Top Legislation - View All
Latest Action: 01/25/2007 - Referred to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel. Bill TextTo amend title 10, United States Code, to extend eligibility for combat-related special compensation paid to certain uniformed services retirees who are retired under chapter 61 of such title with fewer than 20 years of creditable service. 1/4/2007--Introduced. Combat-Related Special Compensation Act - Authorizes monthly combat-related special compensation pay to any military retiree who is entitled to retired pay and has a combat-related disability. (Currently, a retiree must meet those requirements and also have completed at least 20 years of retirement-creditable military service.) Provides a special compensation rule with respect to retirees with less than 20 years of service.
Latest Action: 01/04/2007 - Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S83) Bill TextA bill to amend title 10, United States Code, to permit former members of the Armed Forces who have a service-connected disability rated as total to travel on military aircraft in the same manner and to the same extent as retired members of the Armed Forces are entitled to travel on such aircraft. 1/4/2007--Introduced. Directs the Secretary of Defense to permit any former member of the armed forces who is entitled to compensation for a service-connected disability rated total by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to travel on military aircraft to the same extent as retired members of the armed forces.
Latest Action: 06/19/2007 - Subcommittee Hearings Held. Bill TextTo amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the payment of dependency and indemnity compensation to the survivors of former prisoners of war who died on or before September 30, 1999, under the same eligibility conditions as apply to payment of dependency and indemnity compensation to the survivors of former prisoners of war who die after that date. 1/4/2007--Introduced. Amends veterans' benefit provisions to provide for the payment of dependency and indemnity compensation to the survivors of veterans rated totally disabled at the time of death who were former prisoners of war (currently, to the survivors of such veterans who died after September 30, 1999).
Also tagged in: Clothing, Cost of living adjustments, Disabled, Families, Old age, survivors and disability insurance, Pensions, Social security, Survivors' benefits, Veterans, Veterans' benefits, Veterans' pensions
Latest Action: 01/04/2007 - Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Bill TextA bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for annual cost-of-living adjustments to be made automatically by law each year in the rates of disability compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for survivors of certain service-connected disabled veterans. 1/4/2007--Introduced. Veterans' Disability Compensation Automatic COLA Act - Requires that, whenever there is an increase in benefit amounts payable under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall increase by the same percentage the amounts payable as veterans' disability compensation, additional compensation for dependents, the clothing allowance for certain disabled adult children, and dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children.
Also tagged in: Afghanistan, Anthrax, Armed forces, Armed forces reserves, Brain, Business, Civil liberties, Commemorations, Congress, Congress and military policy, Congressional reporting requirements, Counseling, Counterterrorism, Defense policy, Disabled, Drugs, Education, Electronic government information, Families, Family services, Federal employees, Finance, Flags, Government employees, Government information, Government life insurance, Government publicity, Head injuries, Health counseling, Higher education, Hospital care, Housing, Housing for the disabled, Iraq, Iraq compilation, Job training, Labor, Marriage counseling, Medical care, Medical screening, Medicine, Mental health services, Middle East and North Africa, Military cemeteries and funerals, Military discharges, Military medals, decorations, etc., Military operations, Mortgages, National Guard, Nursing homes, Pensions, Physical examinations, Post-traumatic stress disorder, Recruiting and enlistment, Right of privacy, Small business, Social services, South Asia, Survivors' benefits, Terrorism, Vaccines, Veterans, Veterans' education, Veterans' employment, Veterans' loans, Veterans' pensions, Veterans' rehabilitation, Vocational rehabilitation, War casualties
Latest Action: 08/02/2007 - Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S10781) Bill TextA bill to amend titles 10 and 38, United States Code, to improve benefits and services for members of the Armed Forces, veterans of the Global War on Terrorism, and other veterans, to require reports on the effects of the Global War on Terrorism, and for other purposes. 1/4/2007--Introduced. Lane Evans Veterans Health and Benefits Improvement Act of 2007 - Makes a veteran who served on active duty during a period of war eligible for a mental health evaluation and hospital care, medical services, nursing home care, and family and marital counseling for any identified mental health condition, notwithstanding insufficient medical evidence to conclude that the condition is attributable to such service. Requires: (1) post-deployment medical and mental health screenings to be conducted within 30 days after a deployment; (2) each member, upon discharge, to be provided an electronic copy of all military records of such member; and (3) the Secretary of Defense to ensure appropriate [...] show full description
