___________________________________

UPDATE NOTE: I have just returned
from a trip to Washington and had
a one hour meeting with a Senate
legislative attorney, and she has
confirmed that this Defense Act will
be rescued at the start of the
2008 Senate session without having
to be reissued under a new Bill
number. It will undergo a compramise
revision and then back to another
floor vote and that will be that.
I cannot give you dates on implementation
for those who are waiting, but it
will be posted here in Vets For
Justice FORUM just as soon as
it clears for vote and is resent
to the White House for signature.

_______________________________________


The 2008 Defense Authorization Act
has been passed by the Senate and
here are the wording changes in
that bill for the issue of Concurrent
Receipt for retirees.

Below it is the LINK to the actual
wording recommendations made by the
VDBC Commission.

Any changes which are not done in
this new year of 2008 on the
concurrent receipt issue, will
likely be layered in on the next
round of changes next year.
The VDBC Commission estimated
a 5 year implementation plan for
their report.

I have used cut and paste to
transfer the actual Concurrent
Receipt language over to this
chat for your convenience below.

SEC. 653. EXPANSION OF COMBAT-RELATED
SPECIAL COMPENSATION ELIGIBILITY FOR CHAPTER
61 MILITARY RETIREES.

(a) Eligibility- Subsection (c) of section 1413a of title 10, United States Code, is amended by striking `entitled to retired pay who--' and all that follows and inserting
`who--

`(1) is entitled to retired pay (other than by reason of section 12731b of this title); and

`(2) has a combat-related disability.'.

(b) Computation- Paragraph (3) of subsection (b) of such section is amended--

(1) by designating the text of that paragraph as subparagraph (A), realigning that text so as to be indented 4 ems from the left margin, and inserting before `In the case of' the following heading: `IN GENERAL- '; and

(2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

`(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR RETIREES WITH FEWER THAN 20 YEARS OF SERVICE- In the case of an eligible combat-related disabled uniformed services retiree who is retired under chapter 61 of this title with fewer than 20 years of creditable service, the amount of the payment under paragraph (1) for any month shall be reduced by the amount (if any) by which the amount of the member's retired pay under chapter 61 of this title exceeds the amount equal to 2 1/2 percent of the member's years of creditable service multiplied by the member's retired pay base under section 1406(b)(1) or 1407 of this title, whichever is applicable to the member.'.

(c) Effective Date- The amendments made by this section shall take effect on January 1, 2008, and shall apply to payments for months beginning on or after that date.



SEC. 660. INCLUSION OF VETERANS WITH SERVICE-CONNECTED DISABILITIES RATED AS TOTAL BY REASON OF UNEMPLOYABILITY UNDER TERMINATION OF PHASE-IN OF CONCURRENT RECEIPT OF RETIRED PAY AND VETERANS' DISABILITY COMPENSATION.

(a) Inclusion of Veterans- Section 1414(a)(1) of title 10, United States Code, is amended by striking `except that' and all that follows and inserting `except that payment of retired pay is subject to subsection (c) only during the period beginning on January 1, 2004, and ending on December 31, 2004, in the case of the following:

`(A) A qualified retiree receiving veterans' disability compensation for a disability rated as 100 percent.

`(B) A qualified retiree receiving veterans' disability compensation at the rate payable for a 100 percent disability by reason of a determination of individual unemployability.'.

(b) Effective Date- The amendment made by subsection (a) shall take effect on December 31, 2004.


SEC. 658. REPEAL OF REQUIREMENT OF REDUCTION
OF SURVIVOR BENEFIT PLAN SURVIVOR ANNUITIES
BY DEPENDENCY AND INDEMNITY COMPENSATION.

(a) Repeal-

(1) IN GENERAL- Subchapter II of chapter 73 of title 10, United States Code, is amended as follows:

(A) In section 1450, by striking subsection (c).

(B) In section 1451(c)--

(i) by striking paragraph (2); and

(ii) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and (4) as paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively.

(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS- Such subchapter is further amended as follows:

(A) In section 1450--

(i) by striking subsection (e); and

(ii) by striking subsection (k).

(B) In section 1451(g)(1), by striking subparagraph (C).

(C) In section 1452--

(i) in subsection (f)(2), by striking `does not apply--' and all that follows and inserting `does not apply in the case of a deduction made through administrative error.'; and

(ii) by striking subsection (g).

(D) In section 1455(c), by striking `, 1450(k)(2),'.

(b) Prohibition on Retroactive Benefits- No benefits may be paid to any person for any period before the effective date provided under subsection (f) by reason of the amendments made by subsection (a).

(c) Prohibition on Recoupment of Certain Amounts Previously Refunded to SBP Recipients- A surviving spouse who is or has been in receipt of an annuity under the Survivor Benefit Plan under subchapter II of chapter 73 of title 10, United States Code, that is in effect before the effective date provided under subsection (f) and that is adjusted by reason of the amendments made by subsection (a) and who has received a refund of retired pay under section 1450(e) of title 10, United States Code, shall not be required to repay such refund to the United States.

(d) Repeal of Authority for Optional Annuity for Dependent Children- Section 1448(d)(2) of such title is amended--

(1) by striking `DEPENDENT CHILDREN- ' and all that follows through `In the case of a member described in paragraph (1),' and inserting `DEPENDENT CHILDREN- In the case of a member described in paragraph (1),'; and

(2) by striking subparagraph (B).

(e) Restoration of Eligibility for Previously Eligible Spouses- The Secretary of the military department concerned shall restore annuity eligibility to any eligible surviving spouse who, in consultation with the Secretary, previously elected to transfer payment of such annuity to a surviving child or children under the provisions of section 1448(d)(2)(B) of title 10, United States Code, as in effect on the day before the effective date provided under subsection (f). Such eligibility shall be restored whether or not payment to such child or children subsequently was terminated due to loss of dependent status or death. For the purposes of this subsection, an eligible spouse includes a spouse who was previously eligible for payment of such annuity and is not remarried, or remarried after having attained age 55, or whose second or subsequent marriage has been terminated by death, divorce or annulment.

(f) Effective Date- The sections and the amendments made by this section shall take effect on the later of--

(1) the first day of the first month that begins after the date of the enactment of this Act; or

(2) the first day of the fiscal year that begins in the calendar year in which this Act is enacted.


COMMISSION LINK TO FINDINGS ON CONCURRENT RECEIPT. SCROLL FORWARD TO SLIDE
PAGES 36 THRU 39 ON THE LINK PAGE.

http://www.vetscommission.org/pdf/Approp_of_Benefit-ch-6.pdf

This message has been edited. Last edited by: McClellanVet,

REPLY TO TOM:


I wish I could tell you something
more certain on this. At the very
last minute at the end of year,
Bush staged a veto and "expiration"
of the overall Defense Bill. The
Senate will not start it's new
2008 session until January 22nd.

I have the full news story posted
under the Forum titled House or
Senate Bills.

In many ways, the outcome of this
Bill right now and the timetable
for implementation may be off-kilter
because of this horrible stunt
staged just before New Years.

We will be confronting the Senate
at the start of the new session
and tracking the websites for
any news about what their recovery
plan is going to be on this
Defense Bill which is holding
all the little features on
Concurrent Receipt.

My question is a general one. Do we get the increase in Febuaray? Also I'm 60% disabled what will the increase be.


Thanks


Tom