Retired Pay Restoration Act
Bill: S.1147 | Sponsor: Sen. Tester, Jon (D-MT)
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
Retired Pay Restoration Act
This bill authorizes the receipt of both military retired pay and veterans' disability compensation with respect to any service-connected disability. Under current law, only veterans with service-connected disabilities rated at 50% or more receive both without offset.
Individuals who were retired or separated from 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 certain retired 
    members of the uniformed services 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, and for other purposes.

    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. ELIGIBILITY FOR PAYMENT OF BOTH RETIRED PAY AND VETERANS' 
              DISABILITY COMPENSATION FOR CERTAIN 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 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by striking paragraph 
(2) of subsection (a).
    (b) Clerical Amendments.--
            (1) The heading of section 1414 of such title 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) The item relating to such section in the table of 
        sections at the beginning of chapter 71 of such title 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.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect on January 1, 2022, and shall apply to payments for months 
beginning on or after that date.

SEC. 3. COORDINATION OF SERVICE ELIGIBILITY FOR COMBAT-RELATED SPECIAL 
              COMPENSATION AND CONCURRENT RECEIPT.

    (a) Amendments To Standardize Similar Provisions.--
            (1) Qualified retirees.--Subsection (a) of section 1414 of 
        title 10, United States Code, as amended by section 2(a), is 
        amended--
                    (A) by striking ``a member or'' and all that 
                follows through ``paid both for that month'' and 
                inserting ``a qualified retiree is entitled to be paid 
                both retired pay and veterans' disability compensation 
                for a month''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
                    ``(2) Qualified retirees.--For purposes of this 
                section, a qualified retiree, with respect to any 
                month, is a member or former member of the uniformed 
                services who--
                            ``(A) is entitled to retired pay (other 
                        than by reason of section 12731b of this 
                        title); and
                            ``(B) is also entitled for that month to 
                        veterans' disability compensation.''.
            (2) Disability retirees.--Paragraph (2) of subsection (b) 
        of section 1414 of such title is amended to read as follows:
            ``(2) Special rule for retirees with fewer than 20 years of 
        service.--The retired pay of a qualified retiree who is retired 
        under chapter 61 of this title with fewer than 20 years of 
        creditable service is subject to reduction by the lesser of--
                    ``(A) the amount of the reduction under sections 
                5304 and 5305 of title 38; or
                    ``(B) the amount (if any) by which the amount of 
                the member's retired pay under such chapter exceeds the 
                amount equal to 2\1/2\ percent of the member's years of 
                creditable service multiplied by the member's retired 
                pay base under section 1406(b)(1) or 1407 of this 
                title, whichever is applicable to the member.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect on January 1, 2022, and shall apply to payments for months 
beginning on or after that date.
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