washingtonscene
LEGISLATIVE NEWS THAT AFFECTS YOU Where We Stand
MOAA and The Military Coalition have sent a letter to leaders of the Armed Services committees outlining recommendations to resolve differences between their respective versions of the defense bill.
T
he House and Senate have passed different versions of the FY 2017 Defense Authoriza-
tion Bill (H.R. 4909 and S. 2943, respec- tively), including hundreds of provisions on issues from force levels and pay changes to health care and payments to former military spouses. Following detailed analysis of both
bills, MOAA and the other military and veterans’ association members of The Mil- itary Coalition (TMC) sent a July 14 let- ter to House and Senate Armed Services Committee leaders outlining their recom- mendations on a wide range of provisions. The package included a matrix of nearly 100 issues affecting the military community on which the House and Sen- ate proposed different changes, with a TMC recommendation for each. The cover letter highlighted six issues for special emphasis: Force levels. Concerned by statements of service leaders regarding the extent to which current forces are overstretched, TMC endorsed House-recommended force increases over the manpower cuts included in the Senate bill. Uniform benefits. TMC urged the
House and Senate conferees to ensure the same compensation and benefit adjust- ments are applied equally for all seven uniformed services, including the Com- missioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
Military pay raise. Noting three con-
secutive pay-raise caps already have re- duced annual basic pay by thousands of dollars for many, TMC urged support for the House-proposed 2.1-percent pay raise rather than the Senate’s 1.6-percent raise. Housing allowances. The letter ex-
pressed TMC’s opposition to a Senate provision that would cut allowances by more than $10,000 a year for thousands of servicemembers, particularly dual- member couples, junior personnel who share housing, and homeowners who had made prudent decisions to reduce their mortgage payments. TRICARE reform. TMC identified
several concerns about both chambers’ proposals, asserting, “No fees should be increased until after improvements in care access and quality have been ad- dressed.” The letter also disagreed with a proposal to allow the secretary of defense to raise fees for non-preferred services or medications and asserted provisions in both bills would set fees disproportion- ately high. Among several other specifics, it supported a Senate provision specify- ing in law there should be no enrollment fee for TRICARE For Life beyond the Medicare Part B premium. Survivor benefits. TMC’s letter urged: (a) multiyear increases in the Special Survivor Indemnity Allowance (SSIA) payable to certain survivors whose spon- sor died of service-caused conditions, rather than simply extending SSIA at the
SEPTEMBER 2016 MILITARY OFFICER 29
Take Action Visit
http://capwiz.com/ moaa/home to send your legislators a MOAA- suggested message on key issues affecting the military community.
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