Capt Hank
01-13-2005, 18:22
** New Bills
While the Senate will not introduce any new bills until January 24, the process already has begun in the House. To date, House members have introduced almost 300 new legislative initiatives, including several of interest to MOAA members:
H.R. 147 - Social Security Fairness Act of 2005 (Rep. McKeon, R-CA): The legislation would repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provisions (WEP). Both GPO and WEP provisions result in unfair reductions in earned Social Security benefits of retired government employees, many of whom are also military retirees. This bill replaces H.R. 594 from the 108th Congress.
H.R. 197 - In-State Tuition Eligibility (Rep. Scott, D-GA): This bill would limit states to charging in-state tuition rates for active duty servicemembers and their dependents that are assigned to duty stations in the state.
H.R. 269 - MGIB Option for VEAP-Era Servicemembers (Rep. Camp, R-MI): This bill would authorize a one-time opportunity to enroll in the Montgomery GI Bill for active duty servicemembers who entered service between 1 January 1977 and 30 June 1985 but declined to enroll in the "Post-Vietnam Era Veterans Education Assistance Program" (VEAP). These VEAP "decliners" were advised by military counselors to turn down the marginal VEAP benefit and wait for the "new GI Bill" -- which was ultimately enacted in 1984, but denied eligibility for this group. This bill replaces H.R. 879 from the 108th Congress.
You can track cosponsorship, current status, and other information on bills of interest on MOAA's Web site at: http://capwiz.com/moaa/issues/bills/ . By simply entering your ZIP code, you can send your legislators your views on these bills.
While the Senate will not introduce any new bills until January 24, the process already has begun in the House. To date, House members have introduced almost 300 new legislative initiatives, including several of interest to MOAA members:
H.R. 147 - Social Security Fairness Act of 2005 (Rep. McKeon, R-CA): The legislation would repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provisions (WEP). Both GPO and WEP provisions result in unfair reductions in earned Social Security benefits of retired government employees, many of whom are also military retirees. This bill replaces H.R. 594 from the 108th Congress.
H.R. 197 - In-State Tuition Eligibility (Rep. Scott, D-GA): This bill would limit states to charging in-state tuition rates for active duty servicemembers and their dependents that are assigned to duty stations in the state.
H.R. 269 - MGIB Option for VEAP-Era Servicemembers (Rep. Camp, R-MI): This bill would authorize a one-time opportunity to enroll in the Montgomery GI Bill for active duty servicemembers who entered service between 1 January 1977 and 30 June 1985 but declined to enroll in the "Post-Vietnam Era Veterans Education Assistance Program" (VEAP). These VEAP "decliners" were advised by military counselors to turn down the marginal VEAP benefit and wait for the "new GI Bill" -- which was ultimately enacted in 1984, but denied eligibility for this group. This bill replaces H.R. 879 from the 108th Congress.
You can track cosponsorship, current status, and other information on bills of interest on MOAA's Web site at: http://capwiz.com/moaa/issues/bills/ . By simply entering your ZIP code, you can send your legislators your views on these bills.