Latest Action: 03/02/2007 - Referred to the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs. Bill TextTo amend title 10, United States Code, to permit retired members of the Armed Forces who have a service-connected disability rated less than 50 percent to receive concurrent payment of both retired pay and veterans' disability compensation, to eliminate the phase-in period for concurrent receipt, to extend eligibility for concurrent receipt and combat-related special compensation to chapter 61 disability retirees with less than 20 years of service, and for other purposes. 1/9/2007--Introduced. Disabled Veterans Tax Termination Act - Amends federal military retired pay provisions to: (1) permit veterans with a service-connected disability of less than 50% to claim both retired pay and disability compensation; (2) eliminate provisions requiring a phase in between January 1, 2004, and December 31, 2013, of concurrent receipt of retired pay and disability compensation; (3) provide a special reduction rule with respect to the concurrent receipt of retired pay and disability compensation [...] show full description
Also tagged in: Clothing, Cost of living adjustments, Disabled, Families, Old age, survivors and disability insurance, Pensions, Social security, Survivors' benefits, Veterans, Veterans' benefits, Veterans' pensions
Latest Action: 03/02/2007 - Referred to the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs. Bill TextTo amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for annual cost-of-living adjustments to be made automatically by law each year in the rates of disability compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for survivors of certain service-connected disabled veterans. 1/11/2007--Introduced. Veterans' Disability Compensation Automatic COLA Act - Requires that, whenever there is an increase in benefit amounts payable under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall increase by the same percentage the amounts payable as veterans' disability compensation, additional compensation for dependents, the clothing allowance for certain disabled adult children, and dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children.
Also tagged in: Caregivers, Disabled, Families, Housing, Job training, Labor, Low-income housing, Public housing, Veterans, Veterans' benefits, Veterans' employment, Welfare, Welfare work participation
Latest Action: 04/11/2007 - Referred to the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity. Bill TextTo amend section 12(c) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 to exempt residents of public housing who are determined by the Veterans Administration to be permanently and totally disabled from the requirement to perform community service. 1/11/2007--Introduced. Disabled Veteran Housing Simplification Act of 2007 - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to direct the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to exempt from the community service requirement applicable to adult residents of a public housing project an individual who has been determined by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to be permanently and totally disabled, and who is unable to comply with such requirement, or is a primary caretaker of such individual.
Also tagged in: Claims, Disabled, Income tax, Law, Limitation of actions, Military pensions, Pensions, Tax credits, Tax refunds, Taxation, Veterans
Latest Action: 01/17/2007 - Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S702) Bill TextA bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a special period of limitation when uniformed services retirement pay is reduced as result of award of disability compensation. 1/17/2007--Introduced. Disabled Veterans Tax Fairness Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow members of the uniformed services whose retired pay in any taxable year is reduced due to an award of disability compensation by the Department of Veterans Affairs an extension of the three-year limitation period for filing tax refund claims until one year after the date of a disability determination. Limits the period for which such refund claims may be filed to taxable years beginning less than five years before the date of a disability determination.
Also tagged in: Administrative procedure, Children, Clothing, Cost of living adjustments, Department of Veterans Affairs, Disabled, Executive departments, Families, Government information, Government publicity, Law, Pensions, Survivors' benefits, Veterans, Veterans' pensions
Latest Action: 07/24/2007 - Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Reported by Senator Akaka without amendment. With written report No. 110-135. Bill TextA bill to increase, effective as of December 1, 2007, the rates of compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for the survivors of certain disabled veterans. 7/24/2007--Reported to Senate without amendment. (There is 1 other summary) (This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.) Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2007 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to increase, as of December 1, 2007, the rates of veterans' disability compensation, additional compensation for dependents, the clothing allowance for certain disabled adult children, and dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children. Requires each such increase to be the same percentage as the increase in benefits provided under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the [...] show full description
|
Latest Legislation - View All
Latest Action: 07/31/2008 - Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Bill TextA bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the assignment of pre-stabilization disability ratings to certain veterans for purposes of the payment of disability compensation, and for other purposes. 7/31/2008--Introduced. Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, with respect to veterans who have been discharged from active-duty service for 365 days or less and for whom a permanent disability rating is not immediately assignable, to assign a pre-stabilization disability rating of: (1) 100%, for a veteran with a severe disability for whom substantially gainful employment is not feasible or advisable; and (2) 50%, for a veteran with a wound or injury for whom material impairment of employability is likely. Terminates the pre-stabilization rating: (1) when a veteran receives a permanent disability rating based on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) schedule for rating disabilities; or (2) 365 days after the veteran's last separation or release from [...] show full description
