Retired Pay Restoration Act
Recently, Representative Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Vice-Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs and winner of the 2015 EANGUS G.V. Sonny Montgomery Eagle Award, introduced H.R. 303 in the House of Representatives and Senate Minority Leader, Harry Reid (D-NV) introduced S. 271 the Retired Pay Restoration Act of 2015 in the Senate. If signed into law, these legislative initiatives would allow Veterans to receive both military retired pay and VA disability compensation.
The Retired Pay Restoration Act:
- Expresses that military retired pay should not be reduced because a military retiree is also eligible for veterans’ disability compensation awarded for a service-connected disability.
- Allows the receipt of both military retired pay and veterans’ disability compensation with respect to any service-connected disability.
- Repeals provisions phasing in the full concurrent receipt of such pay through December 31, 2013.
- Makes eligible for the full concurrent receipt of both veterans’ disability compensation and either military retired pay or combat-related special pay those individuals who were retired or separated from military service due to a service-connected disability.
“The Retired Pay Restoration Act ensures that all Veterans who receive retirement payments as a result of their military service can also receive disability payments from the Veterans Administration. Currently, some military retirees have their disability pay deducted from their retirement pay; these are two completely different benefits. They should not count against one another. It isn’t right to deny Veterans the financial compensation they have earned and deserve,” Bilirakis said.
H.R. 303 has 24 cosponsors in the House of Representatives, click here to see if your Member of Congress is a cosponsor.
S. 271 has 11 cosponsors in the Senate, click here to see if your Senators are cosponsors.
Please click here to contact your delegation and tell your elected officials to support this important initiative.
You do not have to be an EANGUS member to participate, please pass this link to your friends.