Hi Everyone,
I'll try to make a long story short and not too painful...
When a soldier is killed, his family is eligible for SBP (retirement) and DIC (VA payment for those killed performing their duty). Eligible doesn't mean that that's what is really gotten. For some reason VA, a set amount of $993 to every widow, is subtracted dollar for dollar out of our SBP (retirement). And VA is only for those killed on active duty. It's sort of like penalizing a family for their soldier being killed on a mission. Had Mark died, eligible for reitrement, but not performing his job we wouldn't be eligible at all for VA at all and able to recieve the entire retirement he would be entitled to. But because he died doing his job which makes his death eligible for VA someone got a great idea to subtract that set amount out of his retirement. God forbid someone serving their country and killed doing their duty gets $993 more than someone in the service for 25 years who dies from a heart attack...
Well the Senate added an amendment to the FY2006 Defense Authorization Bill which had passed through the House 5 months ago ending this offset. Here's where I need everyone's help. This bill passed through the House and then onto the Senate and they finally finished their negotiations and adding amendments. The bill now has to go through a joint committe of a select few oReps and Senators to discuss the amendements the Senate wanted to make. This offset is a HUGE issue and may get washed if we do not let our representatives know that we need their support. The Senators agree it needs to be changed but it's the representatives that need to hear us now to get them to support it. Please contact your local representative either by phone or email (letters won't get to them in time). This is an issue that needs immediate action and I need as much help as I can get. If you can't write your own email or call please click on this link and at least send the MOAA's suggest letter that is already written out you just fill in the blanks.
http://capwiz.com/moaa/issues/?style=D
click on link then click on Sign SBP Discharge Notice and then add your zip into the box and a prewritten letter will appear. Fill in your information and it will then be sent to your loacl rep. Very easy. Please take a few minutes out to do this.
For those of you that have an extra second the link to retain key issues will provide letters to the senators also and we need them to also know that this is an amendement they need to stand strong on.
I explained this as plain as I could but if anyone has any questions, please ask. (after you send a letter of course). This bill is important to the military survivors so I hope all my military families that get this will really take action for me. We only heard about the good changes while Mark was in. The bad ones (like TriCare only for 3 years from the date of death) never got told to all the sodliers like a 4% pay raise did passing in the same bill.
Thank you everyone,
PS Below is an aritcle explaining it also. Another note not mention is that a soldier's family E6 and below recieve NO SBP because that amount is less than the $993 they get from VA. If this got change they would recieve their $993 from VA and their SBP $800 or so more a month.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Together, America can do better than an unfair tax on military families who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
Discharge Filed Today in House to Force Vote on Ending the Military Families Tax (SBP-DIC)
(Washington, DC) - - U. S. Representative Chet Edwards today introduced a discharge petition to force a House floor vote on H.R. 808, a bill that would eliminate the Military Families Tax. Current law forces widows to lose their DOD survivor benefits if they receive Dependency and Indemnity Compensation from the VA because their spouse died of a service-connected injury. If the discharge petition receives the required 218 signatures from House members, a vote would occur on the floor of the House. H.R. 808, introduced by Rep. Henry Brown (R-SC) has 173 cosponsors, 73 of which are Republicans and 100 Democrats.
"Over 50,000 military survivors - mostly military widows - in this country are being denied benefits they deserve. For all active duty deaths, the surviving spouse is entitled to Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC)
- currently $993 a month paid by the VA.
The spouse may also be entitled to benefits from the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP), paid out by the Defense Department. But current law requires a dollar-for-dollar reduction to SBP for every dollar of DIC benefits they receive from the VA. For survivors of members below the E-6 grade or rank of staff sergeant, this offset wipes out most or all of the SBP entitlement, leaving survivors with only the $993 a month from the VA. For more senior members, the survivor receives some residual SBP - but loses almost $12,000 a year in benefits.
This is no way to honor our military families who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
Republicans and Democrats have supported H.R. 808, introduced by Rep. Brown from South Carolina to correct this problem. The Senate included this fix in its Defense Authorization bill. I think the House needs to show such decisive action by bringing this legislation to the floor, and I have begun a discharge petition this morning to force the House to do so. I urge my colleagues to sign on. Congress took a step in the right direction by increasing death benefits and insurance for new survivors earlier this year, but this does not help those who have lost loved ones in the past.
We need to take this step now to correct this injustice."
318,000 survivors currently receive DIC benefits. As of 2002, the largest group of widows receiving DIC continues to be the World War II widows (109,481), followed closely by the Vietnam Era (101,021). Of these, approximately 52,000 survivors also receive SBP and are subject to the offset.
America can do better. Together, we can work to fix this problem.
Repeal the offset
* DIC is what its name implies - a special indemnity payable when
military service results in a servicemember's premature death. SBP was originally retiree-purchased insurance, but is now available to those whose spouses died on active duty. The survivor should receive both when military service caused the death.
* Substituting DIC for SBP is inappropriate. Federal civilians have
their own SBP program, and federal civilian SBP is not subject to offset by DIC if the civilian is a veteran and dies from a service-connected cause.
* Congress has taken a step in the right direction by increasing
lump-sum death benefits for new survivors. But that does not help most current survivors. We must end the SBP-DIC offset.
Legislative Actions
* Rep. Henry Brown has introduced H.R. 808 (currently 173 cosponsors)
to eliminate this offset.
* Democrats included these provisions in H.R. 2131, the New GI Bill of
Rights for the 21st Century.
* Rep. Chet Edwards introduced a resolution that would allow creation
of a discharge petition (H. Res. 271; May 11, 2005), and has begun collecting signatures for the discharge petition.
* This spring, Democrats in the House, led by Rep. John Salazar
(D-CO), attempted to offer this as an amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill. However, Republicans unanimously votes to block him from offering this amendment.
* The Senate included language to eliminate this offset in its version
of the Defense Authorization Act (Nelson Amendment). As this approaches conference, a discharge petition may focus attention on this issue and add pressure for the House to do the same.
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