Also tagged in: Air force, Ambulatory care, American Battle Monuments Commission, Appellate courts, Appropriations, Armed forces, Armed forces reserves, Armed Forces Retirement Home, Arms control, Army, Brain, Budgets, Chemical warfare, Claims, Commemorations, Congress, Congress and military policy, Congressional oversight, Congressional reporting requirements, Construction costs, Defense budgets, Defense burdensharing, Defense contracts, Defense economics, Defense policy, Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, Disability evaluation, Disabled, District of Columbia, Europe, Executive departments, Families, Finance, Foreign exchange, France, Government contractors, Government lending, Government life insurance, Government trust funds, Grants-in-aid, Head injuries, History, Home ownership, Homeless, Hospital care, Housing, Indians, Information technology, Inspectors general, International finance, Iraq compilation, Law, Long-term care, Marines, Medical care, Medical research, Medicine, Mental health services, Military aviation, Military base closures, Military bases, Military cemeteries and funerals, Military construction operations, Military dependents, Military housing, Military maneuvers, Minorities, Mississippi, Monuments and memorials, National Guard, NATO military forces, Navy, Pensions, Politics and government, Post-traumatic stress disorder, Prosthesis, Psychologists, Public contracts, Reprogramming of appropriated funds, Rescission of appropriated funds, Science policy, Soldiers' homes, Survivors' benefits, Technology, Texas, Veterans, Veterans' benefits, Veterans' hospitals, Veterans' loans, Veterans' medical care, Veterans' pensions, Veterans' rehabilitation, Vocational rehabilitation, War casualties, Weapons systems, Welfare, World War I
Latest Action: 07/22/2008 - Committee on Appropriations. Original measure reported to Senate by Senator Johnson. With written report No. 110-428. Bill TextAn original bill making appropriations for military construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2009, and for other purposes. 7/22/2008--Reported to Senate without amendment. (There is 1 other summary) (This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.) Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2009 - Title I: Department of Defense - Appropriates funds for FY2009 for the Department of Defense (DOD) for: (1) military construction for the Army, Navy and Marine Corps, and Air Force (military departments), DOD, the Army and Air National Guard, and the Army, Navy, and Air Force reserves; (2) the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Security Investment Program; (3) family housing and related operation and maintenance for the military departments [...] show full description
Latest Action: 06/12/2008 - Subcommittee Hearings Held. Bill TextTo amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide wartime disability compensation for certain veterans with Parkinson's Disease. 5/13/2008--Introduced. Adds Parkinson's disease (manifested to a degree of disability of 10% or more) to the list of diseases considered to have been incurred in or aggravated by military service in Vietnam, notwithstanding that there is no evidence of the disease during the period of service, provided a veteran served between specified dates and was exposed to an herbicide used in military operations during that period.
Also tagged in: Armed forces, Armed forces reserves, Biological warfare, Birth defects, Chemical warfare, Child health, Children, Commemorations, Congress, Congressional oversight, Correspondence schools and courses, Defense policy, Department of Veterans Affairs, Disability evaluation, Disabled, Education, Executive departments, Families, Federal law enforcement officers, Finance, Government employees, Government information, Government life insurance, Government paperwork, Health insurance, Health policy, Higher education, Labor, Leases, Long-term care, Marriage, Medical care, Medical records, Military cemeteries and funerals, Military dependents, Military research, Minimum wages, Monuments and memorials, Nursing homes, Pensions, Social security, Social security numbers, Survivors' benefits, Veterans, Veterans' benefits, Veterans' education, Veterans' employment, Veterans' hospitals, Veterans' medical care, Weapons systems
Latest Action: 05/06/2008 - Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S3798) Bill TextA bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to expand and enhance veterans' benefits, and for other purposes. 5/6/2008--Introduced. Veterans' Benefits Enhancement Act of 2008 - Revises or adds federal veterans' benefits provisions to, among other things: (1) reduce the waiting period for a veteran's affirmation of enrollment in a correspondence course; (2) eliminate the requirement that a veteran or beneficiary make a separate application for a program change at an educational institution; (3) eliminate a minimum wage-earning requirement in the case of self-employment on-job training; (4) authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to stay adjudication of a veteran's claim when necessary to preserve the integrity of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)-administered program; (5) authorize memorial headstones or markers for deceased remarried surviving spouses of veterans; (6) make permanent the VA authority to fund contracted medical disability examinations; (7) expand Servicemembers' [...] show full description
Latest Action: 06/12/2008 - Subcommittee Hearings Held. Bill TextTo amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify the service treatable as service engaged in combat with the enemy for utilization of non-official evidence for proof of service-connection in a combat-related disease or injury. 5/7/2008--Introduced. Compensation for Combat Veterans Act - Provides that, for a veteran claiming disability benefits related to combat, service in a combat zone that is recognized as such service under the Internal Revenue Code shall be considered proof that the veteran engaged in combat.
