Courtney Co-Sponsors Bipartisan Legislation to Repeal Changes to Military Retirement Benefits

WASHINGTON—Following passage of the Bipartisan Budget Act in December, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-2) lent his support to two pieces of legislation that will repeal changes to the military retirement system made in that original bill. While passage of a comprehensive, bipartisan budget agreement was an important victory for the economy, it included a provision that would reduce future military retirement benefit cost-of-living adjustments for working age retirees – a provision that Congressman Courtney opposes.

“I was pleased to support a bipartisan budget agreement that will provide certainty for our economy for the next two years, and begin to undo the damage that sequestration has inflicted on our military and domestic programs. However, no compromise is perfect, and this one contained a provision that I believe must be repealed. Thankfully, the changes to the calculation of future cost of living adjustments for working age military retirees does not go into effect until 2015, leaving ample time for Congress to revisit this issue. That is why I have co-sponsored legislation that would specifically exempt disabled veterans who receive retirement compensation from the Department of Defense, as well as a measure to eliminate the military pension provision in its entirety by replacing those savings by closing loopholes for corporations that shelter profits overseas,” Courtney said.

“Rarely does Congress pass a bill that does not require some improvements after the fact, and in this case, I believe we must act to protect the benefits that our men and women in uniform have earned. It is my hope that these measures will be addressed quickly after Congress returns in January to provide the clarity and certainty that military retirees deserve about the future of their retirement benefits.”

The bills co-sponsored by Rep. Courtney are:

H.R. 3789, a bill introduced by Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL) that would clarify and exempt all veterans who medically retire, those who receive Combat Related Specialty Compensation (CRSC), and those who receive Concurrent Receipt Pay (CRDP). The intent of the bill is to exempt all disabled veterans from the impact of Sec 403 on their disability pension. While the House-passed measure does not affect VA disability compensation, it still affects disabled veterans who receive pay under the Department of Defense.

H.R. 3793, a bill introduced by Rep. Dan Maffei (D-NY) that repeals the provision related to future military retirement COLAs. This legislation is fully offset by closing tax loopholes that encourage companies to avoid paying their fair share in taxes. Specifically, this bill restricts companies that are incorporated offshore but managed and controlled from the United States from claiming foreign status and avoiding U.S. taxes on their foreign income. It would require these companies to be treated as U.S. domestic corporations for tax purposes, raising an expected $6.6 billion over ten years.