This Week in Congress: Senate's Final Work Before Summer Break
The Senate enters August with an uncertain final week of work before breaking for the remainder of the month, pushing final decisions on a host of military and veterans policy matters into the fall. For now, the Senate Appropriations Committee this week is expected to unveil and advance its draft of the fiscal 2022 Veterans Affairs and military construction budget. The full House in wrap-up work last week approved its version of those plans, which included about $270 billion in spending for VA next year.
Some Veterans Exposed to Toxics from Burn Pits to Have Compensation Fast-Tracked By VA
The Department of Veterans Affairs on Monday created a fast-track to disability compensation for certain veterans who developed asthma, rhinitis or sinusitis because of their exposure to burn pits during overseas deployments. The change comes after VA Secretary Denis McDonough initiated a federal rulemaking process May 27 to consider creating a fast-track to health care and disability compensation for some veterans suffering from respiratory illnesses. During the review process, the VA concluded there was sufficient evidence linking the three conditions to airborne toxins that service members breathed during the deployments.
DoD Needs to Get a Handle on Quality of Life At Remote, Isolated U.S. Bases, Report Finds
Some troops and families are having to drive three hours to get routine medical care during pregnancy, or commuting 53 miles to work on installations that are remote or isolated in the U.S., according to a new government report, highlighting the need for Defense officials to look at the full picture of support services for troops and their families at these bases. DoD needs to gauge the risks of not providing those support services, and develop a strategy to meet those needs of troops and families, according to the report from the Government Accountability Office, which took a deep dive into life some of these U.S. installations.
AFSA Delegates Vote to Approve 2021-2022 Legislative Platform, Open Letter, and Annual Resolution at 2021 Legislative Forum!
Pictured (Left to Right): AFSA International President, Mike Carton, House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman, Mark Takano, AFSA Legislative Committee Chairman, Dr. Jim Crissinger, AFSA Executive Director, Keith A. Reed
As you may be aware, from July 24 to 29, the Air Force Sergeants Association (AFSA) hosted over 2,000 Airmen and Guardians and senior enlisted leaders of the Air and Space Forces at the 2021 Professional Education and Development Symposium (PEDS) in Orlando, Florida at the Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek.
Chairman Takano making formal remarks at the 2021 Legislative Forum.
On Sunday, July 25, AFSA delegates convened to take part in our annual Legislative Forum with a member of Congress - where we made a formal presentation of our L. Mendel Rivers Award to House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Mark Takano, received an up-to-the-minute update from our Policy Advisor, Matthew Schwartzman, and voted on the AFSA's 2021-2022 Legislative Platform, Open Letter, and Annual Resolution.
This year's Legislative Platform saw a total of six modifications that were approved unanimously. In addition to an aesthetic change to the document, the following additions were made to modernize the Platform to address pressing issues in the field:
To ensure proposed military medical billet cuts, any other uniformed/civilian/contracted medical personnel reductions and/or military treatment facility downsizing, or closures are not implemented until DoD presents to Congress a thorough analysis of civilian care availability and plan to mitigate impacts on readiness and beneficiary care.
To monitor transition of MTF administration to DHA and secure a transparent analysis and report on access to care at the MTF level as well as beneficiary problem tracking and resolution.
To support DoD's encouragement for States to engage in immediate actions to fully implement military spouse licensure laws; to attain a baseline of getting military spouses a license in 30 days based on minimal documentation; to seek long-term solutions for reciprocity through compacts.
To increase USAF and military oversight of privatized and government owned family housing and barracks to ensure quality housing is provided, health and safety hazards are properly addressed, abated, and prevented, and utility rates are equitable.
To reverse trends in (and ultimately end) the national tragedy that is suicide among service members past and present and their families; to expand research into core causes, risk factors, and protective factors for suicide among veterans, caregivers, service members and their families; to pursue further legislation and funding for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) as treatment of persistent post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)/post-traumatic stress injury (PTSI) for veterans through VA.
This year's open letter to Congress addressed pending legislation before the 117th Congress on toxic exposure - specifically, the COST of War Act of 2021 and Honoring ourPACT Act of 2021.