Latest Action: 05/06/2008 - Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Bill TextA bill to amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to provide a one-year period of protection against mortgage foreclosures for certain disabled or severely injured servicemembers, and for other purposes. 5/6/2008--Introduced. Disabled Veterans Home Ownership Preservation Act of 2008 - Amends the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to extend the period of protection against mortgage sales, foreclosures, or seizures of property to: (1) the period of service and one year following service in the case of servicemembers with a service-related serious injury or illness; and (2) the period of service and for 30 days after final adjudication of a disability compensation claim in the case of such servicemembers and others who file such a claim. (Current law provides protection for all servicemembers for the period of service and the following 90 days, subject to exception.) Defines "serious injury or illness" as an injury or illness incurred by the servicemember in line [...] show full description
Latest Action: 05/01/2008 - Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Bill TextA bill to require reports on the progress of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in addressing causes for variances in compensation payments for veterans for service-connected disabilities. 5/1/2008--Introduced. Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to report annually to the congressional veterans affairs committees on the progress in addressing the causes of variances in compensation payments for veterans for service-connected disabilities.
Latest Action: 06/12/2008 - Subcommittee Hearings Held. Bill TextTo amend title 38, United States Code, to provide veterans for presumptions of service connection for purposes of benefits under laws administered by Secretary of Veterans Affairs for diseases associated with service in the Armed Forces and exposure to biological, chemical, or other toxic agents as part of Project 112, and for other purposes. 5/1/2008--Introduced. Creates, for veterans who were subjected to certain chemical or biological warfare testing involving Project 112 conducted through Deseret Test Center (including the Shipboard Hazard and Defense Project, also known as Project SHAD), a presumption that a disease was incurred in or aggravated by service, notwithstanding that there is no record of evidence of the disease during the period of service, if the disease warrants presumtion of service connection by reason of increased exposure to a biological, chemical, or other toxic agent.
Also tagged in: Administrative remedies, Appellate courts, Claims, Congress, Congressional reporting requirements, Courts of special jurisdiction, Department of Veterans Affairs, Disability evaluation, Disabled, Employee training, Executive departments, Federal advisory bodies, Federal employees, Government employees, Government information, Governmental investigations, Information technology, Job training, Jurisdiction, Law, Medical care, Medical personnel, Medicine, Parties to actions, Productivity in government, Recruiting of employees, Technology, Veterans, Veterans' benefits
Latest Action: 07/31/2008 - Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Bill TextTo amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to modernize the disability benefits claims processing system of the Department of Veterans Affairs to ensure the accurate and timely delivery of compensation to veterans and their families and survivors, and for other purposes. 7/30/2008--Passed House amended. (There is 1 other summary) Veterans Disability Benefits Claims Modernization Act of 2008 - Title I: Matters Relating to Modernizing the Disability Compensation System of Department of Veterans Affairs - (Sec. 101) Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to: (1) establish in the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) an Office of Survivor Assistance to provide direct assistance to survivors and dependents of deceased veterans and members of the Armed Forces regarding all benefits and services delivered by the VA; and (2) report annually to Congress on Office activities.[...] show full description
Also tagged in: Administrative procedure, Afghanistan, AIDS (Disease), Armed forces, Brain, Children, Clothing, Coinsurance, Collection of accounts, Continuing education, Defense policy, Dentists, Department of Veterans Affairs, Disabled, Education, Executive departments, Families, Finance, Government information, Government publicity, Head injuries, Higher education, Human immunodeficiency viruses, Income, Iraq, Iraq compilation, Law, Medical care, Medical education, Medical records, Medical tests, Medicine, Middle East and North Africa, Military dependents, Pensions, Physicians, South Asia, Survivors' benefits, Terminal care, Trauma care, Veterans, Veterans' medical care, Veterans' pensions, Veterans' rehabilitation, War casualties
Latest Action: 04/17/2008 - Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S3160, S3161) Bill TextA bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve veterans' health care benefits, and for other purposes. 4/17/2008--Introduced. Veterans Health Care Act of 2008 - Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to contract to provide specialized residential care and rehabilitation services to a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom who suffers from a traumatic brain injury, has an accumulation of deficits in activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living and, because of these deficits, would otherwise require nursing home admission even though such care would generally exceed the veteran's nursing needs. Directs the Secretary to provide full-time board-certified physicians and dentists the opportunity to continue their professional education through VA sponsored continuing education programs. Authorizes (currently, directs) the Secretary to reimburse such physicians or dentists up to $1,000 per year for continuing [...] show full description
|