Guard/Reserve Committee Goals
Legislative Goals For the 118th Congress
Today's Reserve Component fills the role of both a Strategic Reserve, as well as a fully integrated operational reserve. However, the Department of Defense does not have a formal definition for the "operational reserve" and has not fully integrated the Reserve Components in the National Defense Strategy. Congress should adequately man, train, and equip the Reserve Components as a vital partner of the total force. The Military Coalition is ready to assist Congress in achieving the following goals:
End Strength
Equipment
Health Care (Title 10 USC Chap 55)
Joint Matters
Pay
Public Health Service
Retirement
Service
Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) Protections (Title 50, Sec. 3901 to 4043)
Tax Initiatives
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) (Title 38 USC Sec. 4301 to 4335)
Today's Reserve Component fills the role of both a Strategic Reserve, as well as a fully integrated operational reserve. However, the Department of Defense does not have a formal definition for the "operational reserve" and has not fully integrated the Reserve Components in the National Defense Strategy. Congress should adequately man, train, and equip the Reserve Components as a vital partner of the total force. The Military Coalition is ready to assist Congress in achieving the following goals:
End Strength
- Authorize and appropriate Guard and Reserve force end strength and full-time support to strategic and operational requirements.
- Ensure that the time during which members of the National Guard and Reserve serve on active duty for training qualifies for educational assistance under the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill. (38 USC 3301/1311(b))
Equipment
- Adequately fund National Guard Reserve Equipment Accounts (NGREA) to ensure that the Reserve Component can maintain strategic and operational roles.
Health Care (Title 10 USC Chap 55)
- Simplify TRICARE for retirement eligible National Guard and Reserve service members:
- Provide an affordable TRICARE option for Reserve Component retired service members at the same subsidized premium rate as other retired members.
- Provide premium-free, zero cost-sharing medical and dental coverage for Selected Reserve service members eligible for TRICARE Reserve Select (TRS).
- Expand TRS for USPHS Ready Reserve regardless of duty status by replacing the term “Selected Reserve” with “Uniformed Services”. (10 USC 1076d(a))
- Fund TRS for federal employees who are Ready Reservists earlier than fiscal year 2030 (10 USC 1076d).
- Authorize Individual Ready Reservists the option to enroll in TRS as an opportunity to maintain medical readiness for recall/activation. (10 USC 1076d).
- Provide an option for RC service members and families to retain private health coverage under active duty orders in lieu of switching to TRICARE.
- Authorize National Guard members separating from full-time duty (32 USC 502(f)) Transitional Assistance Management Program coverage (10 USC 1145).
- Ensure the merger of TRICARE Dental Plans (TDP) into Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP) includes a provision for activated members as a life event or reenrollment.(10 USC 1076a)
- Ensure the merger of TDP into FEDVIP includes continued subsidized premiums currently available to TDP beneficiaries (10 USC 1076a)
Joint Matters
- Expand the definition of Joint Matters (10 USC 668) to include a major disaster or emergency (10 USC 12304a, 32 USC 502(f)) involving integrated forces.
Pay
- Ensure authorization and appropriation pay and benefits parity for the Reserve Components. (Title 10, 14, and 37).
- Eliminate Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH II) for Reserve Component/Transient (RC/T) and provide full BAH for any active duty service performed by the Reserve Component. (37 USC 403(g)(5))
Public Health Service
- Consider an expanded role for the USPHS Ready Reserve to augment DoD as the Defense Health Agency and services restructure their military force which has included end strength reductions and for any other mission requirement. (42 USC 204)
Retirement
- Expand the National Guard and Reserve early retirement age service eligibility from January 8, 2008 retroactive to September 11, 2001. (10 USC 12731)
- Eliminate annual limits on inactive duty training creditable for retirement. (10 U.S.C. various provisions)
- Ensure any plan to consolidate duty status authorities supports operational readiness and provides for full, fair, and transparent accounting of National Guard-Reserve call-ups that qualify for early reserve retirement age.
- Change the Blended Retirement System defined benefit calculation so that any qualifying inactive duty performed for ‘points only’ shall be calculated with a 2.5% multiplier. (10 USC 12739)
- Change the Public Health Service retirement account to an accrual account in the same manner as how DoD retirement pay is managed. (10 USC 1463(a), 1465, 1466)
- In the calculation of a disability retirement a reservist’s disability occurring on active duty should be calculated based on the total years of active duty and qualifying reserve service (“good years”) not the active service alone. (10 U.S.C. Chapter 61)
Service
- Ensure Reserve Component service members receive documentation for predictable periods of service for the purposes of employment, benefits, and recognition, as an accurate representation of service. (10 U.S.C. 1168)
Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) Protections (Title 50, Sec. 3901 to 4043)
- Amend to include protections on leases and contracts impacting activated business owners.
- Broaden the types of insurance (including equipment, professional, dental and disability) that the service member is entitled to reinstate after returning from activation.
- Update SCRA to remove any statue of limitations to counter the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruling that imposed a four-year threshold using (28 U.S.C. § 1658(a)).
Tax Initiatives
- Provide employer tax credits to help offset employer costs associated with the absence of National Guard or Reserve members completing military duty and to reinforce employer support. (Title 26)
- Raise the cap on annual Thrift Savings Plan contributions to allow members of the Guard and Reserve to max out both their private employer and military retirement plans. (26 USC §62(a)(2)(E))
- Permit National Guard and Reserve members with Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) to roll over unclaimed amounts into a subsequent qualifying year when medical expenses aren’t incurred while on active duty orders covered by TRICARE. (Title 26 §125, 132, 223, and other provisions)
- Amend the Internal Revenue Service code to allow RC service members who travel mroe than 50 miles to their drilling location to deduct non-reimbursable travel expenses from their annual taxes.
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) (Title 38 USC Sec. 4301 to 4335)
- Amend USERRA to bar binding arbitration agreements on USERRA issues.
- Override agreements to submit future disputes to binding arbitration.