by Sarah Schauerte
[Update on February 18, 2014 – It’s official! Obama signed the bill to reverse the pension cuts for our nation’s veterans. Access the full story at: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-signs-debt-ceiling-military-pension-bills/].
On Wednesday, February 12, the United States Senate sent legislation to President Obama’s desk that would repeal the over $6 billion cut to military pensions. Someone, hand that man a pen!
This move comes as a great relief to veterans organizations such as the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), who lobbied tirelessly to undo this aspect of the December budget deal. It doesn’t seem like Congress needed much persuading, however, as the bill passed overwhelmingly in the Senate in a 95-3 vote. The day before, it swept through the House at 326-90.
So what was at stake here? The December budget deal reduced the cost of living adjustment (COLA) to non-service-disabled military retirees under age 62 by one percentage point below inflation. While one percentage point might not seem like a lot, the cut matters to a veteran who struggles to make ends meet with pension as his sole source of income. A cut would mean he couldn’t buy a load of groceries each month, or might fall short on his mortgage. In all, 750,000 of our nation’s veterans would have been impacted. Thankfully, this is now no longer the case.
But as the saying goes, there ain’t nothing for free. The cost of this reversal is offset by extending the sequester on Medicare spending by one additional year, to 2024. Also, some veterans advocates criticize the bill because only current service members and veterans will see the reversal – the cut still applies to service members entering the military after January 1, 2014. 750,000 veterans who receive pensions, however, can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
It’s unfortunate our veterans even had to worry about the reduction, but that’s fodder for another blog.
To learn more about the COLA for military members, visit Military.com’s website here. Military.com is a great go-to website for news, information, and resources affecting military members, and it provides many helpful articles relating to military pay.
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