Newsbytes March 1, 2024

In this issue:
Push for Concurrent Receipt Reform
Budget Cliffs Approaching
All Veterans Eligible for PACT Act Benefits
Prioritize Military Quality of Life
Veteran-Owned Small Business Contracts
Navy Birthdays

Push for Concurrent Receipt Reform
FRA staff and staff from other associations will conduct targeted advocacy on Capitol Hill with legislators on March 5, 2024, to request Congress to ensure the Major Richard Star Act is included in the FY2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). These FRA-supported bills to provide concurrent receipt for service members unable to complete 20 years of service due to combat-related injuries (HR 1282/S. 344) have been the focus of the effort to expand concurrent receipt reform. Over two-thirds of the House and Senate are co-sponsoring the “Major Richard Star Act”. Legislators need to hear from members that reducing a retiree’s retired pay because they are disabled is an injustice! Shipmates can help with this effort by contacting their legislators immediately at: https://www.votervoice.net/FRA/Campaigns/100773/Respond

Budget Cliffs Approaching
As Newsbytes goes to press, lawmakers have an agreement on six of the 12 government-funding appropriations bills, but they need to promptly pass a new Continuing Resolution (CR) to extend the current CR to provide more time to avert a partial shutdown starting Saturday.

Members plan to enact six bills next week and the remaining six by March 22. They’ll need to get a stopgap CR to the president’s desk by tomorrow to avoid a lapse in funding authority. Earlier, Congressional leaders met with President Joe Biden as spending talks have dragged ahead of the two imminent deadlines for funding the government (March 1 and March 8). Funding runs out on March 1 for four of 12 appropriations bills, including Military Construction and VA, and on March 8 for all others, including Defense under the latest continuing resolution (Public Law 118-35).

In the event of a shutdown, military retirees will continue to be paid and get their TRICARE benefits because funding for these benefits is not required to be appropriated by Congress (mandatory funding). Social Security and Medicare will also continue to operate. Those receiving veterans’ benefits will continue to receive them because the Department of Veterans Affairs has two-year funding and already has funding for FY2024. However, during a government shutdown, active-duty uniform service members will not be paid until Congress passes a budget or Continuing Resolution. That is why the FRA is supporting the “Pay Our Troops Act” (H.R. 5641/S. 2835) sponsored by Rep. Jen Kiggins (Va.) and Sen. Dan Sullivan (Alaska) respectively. This legislation mandates that members of the Armed Forces, both reserve and active duty, will be paid during a shutdown. Also, Coast Guard, DoD civilian employees, and Defense contractors will continue to be paid. Members can weigh in on this issue at: https://www.votervoice.net/FRA/Campaigns/108007/Respond

All Veterans Eligible for PACT Act Benefits
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced that all veterans who were exposed to toxins and other hazards while serving in the military – at home or abroad – will be eligible to enroll directly in VA health care beginning March 5, 2024. This means that all veterans who served in the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Global War on Terror, or any other combat zone after 9/11 will be eligible to enroll directly in VA health care without first applying for VA benefits. Additionally, veterans who never deployed but were exposed to toxins or hazards while training or on active duty in the United States will also be eligible to enroll. This expansion of VA health care eliminates the phased-in approach called for by the PACT Act – meaning that millions of veterans are becoming eligible for VA health care up to eight years earlier than written into law. This is a critical step forward because veterans who are enrolled in VA health care are proven to have better health outcomes than non-enrolled veterans, and VA hospitals have dramatically outperformed non-VA hospitals in overall quality ratings and patient satisfaction ratings. Additionally, VA health care is often more affordable than non-VA health care for veterans. VA encourages all eligible veterans to visit VA.gov/PACT or call 1-800-MYVA411 to learn more and apply for VA health care beginning March 5, 2024. Since the PACT Act became law on August 10, 2022, more than 500,000 veterans have enrolled in VA health care.

Prioritize Military Quality of Life
Representatives Mike Rogers (AL) and Adam Smith (WA), Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee, along with Don Bacon (NE) and Chrissy Houlahan (PA), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Quality-of-Life Panel, sent a letter calling on President Biden to support improving the quality of life for service members and military families in his Fiscal Year 2025 Department of Defense Budget request. In the letter, the members wrote, “Our service members represent the best our nation has to offer and are central to our national security. The All-Volunteer Force has been the foundation of America’s national defense for the last five decades. Yet the committee’s quality of life inquiry thus far has revealed an alarming erosion of military quality of life that, if not addressed quickly, will soon place the All-Volunteer Force at risk. Reversing this decline will require a national commitment of resources to address quality of life concerns for service members and their families.” Read the full letter here.

Veteran-Owned Small Business Contracts
Under suspension of the rules, the House passed the “Service-Disabled Veteran Opportunities in Small Business Act” (HR 3511) that would require the Small Business Administration to provide training and guidance to federal agencies on how to increase the number of contracts awarded to service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses. Training would be provided to agencies that have not met the government-wide goal of awarding at least 5 percent of contracts each year to such businesses, a threshold increased from 3 percent by last year’s defense authorization law (Public Law 118-31- H.R. 2670). The bill now goes to the Senate for further consideration.

Navy Birthdays
Upcoming Navy Birthdays include the following:

· Navy Reserves established March 3, 1915;

· Navy Band established March 4, 1925; and

· Navy Seabees started on March 5, 1942.