In short, the letter respectfully requests Congressional consideration of the following:
Expand a presumption of service connection to include K-2 vetarans
Ensure health care personnel and processors of claims have adequate training with respect to toxic exposure veterans
Provide for reevaluations of claims for compensation involving certain presumptions of service connection
Require consultation with congressionally chartered, membership-based Veteran Service Organizations (VSOs) on select appointments to de jure advisory bodies that make determinations on presumptions.
To read the Open Letter in its entirety, please click here.
And, lastly, our Annual Resolution addresses one of the most important issues to our members - that of TRICARE beneficiary cost shares. In short, with the approval of the 2021 Annual Resolution, the AFSA will continue to urge decision-makers to:
Oppose future TRICARE fee increases.
Ensure any programmatic revision to TRICARE and its managed care support contract structure does not force beneficiaries to incur any additional costs.
Separate the costs of providing health care to TRICARE beneficiaries from the costs of ensuring readiness.
Improve the transparency of readiness funding.
Reprogram appropriate apportionments of funds from year-end savings back into the TRICARE program or to beneficiaries to lower their health care costs
To read the Annual Resolution in its entirety, please click here.
If you have any questions about any of the documents aforementioned, please reach out to AFSA's Policy Advisor, Matthew Schwartzman, at mschwartzman@hqafsa.org.
Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs Passes 14 Bills, Including Chairman Tester's Building Solutions for Veterans Experiencing Homelessness Act
On Wednesday, July 28, the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee unanimously passed fourteen pieces of legislation aimed at improving veterans' health care and benefits. Our Team is currently in the process of creating summaries for each bill and will report with more detail in Thursday's Military and Government Brief.
A listing of the legislation approved by the Committee is as follows:
Building Solutions for Veterans Experiencing Homelessness Act of 2021
Ensuring Quality Care for Our Veterans Act
Improving Housing Outcomes for Veterans Act of 2021
VA Supply Chain Resiliency Act
A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to expand eligibility for hospital care, medical services, and nursing home care from the Department of Veterans Affairs to include veterans of World War II
Solid Start Act of 2021
United States Cadet Nurse Corps Service Recognition Act of 2021
VA Quality Health Care Accountability and Transparency Act
Guaranteeing Healthcare Access to Personnel Who Served Act
Veterans' Emergency Care Claims Parity Act
Planning for Aging Veterans Act
Department of Veterans Affairs Provider Accountability Act
Supporting Expanded Review for Veterans in Combat Environments (SERVICE) Act
Building Solutions for Veterans Experiencing Homelessness Act of 2021
Senate Armed Services Committee Approves FY22 National Defense Authorization Act Markup; Bill Moves to Senate Floor
On Thursday, July 22, the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) voted 23-3 to advance the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2022. During the markups, the Committee considered 321 amendments and adopted 143 bipartisan amendments.
"The FY22 National Defense Authorization Act will help safeguard the nation, counter a range of evolving threats, and support our troops both on and off the battlefield. This forward-looking legislation invests in people, platforms, and infrastructure. It authorizes funding levels and sets policies to equip, supply, and train U.S. forces now and in the future. It provides for military families while strengthening America's industrial base and the workers who contribute to our national security," said SASC Chairman JackReed. "This year's markup provides our troops and Defense Department civilians with a well-deserved pay raise, as well as new tools and reforms to protect the health and well-being of our servicemen and women and their families. It prioritizes programs and policies to strengthen our cyber defenses, improve readiness, and accelerate research and development of advanced technologies that will give our forces strategic advantages."
SASC Ranking Member Jim Inhofe also commented: "After a lengthy but productive markup, I'm proud this year's bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act increases the defense topline to the National Defense Strategy Commission's recommendation of three to five percent real growth. This is a big win for our national security and sends a strong message to both our allies and adversaries that America is prepared to stand up for ourselves and our friends. The world we face today is more dangerous than I've seen in my lifetime, and our military must be ready to meet any and all challenges we face. The NDAA largely moves us toward that goal - strengthening our national defense, standing up to Russia and China and, mostly importantly, supporting our service members and their families. While I don't support every provision in the bill, one of the reasons the NDAA gets done year after year is because we work together, find common ground and compromise. I hope we see this bill on the Senate floor soon, where we can continue improving it through an open and robust amendment process. Thank you to Chairman Reed for his leadership and bipartisan collaboration and to the members of the committee for their hard work."
