NGAUS Legislative Alert #11-7 Eliminate the Fiscal Year Requirement on Collecting Reserve Retirement Pay

The Issue: Eliminate the fiscal year (FY) requirement now required to accrue an aggregate 90 days of qualifying service to reduce the age to collect Reserve Retirement pay
 

Immediate Action Required: Contact your Representatives to urge their support for H.R.1283 which would eliminate the fiscal year requirement to accrue an aggregate 90 days of service in support of a contingency operation or national emergency to reduce the age 60 retirement pay eligibility age by three months for each aggregate of 90 days served.

H.R.1283, The Reserve Retirement Deployment Credit Correction Act, introduced by Representatives Tom Latham (R-IA) and Dan Boren (D-OK), would amend Title 10, United States Code, to eliminate the fiscal year requirement in the current law which allows our retirees to draw retirement pay three months sooner for each aggregate of 90 days per fiscal year of service performed after January 28, 2008 in support of a contingency operation or national emergency.
By only crediting an aggregate of 90 days served during a single fiscal year, the law unfairly excludes credit for 90 days of otherwise qualifying service that is spread over two fiscal years. For example, if one served 90 days in OIF from September 1, 2008 through November 29, 2008, that service would not be credited to reduce the retirement eligibility age. However, if the person served 90 days in OIF from October 1, 2008 through December 29, 2008, that service would be fully credited because it would occur within a single fiscal year. This distinction unfairly penalizes those with otherwise qualifying service spanning two fiscal years.

H.R.1283 would correct this inequity by fully crediting each aggregate of 90 days of qualifying service irrespective of the fiscal year in which it is served.
Congress needs your input immediately to rectify this problem. The time to act is now. Your email, letter or call could make the difference.

TAKE THE FOLLOWING ACTION:
By using the “Write to Congress” feature on the NGAUS Web site at www.ngaus.org/writetocongress , you can IMMEDIATELY e-mail your elected representatives. A sample letter is included in our “Write to Congress” feature. You can e-mail the pre-written message or edit the sample letter as you desire. This is the quickest and most effective method of expressing your views to Congress. Also, contact your friends and family and urge them to use Write to Congress as well. For further information and background visit our web site at www.ngaus.org . Please direct any questions concerning this issue to Pete Duffy, NGAUS Deputy Legislative Director at 202-454-5307 or via email at pete.duffy@ngaus.org.