Legislative Accomplishments

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2020 Major Legislative Accomplishments

Active/Reserve Component (RC) Force and Retirement Issues

  • Secured 3% uniformed services pay raise
  • Defended earned commissary and exchange benefits, successfully advocating for a mandate that the Department of Defense (DoD) produce a new business case analysis, incorporating recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) findings, and get it approved by Congress before moving forward with military resale consolidation plans.
  • Authorization for direct hire of certain retired military members (GS-13 and below) in logistics positions that are facing manpower shortages, letting these qualified candidates bypass a rule requiring a 180-day waiting period.
  • Provision of federal support for governors' use of the National Guard to respond to COVID-19 – under Title 32, Section 502F – via Presidential Memorandum of April 7, 2020, ensuring appropriate pay and benefits for activated personnel.
  • Expanded hazardous duty incentive pay (HDIP) parity for the Guard and Reserve members, who will receive monthly pay like their active-duty counterparts receive when fulfilling required proficiencies.
  • Increased HDIP from $250 to $275 per month for duty in a foreign area designated as an imminent danger area or for high-risk duties.

Health Care Issues

  • Expansion of benefits available under TRICARE Extended Care Health Option (ECHO) program, to better align with Medicaid waiver programs, including an increase in respite hours from 16 to 32 hours per month.
  • Modification to limitation on the realignment or reduction of military medical manning end strength, halting medical billet cuts for 180 days and requiring DoD to ensure review of medical manpower requirements accounts for all national defense strategy scenarios, including the homeland defense mission and pandemic influenza.
  • Modifications to implementation plan for restructure or realignment of military medical treatment facilities (MTFs), halting MTF restructuring for 180 days, adding rigorous requirements to DoD’s MTF restructuring implementation plans related to access and quality of care available in the civilian provider network, and requiring DoD to certify to congressional defense committees that beneficiaries affected by MTF restructuring will have access to civilian care through the TRICARE program.
  • Transitional health benefits for certain members of the National Guard serving under orders in response to COVID–19, expanding TAMP benefits to National Guard members activated in response to the pandemic.
  • Blocked additional TRICARE fee increases (beyond those already scheduled) in FY21.

Military Family/Survivor Issues

  • Expansion of Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP), ensuring continuity of services and standardization across the services.
  • Military spouse employment improvements, including expanding the My Career Advancement Account (MyCAA) program to include continuing education and national testing; and clarifications for the licensure reimbursement program to ensure military spouses moving from overseas to stateside can take advantage of the program.
  • Child care improvements including housing prioritization for Family Child Care (FCC) providers, expansion of 24-hour child care, family discounts at child development centers, pilot program to provide financial assistance to families utilizing FCC child care, and a feasibility study to implement dependent care flexible spending accounts.
  • Military housing improvements including DoD-implementation of recommendations from the DoD Inspector General’s report on housing, and publication of performance metrics and remediation guidance for housing issues.
  • Provision of eligibility for the Fry Scholarship to children and spouses of Guard and Reserve families whose loved ones’ deaths were service connected, while still serving in the Guard or Reserve. 
  • Retention of Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) upon remarriage at age 55.
  • Guarantee surviving families of National Guardsman who are activated during the Coronavirus Pandemic – and die of COVID-19 – are considered to have been on active duty, with their deaths being ruled to have occurred in the line of duty.

Veterans Issues
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  • Addition of three conditions to the list of ailments presumed connected to Agent Orange exposure – 34,000 veterans suffering from bladder cancer, hypothyroidism, and Parkinsonism will receive the care and benefits they deserve.
  • Expansion of Individual Longitudinal Exposure Record (ILER) – a collaboration between DoD and VA linking exposures testing to service members by location and service dates – allowing Veterans to see personal records.