I 
★
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2771 
To amend titles 10 and 37, United States Code, to provide a more equitable 
process by which the military departments may recover overpayments 
of military pay and allowances erroneously paid to a member of the 
Armed Forces when the overpayment is due to no fault of the member, 
to expand Department discretion regarding remission or cancellation 
of indebtedness, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 9, 2009 
Ms. SHEA-PORTER (for herself, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. MASSA, and 
Mr. BISHOP of New York) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Armed Services 
A BILL 
To amend titles 10 and 37, United States Code, to provide 
a more equitable process by which the military depart-
ments may recover overpayments of military pay and 
allowances erroneously paid to a member of the Armed 
Forces when the overpayment is due to no fault of the 
member, to expand Department discretion regarding re-
mission or cancellation of indebtedness, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Military Overpayment 
Fairness Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ON COLLECTION OF OVERPAYMENTS 
OF PAY AND ALLOWANCES ERRONEOUSLY 
PAID TO MEMBERS. 
(a) MAXIMUM MONTHLY PERCENTAGE
OF MEM-
BER’S PAY AUTHORIZED FOR DEDUCTION.—Paragraph 
(3) of subsection (c) of section 1007 of title 37, United 
States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘20 percent’’ and in-
serting ‘‘10 percent’’. 
(b) CONSULTATION REGARDING DEDUCTION OR RE-
PAYMENT TERMS.—Such paragraph is further amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(3)’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph: 
‘‘(B) In all cases described in subparagraph (A), the 
Secretary concerned shall consult with the member regard-
ing the repayment rate to be imposed under such subpara-
graph to recover the indebtedness, taking into account the 
financial ability of the member to pay and avoiding the 
imposition of an undue hardship on the member and the 
member’s dependents.’’. 
(c) DELAY
IN INSTITUTING COLLECTIONS FROM 
WOUNDED OR INJURED MEMBERS.—Paragraph (4) of 
such subsection is amended to read as follows: 
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‘‘(4) Unless a member of the uniformed services re-
quests or consents to initiation of the collection of an over-
payment of pay or allowances made to the member at an 
earlier date, if a member is injured or wounded by hostile 
fire, explosion of a hostile mine, or any other hostile action 
or, while in the line of duty, otherwise incurs a wound, 
injury, or illness in a combat operation or combat zone 
designated by the Secretary of Defense, any overpayment 
of pay or allowances made to the member while the mem-
ber recovers from the wound, injury, or illness may not 
be deducted from the member’s pay until the later of— 
‘‘(A) the end of the 180-day period beginning 
on the date of the completion of the tour of duty of 
the member in the combat operation or combat zone, 
if the member is not removed from the theater of 
operations for medical treatment; or 
‘‘(B) the end of the 90-day period beginning on 
the date of the reassignment of the member from a 
military treatment facility or other medical unit, if 
the member is removed from the theater of oper-
ations for treatment.’’. 
(d) IMPOSITION OF STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS ON 
SEEKING
REPAYMENT.—Such subsection is further 
amended by adding at the end the following new para-
graph: 
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