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Legislative Watch
May 15, 2015
Ted Painter, National Legislative Director
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 508-335-3616
In this week’s legislative watch:
Senate Armed Services Committee Passes 2016 NDAA in a bipartisan, 22-4 Vote; Does Not Include
HASC Compromise on MCRMC Retirement Recommendation
Full House Passes NDAA
Heller, Casey Lead VA Backlog Working Group In Release of New Report, Legislation to Address Claims
Delay
Senate Armed Services Committee Passes 2016 NDAA in a bipartisan, 22-4 Vote; Does Not Include
HASC Compromise on MCRMC Retirement Recommendation
On Thursday, May 14th the Senate Armed Services Committee overwhelmingly passed its version of 2016
National Defense Authorization Act. The most ambitious inclusion in both the House and Senate Armed
Services Committee versions are the retirement recommendations made earlier this year by the Military
Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission.
Like the House version, the Senate has adopted the “Blended” retirement plan as recommended by the
MCRMC. As reported in the last Legislative Watch, the blended plan will require service members
entering the military after October, 2017 to participate in a government matched Thrift Savings Plan, a
401K style retirement plan that is intended to provide benefits to all service members, including those
who do not serve long enough to retire. Under the plan, the government will match service member
pay roll contributions to the TSP up to 5%. Additionally, those serving 20 or more years would be
eligible for a retirement stipend equal to 40% of base pay. Currently the stipend is 50%.
A key difference between the House and Senate versions is that, under the Senate version, government
matching will cease once a service member reaches 20 years of service. The House version, which was
passed on April 29th, stipulates that matching will continue beyond 20 years. This was a compromise
that was made, in part, due to the advocacy efforts of the American Military Retirees Association.
AMRA is dissatisfied with the MCRMC recommendation that would reduce the current 20 year
retirement stipend from 50% of base pay to 40% of base pay in order to fund the new government
matching for the TSP portion of the blended retirement plan. The House version modified the
Commission’s recommendation to allow government matching to continue beyond 20 years and by also
adding 2% to the retirement stipend for each year served after 20 years—two aspects of the “blended”
plan that were not originally included. Thus, the House version would keep a 50% retirement stipend in
place for those who retire after serving 25 years versus 20 years. The Senate version that was passed on
May 14th does not include the House compromise and simply goes along the MCRMC recommendation.
Full House Passes NDAA in 261-159 Vote
On May 15th, the House Passed H.R. 1735, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016.
Upon passage, Chairman Thornberry (R-TX), of the House Armed Services Committee, made the
following statement:
“I want to thank all of the Members who worked so hard and contributed so much to this product. The
important reforms to the acquisition process, workforce management, and troop benefits could not
have happened without contributions from across this chamber. I especially want to thank those
members who contributed to this bill and voted for final passage. We have never before faced such a
diverse array of serious threats. To meet them, we must preserve our agility while we recruit and retain
the very best. This bill is an important step in that direction.”
No timetable has been set for when the NDAA will come to a full vote in the Senate. The two chambers
will have to reconcile differences on the military pay and retirement provisions in a conference
committee before a final compromise bill can go to President Obama to sign into law.
Heller, Casey Lead VA Backlog Working Group In Release of New Report, Legislation to Address Claims
Delay
On May 6th, chairs of the VA Backlog Working Group—a group commissioned by the Committee on
Veterans’ Affairs resulting from the VA backlog scandal that swept the Nation last year—U.S. Senators
Dean Heller (R-NV) and Bob Casey (D-PA), along with several other high profile Senator’s, released the
21st Century Veterans Benefits Delivery Act, comprehensive legislation designed to create a system that
can withstand surges in disability claims without generating another veteran disability claims backlog.
The Senators also released the VA Backlog Working Group 2015 Report. The report identifies the
progress that has been made on the claims backlog since 2014, which recommendations have been
implemented by the VA and Congress, and what actions must still be taken to fully transition the VA to a
21st century benefits delivery system.
The entire report is available at: http://www.heller.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/24c2c880-205c4eb7-9e90-b9bc4958ce4e/2015%20VA%20Backlog%20Report.pdf