While the complete text of the bill has not yet been publicly released, the Committee unveiled an official summary outlining the provisions expected to be seen in the Senate's version of the bill.
Our Military and Government Relations Team has analyzed the document thoroughly and identified forty-five total provisions encompassed within the scope of our Legislative Platform and quality of life mission. The top ten, of which, are as follows:
Includes funding to support a 2.7 percent pay raise for both military service members and the DOD civilian workforce.
Creates a new category of bereavement leave for military personnel that would permit service members to take up to two weeks of leave in connection with the death of a spouse or child.
Establishes a Basic Needs Allowance to ensure that all service members can meet the basic needs of their families.
Authorizes an increase in funding of $70 million for Defense-wide Operations & Maintenance, Department of Defense Education Activity, for Impact Aid, including $20 million for military children with severe disabilities.
Authorizes an increase of $4.0 million for the Secretary of Defense to enter into cooperative agreements with the Council of State Governments to assist with the funding and development of interstate compacts on licensed occupations.
Authorizes the establishment of a pilot program to provide employment for military spouses through a fellowship with employers across a variety of industries.
Authorizes the Secretary to conduct a pilot program providing direct hire authority to hire military spouses stationed at a duty station outside the United States to a term position within the DOD.
Prohibits the Defense Finance and Accounting Service from suspending military retired pay or a military retirement annuity until 90 days after the provision of written notice of the basis for such proposed suspension and requires the development of a single annual eligibility determination procedure for continued eligibility for military retired pay or annuity.
Requires parity in special and incentive pays for members of the reserve and active components.
Directs the Defense Health Agency to leverage best practices from commercial health plans to eliminate low-value services from the military health system by incorporating Choosing Wisely initiatives into its TRICARE managed care support contracts and the TRICARE Dental Program.
Upon receiving an official copy of the language in its entirety, our Military and Government Relations Team will review the legislative language to ensure it accurately reflects the policy description from the summary. If you have any additional questions, please reach out to the Team at milgov3@hqafsa.org.
We are pleased to share the AFSA Set-It-Forever/Auto Pay procedures and marketing materials to help share the process with our members, your membership and potential new recruits.
The Set-It-Forever/Auto Pay program creates an opportunity to JOIN AFSA or RENEW a membership by making a $36 once-a-year/every-year auto payment, or a $4-each-month/every- month auto payment. The $36 once-a-year option is set at $36, and the $4-a-month option includes a bank processing fee of $1 each month.
Review the two ways to enroll, the benefits to using the auto-pay option, and the marketing materials to help share the details of this program and ensure its success.
For questions, please contact AFSAHQ Member & Field team at 800-638-0594 x 288.
Please Update Your Contact Information Today!
Dear Air Force Sergeants Association Member,
In order for the AFSA to effectively communicate with our members, it is essential to ensure we have your current and / or valid e-mail address. We are in the process of updating our records and need your help! Please take a moment to ensure that we have your most current mail and email address (no .mil's); and accurate membership listing information.
We've made it easy, as you can update your information in either one of three ways:
Call Member & Field Relations team directly at 800-638-0594 x 288 (Mon. - Fri. 8:00 am to 5:00 pm (EST)
Email to: msvcs@hqafsa.org
Visit www.hqafsa.org and select the UPDATE button on the right
We thank you in advance for your support and prompt updates.
In sum, our Team was honored to host more than 2,000 Airmen and Guardians, senior enlisted leaders from the Air and Space Forces, and House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Mark Takano at the beautiful Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek. Now, we are back in D.C. and ready to get after improving the quality of life of service members past and present and their families.
And that's the way it is for Tuesday, August 3, 2021.
Stay tuned for our next M&G-B, where we will continue to keep you in the loop on all things pertinent to the coronavirus, veterans, active-duty members, guard and reservists, and military family members. Stay happy, and stay healthy!
