February 14, 2014

With a winter storm approaching Washington D.C., legislators quickly crafted and rushed through legislation grandfathering currently serving members and working-age retirees from the Bipartisan Budget Act’s cost of living adjustment (COLA) penalty.  

The Senate was considering a bill that would have provided full repeal, but as the weather reports worsened, the Senate quickly turned to a different bill (S. 25) on Wednesday which passed the House on Tuesday.  

Although it’s not full repeal, the legislation is a big step in the right direction.  The COLA cut will still affect new entrants who joined the military after Jan. 1, 2014 and the partial repeal is paid for by extending the sequestration of mandatory programs (mostly Medicare) for one year to 2024.    

MOAA prefers full repeal, and believes any compensation changes should be proposed by the Congressionally-mandated Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission (MCRMC). The MCRMC should make recommendations that take into consideration all aspects of recruiting, retention and readiness – not piecemeal changes.  These recommendations should then be fully vetted by the Armed Services Committees in the traditional legislative process.  

We’re pleased that Congress did listen and reacted to more than 295,000 messages sent by MOAA members over the past two months.   

“This was a tremendous effort from the very beginning – from getting the word out on the financial impacts, to storming the Hill with our Military Coalition and American Legion colleagues, to energizing  our membership and supporters with huge grassroots efforts, and to our Chairman, General John Tilelli, USA (Ret.) testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee. We are grateful for the outpouring of support from so many congressional leaders,” MOAA President Vice Adm. Norb Ryan, USN (Ret) said.  

This represents a significant victory, but more challenges are just ahead as the administration prepares to roll out its annual budget which will likely contain more military compensation and benefit cuts.