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washingtonscene
In the aftermath of the late-night disabled retirees shouldn’t be discour-
amendment negotiations before the de- aged by the omission in the Senate bill.
fense bill was approved, MOAA learned
armed services committee leaders of both
parties had agreed to include the amend- Senate
ments in the defense bill under a “unani-
mous consent” procedure. Pushes School
This is a common means of approving
amendments to a fast-moving bill. Under Compact
the procedure, an amendment is adopted
States asked to protect
unless there is an objection from one or
more senators present.
military kids.
In the case of Reid’s concurrent receipt
amendment, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.)
objected to its inclusion in the defense bill,
effectively stymieing the amendment just T
he Senate version of the FY
2010 Defense Authorization
Bill expresses a Sense of the Senate
before the fi nal vote on the bill. on state implementation of the Interstate
When MOAA asked Coburn’s staff for Compact on Educational Opportunity
an explanation of his objection, the re- for Military Children and encourages all
sponse was that the amendment “would remaining states to adopt this legislation,
have raised mandatory spending by $5 designed to help smooth school transitions
billion over 10 years, with no proposed for military children when their parents
spending reduction to pay for it.” make a permanent change-of-station move.
The good news is concurrent receipt MOAA members, staff, and local chapters
progress in this year’s defense bill is still a have been working to encourage passage of
very strong possibility, despite the failure this important military family legislation.
of the Senate amendment. Ohio’s governor recently signed the leg-
That’s because the defense bill the islation, bringing the number of states that
House of Representatives passed in June have adopted the compact to 25. New Jer-
(H.R. 2657) included virtually the same sey and Pennsylvania still have active leg-
plan for Chapter 61 retirees. House lead- islation this year, as does California, which
ers found cost offsets for the fi rst year’s has more than 61,000 military children.
spending requirement and pledged to fi nd Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Indiana,
them for the remaining years. Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Ne-
The House action guarantees the issue vada, Ohio, Texas, Virginia, and Washing-
will be on the table as House and Senate ton joined this year. Eleven states kicked
leaders meet to work out the differences off the effort last year. All are now a part
between the bills passed by their respec- of a multistate effort to ease confl icting
tive chambers. requirements in the areas of enrollment,
It would have been ideal to have the class placement, and graduation for mili-
same plan in both bills. But MOAA be- tary children. Each state will seat a rep-
lieves Hill leaders’ desire to support resentative on the Interstate Commission
President Obama’s strong endorsement to oversee the compact’s implementation
of eliminating the offset for medical re- and work with other states to improve the
tirees makes it a high probability for re- issues that affect transition.
tention in the fi nal defense bill. In some states, such as Tennessee and
We’ve learned never to count our New York, support seemed strong, but leg-
chickens before they hatch, but we think islatures adjourned without signing on.
36 MILITARY OFFICER SEPTEMBER 2009
SSept_scene.indd 36ept_scene.indd 36 88/5/09 2:00 PM/5/09 2:00 PM
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