LEGISLATIVE ISSUES - Reserve Benefits

These are the issues that the Naval Reserve Association will be pursuing in our legislative activities for the coming Congressional year. The item that was the third most important on the NRA member survey was that we work with Congress to get and preserve benefits for Reservists. What follows are some of the issues that we will be working on during the 107th Congress.

Personnel and Optempo * Encourage upcoming QDR to review manning/mission imbalance.
* Fine-tune the ITEMPO formula to exempt certain CONUS Reserve ADSW.

Force Structure * Support CNO guidelines for an increased fleet size
* Reduce Military Reserve Construction Backlog.

Development of Relationships with Employers of the Guard and Reserve Personnel * Authorize tax credits for employers of Reservist-employees.
* Continue emphasis on the Employer Support Program.

Protection of the Guard and Reserve Personnel * Review the financial protection for mobilized Reservists.
* Pay employers (e.g. Cobra) to maintain health coverage on recalled Reservists to provide family continuity of healthcare.
* Make permanent the waiver reducing the final Reserve Component service to six years to qualify for Reserve Retirement.
* Reimburse Reservists on accrued interest charges on mandated credit cards used for government housing and meal costs during overseas deployment.
* Increase Reserve medical protection by allowing medical coverage to Reservists who become ill while at an IDT site.
* Restore the tax deductibility of non-reimbursable expenses.
* Continuation of GI Bill benefits of Reservists who involuntarily are transferred from pay to non-pay, if a satisfactory qualifying year for retirement is maintained.
* Extend 10-year limitation for MGIB for SELRES Members.
* Permit activated Reservists to defer repayment of certain federal student loans.
* Protection of educational assistance program entitlements for selected reserve members serving on active duty in support of a contingency operation.
* Protection of educational credit for selected reserve members serving on active duty of a contingency operation.
* Extend/make permanent VA Home Loan Guarantees for SELRES, which expires in 2007.
* Support the automatic retirement for drilling Reservists who hit ROMPA tenure.

Total Force Parity in Benefits for the Guardsman and Reservist * Authorize single rate basic allowance for housing.
* Resolve pay and benefits problems occurring in performance of Military Funeral Honors.
* Support a TRICARE Health Plan for Reservists

Benefits of the Retired Guards and Reserve Personnel * Provide an early retirement buy-down, similar to that offered to Federal Employees for Reservist who have qualified for retired pay at age 60 years.
* Seek reserve component retirement equity to active duty.
* Eliminate SBP age-62 Offset. Incrementally raise the minimum annuity from 35% to 40% and then to 55%.
* Pay an SBP annuity to the surviving spouse of any RC member killed on active duty.
* Seek to enhance equity of annual cost-of living adjustments (COLA).
* Seek parity in space-available travel between retired members and unaccompanied active duty dependents.
* Improve Space "A" benefits for gray area retirees to include OUTCONUS travel.

Veterans Benefits * Urge passage of additional Montgomery GI Bill allowance increases.
* Support hearings on Open SGLI Coverage to a spouse or child.
* Codify rules for burial in Arlington National Cemetery.
* Authorize expansion of SGL Insurance to include spouses.
* Support aggressive implementation of measures to reduce veteran's claim backlog.
* Permit concurrent receipt of VA disability compensation and uniformed services retirement payments.

Healthcare * Ensure adequate funding of the Defense Health Budget, including TRICARE for Life.
* Work with TRICARE Management Activity Agency (TMA) to promote initiatives to enhance TRICARE delivery/effectiveness.
* Enact legislation to ease Medicare Part B late enrollment penalties incurred by military retirees who seek enrollment in TRICARE for Life.
Support of Active Duty. * Support change to federal law to guarantee the voting rights of uniformed service members.