$50? It is very upsetting when at 40 percent I save just $50, and the people who are 50 percent receive a full dis- ability without it being taken from their retirement check. I just do not understand what difference it should make if you are 50 percent disabled or 10 percent disabled. Didn’t we all fight for the same country? Could you please let me know what the status is on this and if anything is going to be done?”
—D.S.
AFSA Response: Congress needs to fully eliminate the law that makes most disabled uniformed services retir- ees forfeit part or all of their military retired pay for VA disability compensation. The offset of military retired pay by VA disability began after the Civil War, but Congress has made some changes in recent years, like the 2003 law that eliminated the offset for military retirees with dis- ability rating of 50 percent or greater. That change was implemented over a 10-year period for these retirees only. Unfortunately, Congress has yet to eliminate the pay reduction for individuals with less than 50 percent dis- abilities, like this AFSA member.
Three bills pending in Congress would eliminate the offset for all military retirees: H.R. 333 by Rep. Sanford Bishop, H.R. 303 by Rep. Gus Bilirakis, and S. 234 by Sen. Harry Reid. Of these, S. 234 has a slight chance of moving forward, but the House bills do not. Reid plans to offer his bill as an amendment to the FY2015 NDAA if the bill reaches the floor in November, but, honestly, we don’t see the Senate bill making it that far. The upper chamber is so far behind in its work that the staffs of the two armed services committees have already begun “pre-conferencing the bill.” Given the amount of time remaining between now and the end of the year, the House and Senate will be forced to accept the conference bill shortly after the General Election.
We know you were hoping for better news, but we owe you a frank and honest assessment of the current situ- ation. AFSA remains committed to ending the disability offset for all disabled retirees, so if we can’t get lawmak- ers to eliminate it in this Congress, we will continue to press them in the out years until they do.
CAPWIZ VISIBILITY, PLEASE! “Please make CapWiz have a larger presence on the
[AFSA] website. It is an invaluable tool for our legislative needs. Having it sit in the bottom right-hand corner in grayed-out letters makes it seem like you’re almost hiding it. CapWiz is our primary tool for catching up with legisla- tive issues and contacting our legislators. It deserves to be the highlight of AFSA website.”
—W.K.
AFSA Response: Thank you for your feedback on the CapWiz link on AFSA’s website. You were heard! We have moved the CapWiz link above the scroll on the page and added some color to it. The site you see is a temporary one while we work on a much better and more involved site to be rolled out in 2015. Feedback like yours helps us know what items to prioritize on the AFSA website to best meet the needs of the primary users of the site—AFSA members.
STAYING INFORMED
“Thank you so much for this email letter update. As a retired service person of forty years, I very much miss the life, action, events, and being informed of “what’s what” and deeply appreciate AFSA’s efforts and all the legisla- tion and great things they continue to do, including its the latest use of technology to inform old-timer’s like myself.”
—D.M.
This is not a male issue, and it is not a female issue; this is a military retiree issue. Who is protecting the service member in this situation?
—S.O.
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