Retired Pay Restoration Act
Bill: H.R.303 | Sponsor: Rep. Bilirakis, Gus M. (R-FL)
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
Retired Pay Restoration Act
This bill allows the receipt of both military retired pay and veterans' disability compensation with respect to any service-connected disability. Under current law, only individuals with service-connected disabilities rated at 50% or more receive both without offset.
Individuals who were retired or separated after at least 20 years of military service due to a service-connected disability shall be eligible for the full concurrent receipt of both veterans' disability compensation and either military retired pay or combat-related special pay.

To amend title 10, United States Code, to permit additional retired 
members of the Armed Forces who have a service-connected disability to 
 receive both disability compensation from the Department of Veterans 
Affairs for their disability and either retired pay by reason of their 
   years of military service or combat-related special compensation.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Retired Pay Restoration Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) For more than 100 years before 1999, all disabled 
        military retirees were required to fund their own veterans' 
        disability compensation by forfeiting one dollar of earned 
        retired pay for each dollar received in veterans' disability 
        compensation.
            (2) Since 1999, Congress has enacted legislation to 
        progressively expand eligibility criteria for relief of the 
        retired pay disability offset and reduce the burden of 
        financial sacrifice on disabled military retirees.
            (3) Absent adequate funding to eliminate the sacrifice for 
        all disabled retirees, Congress has given initial priority to 
        easing financial inequities for the most severely disabled and 
        for combat-disabled retirees.
            (4) In the interest of maximizing eligibility within cost 
        constraints, Congress effectively has authorized full 
        concurrent receipt for all qualifying retirees with 100-percent 
        disability ratings and all qualifying retirees with combat-
        related disability ratings, while phasing out the disability 
        offset to retired pay over 10 years for retired members with 
        noncombat-related, service-connected disability ratings of 50 
        percent to 90 percent.
            (5) In pursuing these good-faith efforts, Congress 
        acknowledges the regrettable necessity of creating new 
        thresholds of eligibility that understandably are disappointing 
        to disabled retirees who fall short of meeting those new 
        thresholds.
            (6) Congress is not content with the status quo.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that military 
retired pay earned by service and sacrifice in defending the United 
States should not be reduced because a military retiree is also 
eligible for veterans' disability compensation awarded for service-
connected disability.

SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR PAYMENT OF BOTH RETIRED PAY AND VETERANS' 
              DISABILITY COMPENSATION FOR CERTAIN ADDITIONAL MILITARY 
              RETIREES WITH COMPENSABLE SERVICE-CONNECTED DISABILITIES.

    (a) Extension of Concurrent Receipt Authority to Retirees With 
Service-Connected Disabilities Rated Less Than 50 Percent.--Section 
1414(a) of title 10, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Compensation'' in the subsection heading 
        and all that follows through ``Subject'' and inserting 
        ``Compensation.--Subject''; and
            (2) by striking paragraph (2).
    (b) Amendments To Reflect Conclusion of Phase-In of Concurrent 
Receipt of Retired Pay and Veterans' Disability Compensation.--Section 
1414 of title 10, United States Code, is further amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), as amended by subsection (a) of this 
        section, by striking the final sentence;
            (2) by striking subsection (c) and redesignating 
        subsections (d) and (e) as subsections (c) and (d), 
        respectively; and
            (3) in subsection (d), as so redesignated, by striking 
        paragraphs (3) and (4).
    (c) Specification of Qualified Retirees for Concurrent Receipt 
Purposes.--Section 1414 of title 10, United States Code, is further 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), as amended by subsections (a) and 
        (b)--
                    (A) by striking ``a member or'' and all that 
                follows through ``is entitled'' and inserting ``an 
                individual who is a qualified retiree for any month is 
                entitled''; and
                    (B) by inserting ``retired pay and veterans' 
                disability compensation'' after ``both'';
            (2) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) by striking ``Special Rules'' in the subsection 
                heading and all that follows through ``is subject to'' 
                and inserting ``Special Rules for Chapter 61 Disability 
                Retirees.--In the case of a qualified retiree who is 
                retired under chapter 61 of this title, the retired pay 
                of the member is subject to''; and
                    (B) by striking paragraph (2); and
            (3) in subsection (d), as redesignated and amended by 
        subsection (b), by adding at the end the following new 
        paragraph:
            ``(3) Qualified retiree.--The term `qualified retiree' 
        means a member or former member of the uniformed services who, 
        with respect to any month--
                    ``(A) is entitled to retired pay, other than in the 
                case of a member retired under chapter 61 of this title 
                with less than 20 years of service creditable under 
                section 1405 of this title and less than 20 years of 
                service computed under section 12732 of this title; and
                    ``(B) is entitled to veterans' disability 
                compensation.''.
    (d) Clerical Amendments.--
            (1) Section heading.--The heading of section 1414 of title 
        10, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 1414. Members eligible for retired pay who are also eligible for 
              veterans' disability compensation: Concurrent payment of 
              retired pay and disability compensation''.
            (2) Table of sections.--The item relating to such section 
        in the table of sections at the beginning of chapter 71 of 
        title 10, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:

``1414. Members eligible for retired pay who are also eligible for 
                            veterans' disability compensation: 
                            Concurrent payment of retired pay and 
                            disability compensation.''.
    (e) Conforming Amendment.--Section 1413a(f) of title 10, United 
States Code, is amended by striking ``Subsection (d)'' and inserting 
``Subsection (c)''.
    (f) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect as of January 1, 2021, and shall apply to payments for months 
beginning on or after that date.
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