Representative Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ) has introduced a bill to correct a longstanding inequity in military retirement benefits.
What the Bill Does
Current law allows eligible members of the Ready Reserve to reduce the age at which they receive Reserve retirement pay below the age of 60 by 3 months for every 90 days of active service.
The problem Rep. Hamadeh seeks to correct with his Reserve Component Fairness Act is that the credit applies only to qualifying active-duty service performed while the service member was already affiliated with the Ready Reserve or the National Guard.
In essence, that means a veteran who served on active duty for years before joining the Reserve does not receive credit toward reduced retirement age for that qualifying service.
As a result, the Reserve Component Fairness Act retroactively allows qualifying active service after January 28th, 2008, to before a service member joins the Ready Reserve to count toward reducing the age at which they can receive Reserve retirement pay.
What Hamadeh is Saying
"I am grateful to the veterans who brought this inequity to my attention, and grateful for being in a position to do something to correct it," Rep. Hamadeh said in a press release. "We must eliminate disparities whenever possible and ensure that our nation's heroes are treated fairly and their sacrifices are honored. This legislation corrects a situation created by bureaucrats who arbitrarily made a distinction between two service members who may have performed identical active-duty service under the same conditions."
The Arizona congressman further emphasized, "This common-sense legislation changes that without creating a new retirement benefit or altering eligibility for non-regular retired pay. Members must still satisfy all existing statutory requirements for a Reserve retirement, including completing 20 qualifying years of service, and the current statutory minimum retirement age of 50 remains unchanged."
A Similar Bill
The Reserve Component Fairness Act resembles the Major Richard Star Act, Representative Gus Bilirakis's (R-FL) signature piece of legislation, which removes restrictions that force veterans with combat-related injuries who served fewer than 20 years to give up a dollar of retirement pay for every dollar of disability compensation they receive, enabling all medically retired soldiers to collect both payments.
