Military Officer - October 2006 - (Page 33) washingtonscene Where Do Your Legislators Stand? The summary below shows the positions of your senators and representative on a number of key issues important to MOAA members. This summary reflects legislators’ status as cosponsors of MOAA-supported bills rather than actual votes on the issues, except as noted in the explanations below. Senate Cosponsorship State Senator/party affiliation SBP CONCURRENT “WIDOWS TAX” RECEIPT TRICARE FEES PRETAX PREMIUMS GUARD/RES. HEALTH GUARD/RES. RETIREMENT House Cosponsorship State/ District Representative/party affiliation SBP CONCURRENT “WIDOWS TAX” RECEIPT TRICARE FEES PRETAX PREMIUMS GUARD/RES. HEALTH GUARD/RES. RETIREMENT + means the legislator has cosponsored one of the associated bills listed below or has voted for a similar provision in committee or floor action. - means the legislator has not cosponsored any of the relevant bills and has not had an opportunity to vote on the issue. Note 1: Your legislator identification is based on your mailing address in your MOAA membership record. Note 2: Some committee and subcommittee leaders do not cosponsor bills on issues within their purview. Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) ”Widows Tax” legislation would eliminate the deduction of VA survivor benefits from SBP annuities or accelerate implementation of paid-up SBP coverage to October 2006. A “+” indicates Senate cosponsorship of S. 185 (Nelson, D-Fla.) or S. 11 (Levin, D-Mich.) or a vote for S. 2766 or House cosponsorship of H.R. 808 (Brown, R-S.C.), H.R. 968 (Saxton, R-N.J.), or H.R. 2131 (Edwards, D-Texas). Concurrent Receipt legislation would eliminate the offset between military retired pay and veterans’ disability compensation. A “+” indicates Senate cosponsorship of S. 558 or S. 2385 (Reid, D-Nev.) or S. 13 (Akaka, D-Hawaii) or House cosponsorship of H.R. 303, H.R. 1366, or H.R. 2076 (Bilirakis, R-Fla.). Pretax Premiums legislation would allow active and retired servicemembers to pay premiums for TRICARE Dental, TRICARE Prime, and TRICARE supplemental insurance on a pretax basis. A “+” indicates Senate cosponsorship of S. 484 (Warner, R-Va.) or House cosponsorship of H.R. 994 (T. Davis, R-Va.). Guard/Reserve Health legislation would make all families of drilling Guard and Reserve members eligible for TRICARE for the same reduced premium. A “+” indicates Senate cosponsorship of S. 337 (Graham, R-S.C.), S. 11 (Levin, D-Mich.), or S. 32 (Dayton, D-Minn.) or House cosponsorship of H.R. 558 (Latham, R-Iowa) or H.R. 2131 (Edwards, D-Texas) or a vote for H.R. 5122. Guard/Reserve Retirement legislation would reduce the age at which Guard and Reserve members are eligible for retired pay. A “+” indicates Senate cosponsorship of S. 639 (formerly Corzine, D-N.J.), S. 337 (Graham, R-S.C.), or S. 32 (Dayton, D-Minn.) or a vote for S. 2766 or House cosponsorship of H.R. 783 (Saxton, R-N.J.) or H.R. 558 (Latham, R-Iowa). MILITARY OFFICER TRICARE Fee legislation would bar most or all fee increases for TRICARE beneficiaries during FY 2007. A “+” indicates Senate cosponsorship of S. 2617 (Lautenberg, DN.J.) or a vote for S. 2766 or House cosponsorship of H.R. 4949 (Edwards, D-Texas) or a vote for H.R. 5122. OCTOBER 2006 33
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.