OPM Temporarily Drops Relocation Requirements For Special Military Spouse Hiring.
The Office of Personnel Management will temporarily drop several geographic restrictions associated with special hiring authorities for military spouses, according to a regulation published in the Federal Register Sept. 20. "Military spouses are versatile, talented, adaptable, and experienced leaders who strengthen the organizations they join," OPM director Kiran Ahuja said. "President Biden promised to harness the unique skills and experiences military spouses draw from, and OPM's regulation expanding the Military Spouse Non-Competitive appointing authority will help military families thrive, and allow federal agencies to hire from this highly qualified talent pool."
Chairman Takano Announces Hearing On Veteran Suicide Prevention.
Today, House Committee on Veterans' Affairs Chairman Mark Takano (D-Calif.) announced a full Committee oversight hearing entitled, "Veteran Suicide Prevention: Innovative Research And Expanded Public Health Efforts." This critical hearing comes as part of Chairman Takano's Priority To Reduce Veteran Suicide, especially in light of the Withdrawal In Afghanistan that has deeply impacted our nation's veterans. This two-panel oversight hearing will give the Committee an opportunity to examine new and ongoing suicide research and prevention efforts at VA and hear directly from Veterans Service Organizations about the mental health issues their members are currently facing. The fully virtual hearing will take place on Wednesday, September 22, 2021 at 10:00 AM EST.
Here's How The Air Force Rates Public Education Services At Your Base.
Air Force families - and other military families stationed at Air Force joint bases - have new information on key quality of life issues at installations, with a base-by-base rating for public education services and military spouse licensure portability. This is the second year the Air Force has conducted this comprehensive assessment of these issues in the communities around all 157 Air Force bases. The first, released in 2020, was based on 2019 data. This assessment is based on public data available as of May 2021.
AFSA Announces Important Legislative Awareness Week Information and Dates
Earlier today, in a first time "address from the desk," AFSA's Policy Advisor, Matthew Schwartzman, shared important information and dates pertinent to the 2021 Legislative Awareness Week (LAW).
To watch the video, please click the image below:
AFSA's Policy Advisor, Matthew Schwartzman, provides important information on the 2021 Legislative Awareness Week.
Recap of Matt's Remarks:
Since 1984, AFSA's LAW program has increased member involvement in the legislative process and helped to establish our Association as each community's leading advocate for service members past and present and their families.
From Sunday, October 3 to Saturday, October 9, our team will be unveiling BRAND NEW legislative resources, 20+ customized advocacy campaigns, and more!
The theme for this year's LAW will be "Becoming an Advocacy All Star".
With respect to the more than twenty customized advocacy campaigns, the legislative target area will be the FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Tomorrow, Wednesday, September 22, our Team will be unveiling the official introductory video on our various social media pages.
This Friday, September 24, our Team will release the official calendar of events, so you can have a better understanding of the issues we will be advocating for throughout the course of the week.
Legislative Action Alert: AFSA Supported Legislation Passes Senate and House; Moves to President Biden's Desk
Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed AFSA supported legislation, S.189, the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2021. Earlier this year, the Senate passed the same bill.
Identical to the rate of benefits payable under title II of the Social Security Act (SSA), rates of compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) for survivors are adjusted in alignment with the percentage increase, if any, between the average third-quarter Consumer Price Index (CPI) of the current year over the average third-quarter CPI of the prior year. Referred to as a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), its purpose is to ensure that the purchasing power of benefits such as VA disability compensation and DIC are not eroded by inflation.
However, unlike Social Security beneficiaries, recipients of veterans' benefits depend on intervention by Congress each year to approve their COLA. As a result, veterans and their families, who depend on these benefits to make ends meet, are left in a state of uncertainty each year over whether lawmakers will pass this critically important legislation.
This bill would simply alleviate this state of uncertainty by providing for annual COLA adjustments to be made automatically by law each year.
What happens now?
Once both chambers of Congress have each agreed to the bill, it is enrolled - that is, prepared in its final official form and then presented to the President. Beginning at midnight on the closing of the day of presentment, the President has ten days, excluding Sundays, to sign or veto the bill.
If the bill is signed in that ten-day period, it becomes law. If the president declines to either sign or veto it - that is, he does not act on it in any way - then it becomes law without his signature (except when Congress has adjourned under certain circumstances).
If the President vetoes the bill, it is returned to the congressional chamber in which it originated; that chamber may attempt to override the president's veto, though a successful override vote requires the support of two-thirds of those voting. If the vote is successful, the other chamber then decides whether to attempt its own override vote; here, as well, a successful override vote requires two-thirds of voting members to agree. Only if both chambers vote to override does the bill becomes law notwithstanding the President's veto. A successful override of a presidential veto is rare.
Bills that are ultimately enacted are delivered to the Office of the Federal Register at the National Archives, assigned a public law number, and included in the next edition of the United State Statutes at Large.
For more information, please e-mail our Military and Government Relations Team at milgov3@hqafsa.org.
The military's newest branch -- the Space Force -- unveiled what its rank insignia will look like with a social media post from its highest enlisted official Monday.
Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force Roger A. Towberman showed off the new insignia more than nine months after the branch finalized the names for its ranks.
The design borrows heavily from the Air Force, with a white and blue color scheme and stripes as an homage to Gen. Hoyt Vandenberg, the second chief of staff of the Air Force, who suggested stripes for junior enlisted airmen. The new insignia also make heavy use of a Delta, Globe and Orbit element that the branch says "represents the totality of our Space Force."
