washingtonscene
L e GISLATIVe N e WS
THAT AFFecTS YOU
Pluses and minuses
the Defense authorization act offers good news for troops
and “gray area” reservists but disappointments on concurrent
receipt, survivor benefits, and reserve retirement-age credit.
here will be plenty of n authorizes $49 million to assist school
It ’s Official:
T
cheers and plenty of jeers, districts serving military children;
No cOLA
depending on which issues n authorizes a pilot program to create n The Bureau of Labor
are most important to you, federal internships for military spouses;
Statistics’ September
for the contents of the fy n requires a DoD plan to improve access of
inflation report confirmed
there won’t be any Social
2010 Defense authorization act signed beneficiaries to health care providers; and
Security, retired pay, or
into law oct. 28. n establishes a new DoD task force to as-
Survivor Benefit Plan
first the good news. the new law: sess progress on care, management, and COLA in January 2010.
n authorizes a 3.4-percent pay raise for transition of recovering wounded, ill, and
Because inflation for FY
active duty servicemembers and guard- injured servicemembers.
2009 actually declined
members and reservists (versus the bud- Unfortunately, the new legislation also:
by 2.1 percent, the count-
down for the January
geted 2.9-percent); n dropped the House plan to phase out
2011 COLA starts out 2.1
n bars the Pentagon from implementing the disability offset to retired pay for
percent in the hole.
any tricare inpatient care copayment in- medically retired (chapter 61) service-
creases for fy 2010 (see article on page 34); members (see article on page 32);
n authorizes an extra 30,000 troops for n dropped the Senate initiative to repeal
the army (15,000 above the budget re- the deduction of Va survivor benefits
quest) and an additional 30,000 in fy from military Survivor Benefit Plan an-
2011 and fy 2012, if the Pentagon bud- nuities, again for lack of funding offsets;
gets for the increase; n dropped a Senate-approved provision to
n authorizes premium-based tricare allow reserve retirement-age credit for ac-
coverage for “gray area” reserve retirees tive duty service since Sept. 11, 2001 (cur-
who haven’t yet attained age 60; rent law credits only service since Jan. 28,
n authorizes special compensation for 2008), again for lack of funding offsets;
caregivers of severely wounded warriors; n authorized daily proration of combat
n mandates a long list of initiatives to and hazard pays (under current law, any
protect absentee voting rights for ser- part of a month in a combat zone trig-
vicemembers and their families; gers pay for the month). Moaa believes
n extends family medical leave rights to this is an overreaction to reports of abuse
employees who are family members of (e.g., scheduling two-day in-theater
deploying active duty servicemembers; trips starting the last day of the month)
n expands the window of active duty tri- that would have been better addressed
care eligibility for activating guardmem- by a requirement to spend more than 30
bers and reservists and their families; days in theater to receive more than one
n requires measures to expand beneficiary month’s pay credit; and
access to mental health care providers; n dropped a Senate-passed provision
december 2009 Military officer 31
Dec_Scene.indd 31 11/4/09 2:44 PM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92