Visit Legislators In August To Support Key MOAA Initiatives
During the month of August (and this year for the first two weeks in September), most U.S. Senators will be in their home states/districts meeting with constituents.
This is a great opportunity for you as council/chapter leaders and legislative chairs/liaisons to visit your senators’ local offices and urge their support for several key MOAA initiatives that will be up for consideration by the Senate in the FY2011 Defense Authorization Bill when Congress reconvenes in September.
To assist you in meetings with your senators or their staffers, we’ve prepared fact sheets and talking points on three key issues.
Please don’t feel like you have to be the expert on all of these issues. That’s why we designed the packages as we have – to include a “key points” sheet with a few key facts on the issue, along with a fact sheet that you can print and leave with the legislators and/or their staffs.
MOAA is grateful for any grassroots support you can provide during the August recess. One of the reasons MOAA has been so successful on Capitol Hill is that we have members who are willing to contact their legislators and express their views on issues that are important to them.
View legislative tips for MOAA leaders.
You can use MOAA’s website to locate legislators’ state/district offices.
Three Key Issues
1) Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP)
Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) is expected to introduce an amendment to the FY 2011 Defense Authorization Bill that would repeal the deduction of VA survivor benefits from military survivors’ SBP annuities.
2) Concurrent Receipt
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is expected to introduce an amendment to the FY2011 Defense bill that would phase out the VA disability offset to military retired pay for severely disabled medical (chapter 61) retirees.
3) Guard/Reserve Retirement
Senator John Kerry (D-MA) is expected to introduce an amendment to the FY2011 Defense bill that would provide retroactive reserve retirement age credit for all active service since Sept. 11, 2001 (vs current law, which credits only service since Jan. 28, 2008).
