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JAYHAWK CHAPTER NEWS |
| This is a special TROA legislative
alert for Monday, June 24, 2002.
Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-SC) and Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) are sponsoring amendments to the FY2003 Defense Authorization Bill that would significantly improve the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP). Action is expected any day. See below for details on how you can help. Sen. Thurmond's amendment is based on his S. 145 bill, which would phase in increases to the SBP age-62 annuity over several years. Under current law, the annuity drops from 55% of retired pay to as low as 35% of retired pay for survivors age 62 and older. This is in marked contrast to the federal civilian SBP, which provides 50% to 55% of federal civilian retired pay for life. Sen. Nelson's amendment would end the dollar-for-dollar reduction in SBP annuities for any amount of Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) the survivor receives from the VA. DIC is a modest annuity paid to survivors of members who die of service-connected causes. TROA believes that this amount should be paid in addition to the SBP coverage that any retiring member can purchase. When the member's service causes his or her death, DIC should be paid as an added indemnity; it should not be substituted for the member-purchased SBP. Please take a moment to use TROA's Web site to ask your senators to support these amendments. Visit http://www.capwiz.com/troa/home/, click on the "Thurmond SBP Amendment" and "Nelson SBP/DIC Amendment" action alert links, then enter your ZIP code and click the "Go" button. --------------------------------------- The House approved version of the FY2003 Defense Authorization Bill included a provision for a five-year phase-out of the disability offset to military retired pay for retirees with 20 or more years of service and disability ratings of 60% or higher. |
The Senate Armed Services Committee included a similar five-year phase-out plan in its draft of the Senate defense bill, but the full Senate has yet to act on the bill. When it comes to the Senate floor for action, Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) and virtually all members of the Armed Services Committee will support an amendment to drop the partial phase-in language and authorize full concurrent receipt for all disabled retirees with 20 or more years of service, effective 1 October 2002. With 83 Senators already on record as co-sponsoring full concurrent receipt legislation (S.170), there seems to be little doubt that the Senate will approve the amendment. ---------------------------------------
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