VFW WI Legislative Updates

MOAA's LEGISLATIVE UPDATE for Friday, September 25, 2009

Posted at 8:43 AM on Friday, September 25, 2009 by Legislative

Courtesy of Mike "Gunner" Furgal

Hill leaders are working on resolving the differences between
the House and Senate versions of the FY2010 Defense Authorization
Bill.

There are big differences between them on many personnel and
benefit issues, including upgrades on concurrent receipt,
survivor benefits, health care, Guard/Reserve retirement, and
manpower levels.

Please send your legislators a MOAA-suggested message to retain
these important provisions in the final versions of the defense
bill.

Defense Funding Bill Moving.  It appears that the FY2010 Defense
Appropriations Bill will be enacted by the Oct. 1 start of the
fiscal year.  But Congress won't meet that deadline for many of
the other Executive Branch departments, perhaps including the VA.

Part B Premium Relief Coming.  Nervous members of Congress are
pushing through legislation to protect certain Medicare enrollees
(including many MOAA members) from taking a disproportional hit
on their 2010 Part B premiums.

MOAA Pushes Guard, Vet, Spouse Rights.  MOAA offered testimony
and mobilized members in support of proposed legislation being
considered at a Veterans Affairs Subcommittee hearing this week
to assist veterans, Guard members, and military spouses.

Defense Funding Bill Moving

As this item was being written, the Senate was preparing to
begin action on the FY2010 Defense Appropriations Bill (H.R.
3326), which the House already has passed.

This is one of 12 departmental appropriations bills Congress is
supposed to finish before the start of the new fiscal year on
Oct. 1.

The House has passed all of them already.  Senate leaders
acknowledge there's little chance of finishing all of them before
the end of the month, but the Defense bill should be one of the
ones that do pass before that deadline.

For the other departments, Congress will have to pass a
short-term "continuing resolution" to fund those executive branch
operations into the month of October until Congress finishes the
rest of the appropriations bills.

The Defense Appropriations Bill is not to be confused with the
FY2010 Defense Authorization Bill, which is still pending
negotiations between House and Senate leaders.  It's the latter
bill that addresses the personnel and compensation issues that
interest most MOAA members.

Will Congress finish action on the Authorization Bill before the
end of the month?  It's always possible, but don't hold your
breath.  In the last 10 years, Congress finished the Defense
Authorization Bill before mid-October only once.  In four of
those years, it didn't get done until December or later.

Part B Premium Relief Coming

As the potential implications sink in concerning the absence of
any 2010 Social Security COLA, House leaders have rushed to pass
legislation to prevent some unintended consequences for certain
groups of Medicare enrollees.

A special law protects most Medicare enrollees from seeing any
Part B premium increase in the event that there's no COLA for
Social Security.  Without that protection, a Part B hike would
result in a net reduction of the person's Social Security check
as of January 2010.

But the premium increase exemption doesn't apply to about 25% of
Medicare recipients, including those who will newly qualify for
Medicare, low-income seniors who qualify for both Medicare and
Medicaid, and those with incomes above $85,000 ($170,000 for a
married couple) who already are subject to "means-tested"
(higher) Part B premiums.

An additional wrinkle in the law requires disproportional Part B
premium increases for that 25% to help make up for the loss of
revenue from the 75% who are protected from the premium hike.  In
this particular case, the Congressional Budget Office says those
who aren't exempt would experience about four times the normal
increase - a serious political hot potato.

So House leaders rushed to pass legislation on Thursday (by a
vote of 406 to 18) to bar any 2010 Part B premium increase for
any Medicare beneficiaries.  The Senate is expected to follow
suit quickly -- and likely will have done so by the time you read
this update.

MOAA Pushes Guard, Vet, Spouse Rights

This week, MOAA has urged the House Veterans Affairs Economic
Opportunity Subcommittee to approve legislation supporting
military spouses, wounded warriors and National Guard members.

MOAA's statement for the subcommittee's Sept. 24 hearing urged
adoption of several initiatives.

One would increase the amount of VA assistance provided to
disabled veterans for specially adapted housing and automobiles,
and adapted equipment.  Rene' Campos, MOAA Deputy Director of
Government Relations for Health Affairs said, "Disabled veterans
have been hit especially hard by recent economic and unemployment
challenges.  These timely improvements are imperative to support
disabled vets of all ages."

Another bill would fix two significant inequities under the Post
9/11 GI Bill by authorizing vocational and related non-degree
training and extending the new GI Bill benefits to full-time
active duty members of the National Guard with post-September 10,
2001 service.

"All previous GI Bill legislation covered apprenticeship and
on-the-job training programs," said MOAA's COL Bob Norton,
USA-Ret.  "And all full-time active duty members, including those
full-time Guardsmen on active duty under state orders, deserve
coverage under the new GI Bill."

MOAA also urged quick action on legislation to allow active-duty
military spouses the option to select the same state of domicile
as his or her servicemember.  Earlier this week, MOAA sent a
special electronic alert to MOAA members whose U.S.
representatives are members of the Subcommittee to request their
legislators' support.

"Military spouses should be able to vote in the same state as
their servicemember.  This legislation is about reducing turmoil
and administrative hassle in the lives of military spouses," said
Joy Dunlap, also of MOAA's Government Relations staff.  "The
Senate already has passed this bill," she said.  "Now we need the
House to act."