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thedrifter
07-16-07, 07:26 AM
Senate could add to hefty benefits plan
Lawmakers push for basic pay increase, other compensation
By Rick Maze - rmaze@militarytimes.com
Posted : July 23, 2007

Congress continues to defy the Bush administration by pushing for a package of military pay and benefits that is more generous than Pentagon and White House budget officials believe is justified, including bigger pay raises through 2012.

And the 2008 pay plan could be getting even more generous, as the Senate considers a pile of amendments to the $648 billion defense authorization bill that would boost a variety of benefits.

That is only the start of what could be a flood of changes.

Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., a Vietnam combat veteran who has been working on several bipartisan proposals, wants to amend the bill to give bigger military pay raises over the next five years — an idea the House has approved in its version of the defense bill — and also give National Guard and reserve members a chance to begin drawing retirement pay earlier than the current age 60.

The plan for basic-pay increases backed by the House and now by Hagel comes over strong administration objections. It would provide military pay increases through 2012 that are 0.5 percentage point greater than average pay raises in the private sector. That would make the Jan. 1, 2008, pay raise 3.5 percent, rather than the 3 percent sought by the administration.

White House budget officials have called the larger pay raise “unnecessary” in light of the 33 percent increase in basic pay since 2001 and other upgrades in military pay and benefits.

Hagel’s retired-pay proposal would allow reservists to begin drawing retired pay one year earlier than the current age 60 for every 2 years they serve beyond the minimum 20 needed to qualify for retirement, up to a maximum of 34 years of service.

That would allow reservists to begin drawing retired pay as early as age 53.

Hagel’s proposals were pending at press time.

Another major compensation plan that was taken up and approved July 12 was a wounded warrior treatment-and-benefits measure that includes, among other things, a revision of severance payments for troops who are physically unable to continue military service.

Those with combat-related disabilities would get a minimum of one year of basic pay, while those with noncombat disabilities would receive a minimum of six months of basic pay.

Wounded warrior provisions would also:

•Allow medically retired troops with disabilities rated at 50 percent or higher to continue receiving military health care for three years after separation.

•Provide $50 billion for improvements in diagnosis and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries.

•Extend military and veterans’ health care to families of disabled troops if the family members have invitational travel orders.

In a major policy change, it also would order the military to use the disability ratings schedule of the Veterans Affairs Department when evaluating injured service members, with an exception allowed only if the military wants to rate a disability higher, said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., Senate Armed Services Committee chairman.

This would be helpful to the parents, siblings and other relatives of injured service members who are not otherwise authorized to use military health care, which has been a frequent complaint from families of combat-injured service members with severe injuries requiring extended treatment.

Many more amendments to the defense bill that focus on compensation are pending.

Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., wants the military to provide an extra five days of rest and recuperation leave, for a total of 20, and also have the government pay for travel to the U.S. and back to the combat zone for anyone whose tour in Iraq or Afghanistan is involuntarily extended to 15 months or longer.

Under his plan, service members who wanted to spend R&R somewhere other than the U.S. could still have their travel expenses reimbursed, as long as the government’s costs do not exceed what it would have paid for travel to the U.S.

Minnesota Sens. Norm Coleman, a Republican, and Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, want Guard and reserve members who have spent 22 cumulative months or more in a combat zone since Jan. 1, 2003, to receive an extra $1,000 in monthly Assignment Incentive Pay.

A plan that would provide free mail service to the war zone for friends and families of deployed troops, at a cost of $10 million per year, is proposed by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.

Her amendment would give service members vouchers that could be sent to friends or family, allowing one 10-pound package to be mailed at no cost. Vouchers would be given to troops serving in the Iraq or Afghanistan war zones, or anyone hospitalized in a military facility for treatment of an injury or disease resulting from service in the war zones.

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., is making another attempt to get the federal government to make up any differences between military and civilian salaries for federal employees who are mobilized for Guard or reserve duty. Similar legislation has passed in the Senate in past years, only to die during final negotiations on the annual defense bill because of Pentagon objections.

Ellie