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DAV: FULFILLING OUR PROMISES TO THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO SERVED
Legislation: 02 14 2013 Report

Title

02 14 2013 Report 

Body

KEN KOOYMAN

Senior Vice Commander

Legislative & Informational

News ReleaseFebruary 12, 2013

 

The State House provided the latest in Joint Committee Chairs.  Of interest to veterans is the Veterans and Federal Affairs Committee.  The Chairs are Senator Michael Rush (D-West Roxbury) and Representative Carlo P. Basile (D East Boston)

 

The information provided below is for your consideration and those items you feel strongly about please contact your elected officials that represent us in Washington D.C.  They need to know how we feel about our benefits and our futures.  We have 19 people attending the Mid-Winter Conference on February 23-27 in Washington.  What a great showing!

 

With 4 weeks before budgetary sequestration goes into effect on March 1st it is looking more and more likely that either full or partial sequestration cuts will go into effect. Every federal department and agency has been working on contingency plans that they are keeping very close to the vest.

 

There is a memo concerning the military health system which included a goal to “identify and implement” savings in Private Sector Care (that means TRICARE managed care contracts and the USFHP) A tiger team is being created to study the contracts and find savings. The memo also includes “curtailing facility sustainment, Restoration and Modernization (FSRM)” spending and a hiring freeze for DHP funded civilian employees plus much much more.

 

Indeed, we have already been seeing cuts and changes caused by the CR and the pending sequestration. The yearly Military Health Care Conference, schedules to be held in the DC area in early February was abruptly cancelled last week. And this is just one segment of DoD- its Defense Health Program (DHP)

 

Meanwhile Bloomberg has calculated that over one third of the $85.3 billion in automatic cuts will come from contract programs throughout the government. They stated that since Congress has appropriated only half the funding for FY2013 in the continuing resolution (CR) running through March 27th on March 1st $23.6 billion in defense cuts and $21.3 billion in nondefense cuts will occur on March 1st. And the remaining cuts will take place when additional funds are appropriated.

 

 As you can see all of this is very complicated. What is clear is that starting on March 1st unless Congress acts quickly and unexpectedly we will all see immediate changes in numerous programs.

 

 New Veterans’ Bills Introduced in Congress

S.140 Sponsor: Chairman of Senate Finance Committee Max Baucus (D-MT): this bill amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend the work opportunity credit to certain recently discharged veterans, to improve the coordination of veteran job training services between the Department of Labor, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Defense, to require transparency for Executive departments in meeting the Government-wide goals for contracting with small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans, and for other purposes.

 

S.131 Sponsor: Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA): this bill amends title 38, United States Code, to improve the reproductive assistance provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs to severely wounded, ill, or injured veterans and their spouses, and for other purposes.

 

S. 62 Sponsor: Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA): The Check the Box for Homeless Veterans Act of 2013 offers taxpayers the opportunity to help keep those who have served our country off the streets by making a voluntary contribution on their annual federal income tax return to support programs that prevent and combat veteran homelessness.

Senators Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD), Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) are all cosponsors of this novel legislation that aims to help end veteran homelessness.

This legislation would give taxpayers the option to check a box on their annual tax return and make a voluntary contribution in the amount of their choice to a new Homeless Veterans Assistance Fund established in the U.S. Treasury. Donations to the fund would be used to provide assistance to homeless veterans through initiatives at the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Labor.

The legislation would support the Administration's comprehensive five-year plan to end homelessness among our nation's veterans by 2015.

 

S.49 Veterans Health Equity Act of 2013 Sponsor: Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) A bill to ensure that veterans in each of the 48 contiguous States are able to receive services in at least one full-service Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in the State or receive comparable services provided by contract in the State, and for other purposes.

(and its companion bill in the House of Representatives)

 

 H.R. 257 “Veterans Health Equity Act of 2013” Sponsor: Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH) A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure that veterans in each of the 48 contiguous States are able to receive services in at least one full-service hospital of the Veterans Health Administration in the State or receive comparable services provided by contract in the State.

 

H.R. 241 Veterans Timely Access to Health Care Act Sponsor: Dennis Ross (R-FL) A bill to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish standards of access to care for veterans seeking health care from Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities, and for other purposes.

 

 H.R. 183 Veterans Dog Training Therapy Act Sponsor Rep. Michael Grimes (R-NY) A bill to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program on dog training therapy.

 

 Hagel Commits to Audit of Pentagon

 

The Department of Defense is the only budget in the Federal Government that cannot be audited. It is our position that it is impossible to make an accurate judgment about defense personnel costs if DoD has no idea what it spends elsewhere in its budget and we believe before they ever consider cutting personnel benefits DoD must be able to audit its books and find out where all of the waste, fraud and abuse is.

 

While this idea has been scoffed at by some in the past it appears to be finally be gaining traction in Congress. Last year Senators Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) introduced a bill to force DoD to get its books in order so it can be audited, even though there was already a law requiring that.

 

On Thursday of this week during the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the nomination for former Senator Chuck Hagel to be the new Secretary of Defense he was asked by both Senators Claire McCaskill and Joe Manchin if he would commit to making sure the Defense Department was ready to be audited by 2017, which Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has committed to in the past. Hagel stated that he agreed it is very important that DoD can be audited and he committed to the 2017 date.

 

A Copy of this News Release ia attached for download.

 

Expires

 
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News Release February 12.2013.docx    
Created at 2/14/2013 3:01 PM  by Ma Webmaster 
Last modified at 2/14/2013 3:06 PM  by Ma Webmaster 

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