Goldfein: Expect Military Movement Ban to be Extended

Last night, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Kaleth Wright and Air Force Chief of Staff General David Goldfein hosted a COVID-19 virtual town hall on Facebook live. In which, Gen. Goldfein said he expects the service's stop-movement order to be extended past May 11^th.

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Keep it 'conservative': Services break out face mask rules

Defense Secretary Mark Esper instructed all service members to start wearing face coverings while in public Sunday during a military-wide memo issued Sunday. Since then, armed services have begun to issue new rules on how to properly wear the new equipment.

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Troops believe coronavirus is hurting military readiness, new Military Times Poll shows

According to a new Military Times Poll, more than three-quarters of troops surveyed think COVID-19 is damaging military readiness and about 33% of troops say the virus has already taken a toll on their families.

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	AFSA on the Hill

	Toxic Exposure in the American Military (TEAM) Conference Call Summary Last Thursday, AFSA's Policy Advisor, Matthew Schwartzman, was on a conference call with members of TEAM to discuss the current climate of Congress and discuss toxic exposure legislation that is pending introduction in Congress. In short, while helping American families through the spread of COVID-19 remains the Congress' number 1 priority, the Hill is beginning to work on issues outside of COVID-19. While the prospect of an in-person hearing on this legislation is uncertain, there is a possibility that a virtual hearing will be held instead. As more developments unfold, our team will continue to keep you updated on AFSA influenced toxic-exposure legislation. AFSA Military Coalition Health Care Committee Conference Calls Summary Last Thursday, Matthew and AFSA's Policy Advisor, Military Affairs, Bria Coles, attended a virtual conference call via Zoom with members of the TMC Health Care Committee. In short, the primary focus of this collaboration centered on the potential that MTF pharmacy access will continue to become more restricted due to the spread of COVID-19. While DHA has made it so these policies are subjective to the discretion of the MTF's installation commander, our team is looking into ways to ensure that the ease of accessibility to needed care is not curtailed by COVID-19. At the current moment, this effort has culminated into a collaboration with Representatives Elaine Luria and Andy Kim to temporarily eliminate the copay for mail order prescriptions through TRICARE. The goal of this effort is to make it so beneficiaries can continue to access their prescription medications at no out of pocket cost while simultaneously practicing social distancing to protect themselves and mission critical personnel. On Friday, our team attended a virtual meeting with Health Care Committee Members and leading officials of ExpressScipts. We were able to learn some very valuable information from this call, including ways in which you can access information about your TRICARE pharmacy benefits 24/7 through your Express Scripts online account. For more on this helpful benefit, please click here. AFSA Participates in Weekly Update with VA Secretary Tomorrow, our team will be participating in a weekly COVID-19 update with Secretary Robert Wilkie of the Department of Veterans Affairs. On Thursday, in the next edition of our Military and Government Brief (M&G-B), our team will pull back the curtain and discuss the most important information gathered and discussed from the conference-call.

Legislative Action Center

Congressional Communique

On Friday, H.R.4771, the VA Tele-Hearing Modernization Act passed the Senate and was presented to the President. This bill authorizes appellants in cases before the Board of Appeals to appear at a hearing by picture and voice transmission (e.g., Skype) from locations other than Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities. The bill also requires the VA to report specified statistics and information related to hearings held by picture and voice transmission. This bill is not yet codified in law as it has not been signed by the President. However, our team will keep you updated as this bill is at the finish line of the legislative process.

Last Thursday, House Armed Services Committee ranking member Mac Thornberry and Representative Trent Kelly released their latest proposal to increase military family readiness. Our team is currently going through the proposal in its entirety and will be releasing an in-depth summary shortly.

At an overarching level of analysis, this proposal would require DOD to establish a common definition of "family readiness" to ensure the standardization of services and assistance. The proposal would also standardize the process for identifying and enrolling participants, enhances the respite care benefit, establishes outcome measures, and improves the screening process for evaluation of duty stations that can support EMFP enrollees. Moreover, 24-hour childcare at certain locations where alternate shift workers are concentrated.

Another piece of legislation on our radar is H.R.6285, also referred to as the Veterans' True Choice Act of 2020. This bill would amend title 10, United States Code, to provide eligibility for TRICARE Select to veterans with service-connected disabilities.

Visit our Action Center!

Our Legislative Action Center is now equipped with strategically placed advocacy plans on the top issues of today! To play a pivotal role in passing the most comprehensive women Veterans' healthcare plan of this Congressional cycle or let your representative know how MTF downsizing may impact you and your family, please visit https://www.votervoice.net/AFSA/home and share with your family, friends, and loved ones.

AFSA Membership Information

2020 Professional Airmen's Conference Registration LIVE

The AFSA Professional Airmen's Conference features participants from Military Educational Centers, supporting Military Branches and Joint Services Trainers, as well as motivational and inspirational speakers and program.

The Conference features general training sessions, professional development forums, formal banquets, the Convention InfoExpo, and Transition/Hiring Events.

For more information on the PAC, please click here.

To register, please click here!

AFSA Scholarship Information

The AFSA Scholarship Program began in 1968 with one $1,000 scholarship. Today, AFSA has awarded more than 617 scholarships totaling more than $920,100 in scholastic financial aid.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Due to the current global events, we are extending our Scholarship Application Open Season to Friday, April 24, 2020. Completed application packages with all required documents must be sent no later than April 24, 2020.

For more information, please go to https://www.hqafsa.org/scholarships.html.

	And that's the way it is...

	In sum, despite the continued spread of COVID-19, our legislative team continues to work uninterrupted and remains laser-focused on protecting the quality of life of our service members past and present and their families. Our team is currently in the process of breaking down the 880 page stimulus package and will be releasing a holistic summary of Phases 1, 2, and 3 once Phase 3 is codified in law by the President. And that's the way it is for Tuesday, April 7, 2020. 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. For the time being, if you have any other additional legislative or departmental questions, please contact mschwartzman@hqafsa.org for more information. Stay happy, and stay healthy!