Subject: Annual Cost-of-Living Adjustment
Bills Introduced that Would Provide Annual and Automatic COLA
Rep. John Runyan (NJ) introduced similar bills, H.R. 569 and H.R. 570, that, if enacted into law would affect cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) in VA compensation and pension benefit payments. H.R. 569 would increase effective on December 1, 2013, the rates of compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) for the survivors of certain disabled veterans. H.R. 570 would provide for automatic annual COLA adjustments each year on December 1st in the rates of disability compensation and the rates of DIC for survivors.
Both bills contain provisions that would round down less than whole dollar amounts of COLA increases to the next lower dollar. DAV and other veterans service organizations strongly oppose this rounding-down feature which, for over twenty years, has reduced compensation and pension payments by millions of dollars – all at the expense of disabled veterans and their families. While DAV supports the overall purposes of these bills to provide COLA increases, applying a rounding-down policy to disabled veterans’ payments is wrong and should be halted.
H.R. 569 currently has 5 cosponsors and H.R. 570 has 2 cosponsors; both bills were referred to the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. Please use the prepared electronic letter or draft your own to urge your Representative to cosponsor these important bills, to remove the objectionable language that would round down COLA payments, and to bring these bills to the floor of the House for a vote as soon as possible.
As always, we appreciate your support of DAV and you grassroots activism in participating in DAV CAN, the Commander’s Action Network. Your advocacy helps make DAV a highly influential and persuasive organization in Washington.
Thank you for all you do for America’s veterans and their families