Newsbytes June 7, 2024
In this issue:
Concurrent Receipt Vote
Hearing on VA’s PACT Act Bonus Mess
VA PACT Act events
Court Says Coast Guard Forced Senior Enlisted to Retire
Concurrent Receipt Vote
The
FRA signed a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson (La.), Minority Leader
Hakeem Jeffries (NY), House Rules Committee Chairman Michael Burgess
(Tex.), and Ranking Member Jim McGovern (Mass.), requesting that the
House Rules Committee waive the “CUTGO rule” on the Major Richard Star
Act (H.R. 1282) for inclusion in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 National
Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This legislation was reported out of
the House Committee on Armed Services with unanimous consent and is
supported by more than two-thirds of the 118th Congress, with 326
cosponsors in the House and 73 in the Senate.
FRA
urges members to contact their legislators to ask them to express their
support for the Major Richard Star Act amendments to the National
Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that will be voted on by the House
Rules Committee. The vote is scheduled for next Tuesday, and we need
Congress to understand how important this issue is to their
constituents. Please contact them immediately! https://www.votervoice.net/FRA/Campaigns/116181/Respond
HVAC Oversight Hearing on VA’s PACT Act Bonus Mess
The
House Committee on Veterans Affairs (HVAC) held an oversight hearing
entitled, “Bonus Blunder: Examining VA’s Improper Decision to Award
Senior Executives Millions in Incentives,” in response to the Department
of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) report,
entitled “VA Improperly Awarded $10.8 Million in Incentives to Central
Office Senior Executives.”
The
Committee examined how the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and
Veterans Benefit Administration (VBA) officials made the calculated
decision to pay 200 VA central office senior executives an average of
$60,000 in critical skill incentive bonus payments. These bonuses, as
authorized by Congress, were intended for high-demand healthcare and
benefits support staff who are vital to VA’s operations following the
implementation of the comprehensive veterans' toxic exposure law (PACT
Act P.L. 117-168). Both the HVAC Chairman and the Ranking Member
expressed concern about the apparent misuse of funding. OIG Inspector
General Michael J. Missal stated that “nearly all eligible senior
executives in VHA and VBA at the central office were awarded the
incentive pay for critical skill retention with VHA providing only the
most cursory justification and neither administration conducting an
objective assessment of what was needed, if anything, to retain them.”
VA
Secretary Denis McDonough stated in his testimony that this was a
“series of massive mistakes” and went on to say, “VA erred in the way
this CSI authority for career senior executives working at VA Central
Office (VACO) was implemented and executed. Upon realizing the error in
mid-September 2023, I promptly called each of you and explained this
error. At my direction, the VA immediately canceled and began recoupment
of all CSI payments made to these VACO career senior executives. The VA
also began instituting additional reviews and stronger controls for all
CSIs awarded to VACO career senior executives, paused all future awards
to senior executives, and referred the matter to VA’s Office of
Inspector General (OIG). OIG issued a report last month that described
its review of the matter and made findings and recommendations. VA
concurred with OIG’s findings and the Inspector General’s
recommendations and immediately began implementing them. This work is
still underway.”
Members can view the hearing at: https://veterans.house.gov/calendar/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=6461
VA PACT Act events in all 50 states, DC, and Puerto Rico this Summer
The
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced it will host the second
annual PACT Act Summer VetFest — featuring more than 100 Summer VetFest
events in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico — to
encourage veterans and survivors to apply for the health care and
benefits they have earned under the PACT Act. This is the largest
outreach campaign in VA history — which has driven historic applications
for VA health care and benefits. These events will take place from June
through August of this year. These events will be casual,
family-friendly gatherings featuring veterans and their families,
veteran advocates, and the VA health care and benefits professionals who
serve them. At the events, VA staff will be ready to help veterans
apply for PACT Act-related benefits, enroll in VA health care, get
screened for toxic exposures, and more.
For more information, go to: https://www.va.gov/resources/the-pact-act-and-your-va-benefits
Court Says Coast Guard Forced Senior Enlisted to Retire
The
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a lower court's
2021 decision that the Coast Guard's use of "Career Retention Screening
Panels" to separate service members who were E-7 or higher was a
violation of federal law. The court ruled that the Coast Guard illegally
forced hundreds of senior enlisted members into retirement while
arguing the move was meant to help it restructure the force.
The
original case was filed by several Coast Guard retirees who had served
20 or more years and were all forced to retire between 2012 and 2014,
but the complaint noted it was "brought on behalf of the hundreds of
Coast Guard members who were involuntarily retired." It asked the court
to void their involuntary retirements and provide back pay.
The
court decision states, “The Coast Guard can, if proper procedures are
followed, reduce the size of its workforce by reducing billets,” but
clarified that this is distinctly different from “emptying a position
simply to fill it with another person.”
With
the appeal period having lapsed without any action by the Coast Guard
to seek a Supreme Court review, the appellate judgment is final. Nathan
Mammen, the attorney representing the Coast Guard veterans, celebrated
this as “a fantastic win for hundreds of senior Coast Guard veterans who
served our country for decades.”