While Congress was home for the August recess, MOAA’s grassroots advocate network took action.

With lawmakers back in their districts, MOAA’s Summer Advocacy in Action campaign put three legislative priorities directly in front of them and their staffs thanks to member participation at the state and local level:

• The Major Richard Star Act would let combat-injured retirees keep both their full military retired pay and their full VA disability compensation, ending a decades-old offset that forces many to forfeit part of one to receive the other.
  
  
• GLP-1 coverage restoration would return weight-management and metabolic medications to the TRICARE For Life formulary for beneficiaries who lost access last year.
  
  
• Work Opportunity Tax Credit reauthorization and expansion would give employers real incentive to hire military spouses – a workforce that faces elevated unemployment every time a move resets a career – and reestablish a proven program to help veterans succeed after service.

[GET INVOLVED: Register at MOAA’s Legislative Action Center]

Despite the access to lawmakers, August recess isn’t an easy time for advocacy. With Congress on the campaign trail, lawmakers’ schedules are stretched between town halls, fundraisers, and district events. Staff members often face a crush of competing asks.

Getting a window of attention in a month built for reelection messaging is no easy task. Despite this, MOAA council and chapter leaders around the country leveraged their networks and expertise to secure meetings with dozens of offices this summer.

However, that effort would mean little without the backing of a wider swathe of MOAA’s members and volunteers at large. MOAA advocates sent more than 18,000 messages to Capitol Hill this summer, thousands in support of each topic. Their work illustrates to lawmakers that MOAA’s local leaders speak for a real community of uniformed servicemembers, veterans, retirees, and families in their districts willing to take action.

With the House already adjourned until the midterms and the Senate set to do the same in the coming days, most remaining floor action on these priorities is likely to wait until after the election. MOAA will keep the pressure on through that critical window. Stay up to date with MOAA’s advocacy news and our Legislative Action Center.