Retirees and annuitants from the armed services would continue to receive pay during a government shutdown, but beneficiaries who served in the commissioned corps of the U.S. Public Health Service or NOAA lack such protections.

A passage in the FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) moved Coast Guard military retiree pay under the Pentagon’s Military Retirement Fund (MRF), which allows payments to continue during a funding lapse. While USPHS and NOAA retirees and annuitants are paid via the Coast Guard Pay and Personnel Center (PPC), they are not paid from the MRF. Their service-specific funding streams would be cut off until funding for respective agencies is restored.

[TAKE ACTION: Ask Your Lawmakers to Pay Our Troops During a Shutdown]

While the fiscal year (and existing federal funding) ends Sept. 30, USPHS and NOAA retirees would receive their Oct. 1 payments, which cover money owed (and budgeted) from September. However, without a continuing resolution, a full budget, or another fix from lawmakers, these retirees would not receive their next scheduled payment on Oct. 31.

PPC retirees and annuitants received notification of the shutdown-related realities in an email from the Coast Guard this month.

Finding a Funding Fix

As MOAA works to ensure those currently serving – in all branches – continue to receive pay during a shutdown, we will also work toward our cornerstone goal of service parity in these pay issues.

We’ll also continue pressing lawmakers to break the long cycle of budget brinkmanship and pass funding bills in a timely fashion, which would alleviate this type of fallout (and save billions of dollars in misaligned funding caused by continuing resolutions).

Those who serve and have served should not bear the cost of congressional inaction, no matter the uniform or type of service. Keep up with the latest on the budget impasse at MOAA.org/news, and register at our Legislative Action Center, where you can reach out to lawmakers about this and other key MOAA priorities.