in the forefront. MOAA fully endorses all three of their bills. 110th Congress Outlook New leadership endorsed MOAA goals but faces daunting budget challenges. A s the new House and Senate convened in January, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) became Senate majority leader and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was elected as the ﬁrst female Speaker of the House. MOAA is heartened that both of these leaders have been outspoken advocates of many of MOAA’s and The Military Coalition’s top legislative issues — full concurrent receipt, Survivor Beneﬁt Plan improvements, full funding for VA health care, and more. Some might think the needed improvements are done deals with these supporters in charge of Congress. Unfortunately, it isn’t that simple. First, MOAA has had many supporters on the Republican side as well, and all those things didn’t get done when the Republicans were in charge on the Hill — though some progress was made. Second, while administration opposition won’t inﬂuence the new congressional 32 MILITARY OFFICER MARCH 2007

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Military Officer - March 2007

From the Editor From the President Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Chapter Activities Forward, March 10 Top Cities Tell Us About It Fly the Plan Cover Story: The War Poster One Percent Pages of History Information Exchange Advertising Index MOAA Member Services Member Books Sounding Taps MOAA Calendar Encore

Military Officer - March 2007

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.