The element's three-part motif is very reminiscent of the Marine Corps' "Eagle, Globe, and Anchor" emblem.
Other design choices include rounded rockers for the service's senior enlisted personnel, something Towberman's post says represent three kinds of Earth orbits: low earth, medium and geosynchronous.
The designs, which all prominently feature a "delta" shape, will do little to quell ribbing comparisons to the logo of a famous TV and movie series.
The similarities led famed actor William Shatner -- the man who portrayed Capt. James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise in the original "Star Trek" series -- to make the comparison in August 2020.
"When you unveiled the Space Force logo, many immediately saw it as an homage to 'Star Trek,'" he wrote in a Military Times op-ed titled, "What the heck is wrong with you, Space Force?"
The decision to call space professionals "Guardians" also elicited criticism from various corners of the internet.
The new insignia join an announced organizational structure, official logo and even a lapel pin as the Space Force continues to develop. However, it is still missing an official dress uniform, physical fitness uniform and an official song.
In the Fiscal Year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Congress approved a measure opposed by the Air Force Sergeants Association (AFSA) that would force Group A military retirees and their families to pay a monthly TRICARE Select enrollment fee to maintain their TRICARE Select coverage.
Since January 1, 2021, retirees using TRICARE Select have been required to pay an enrollment fee equating to $150 per year for an individual and $300 for a family. Additionally, retirees have been forced to pay a $30 copay for a primary care visit or urgent care visit at a network physician, or 25% of the cost for non-network care, as well as $45 or 25% at a network or non-network specialty care provider.
Where Are We Now?
Joining hand in hand with our nation's service members past and present and their families, over the past four years, Congress has worked with the AFSA and other MSO's/VSO's to reject alternative proposals that called for an even higher beneficiary cost share than that currently established; including enrollment fees of up to $900 and a proposed TRICARE for Life enrollment fee that would have charged Medicare-eligible retirees an annual enrollment fee equal to 2% of their gross retired pay.
On March 9, 2021, Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester and Senator Lisa Murkowsi introduced S.625, the TRICARE Select Restoration Act.
S.625 was referred to the Senate Committee on Armed Services.
Legislation Summary
The TRICARE Select Restoration Act would eliminate TRICARE Select enrollment fees for veterans who retired prior to 2018.
AFSA's Position
AFSA remains committed to our legislative platform's goal to resist TRICARE fee increases and pharmacy co-pays.
AFSA HQ Sample Letter
Senate
The Honorable (full name) __(Rm.#)__(name of) Senate Office Building United States Senate Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator (Insert Name),
I respectfully request your support for S.625, the TRICARE Select Restoration Act. This legislation is supported by the Air Force Sergeants Association (AFSA), of which I am one of 75,000+ members.
Due to a provision in the Fiscal Year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, since January 1, 2021, military retirees enrolled in TRICARE Select have been forced to pay substantially higher out-of-pocket costs for their healthcare coverage.
These out-of-pocket costs are inconsistent with private-sector PPO's and have been detrimental to many military families and retirees who rely on TRICARE Select for their health care coverage.
Especially when considering that prescription costs for beneficiaries are on track to rise significantly up until 2027, today's working-age TRICARE retiree's cost shares are now more closely aligned with the average civilian's cost shares since the program's conception in 1994.
The TRICARE Select Restoration Act would maintain the integrity of the TRICARE program by eliminating costly enrollment fees for veterans who retired prior to 2018.
I extend my sincerest gratitude to you for your consideration of this measure. For service members and their families, the viability of the TRICARE program could quite literally make all the difference between life and death - especially during a pandemic.
Please do all you can to move this legislation forward. Additionally, I humbly ask for a response to this request, so I know where you stand on this important issue.
Best regards,
[CONTACT: Name]
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Important: This same letter is located in our Legislative Action Center, which can be accessed by clicking here.Using our Legislative Action Center is the easiest method to get in contact with your elected officials.
However, if you prefer to write your elected official through an alternative communication outlet, here is a list of helpful suggestions that will improve the effectiveness of the letter:
Your purpose for writing should be stated in the first paragraph of the letter.
Be courteous, to the point, and include key information using examples to support your position.
Personalize your letter with an anecdote to help paint a picture for the reader
Address only one issue in each letter; and, if possible, keep the letter to one page.
Note: Whenever addressing the Chair of a Committee or the Speaker of the House, it is proper to address them as: Dear Mr. Chairman, Madam Chairwoman, Dear Madam Speaker or Mr. Speaker.
Questions
If you have any additional questions about this AFSA supported legislation, please e-mail our Policy Advisor at mschwartzman@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, AFSA supported legislation, S.189, the Veterans Compensation COLA Act of 2021, is one step closer to become public law. This legislation provides that whenever there is a cost-of-living increase in benefits for Social Security recipients, the Department of Veterans Affairs shall increase by the same percentage the amounts payable for veterans' disability compensation, additional compensation for dependents, the clothing allowance for certain disabled veterans, and dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children.
Earlier today, AFSA's Policy Advisor, Matthew Schwartzman, discussed activities to expect during the 2021 LAW in greater detail. For more information, please visit the video provided in the AFSA on the Hill Section of this edition of the Military and Government Brief.
Additionally, the Office of Personnel Management announced it would temporarily drop several geographic restrictions associated with special hiring authorities for military spouses, according to a regulation published in the Federal Register on Monday, September 20.
And that's the way it is for Tuesday, September 21, 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, guards and reservists, and military family members. Stay happy, and stay healthy!
