Senate begins work to repeal veterans’ pension cuts
The Senate will begin work next week on a bill that would repeal the $6 billion cut to military pensions.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) filed cloture on the motion to proceed to S. 1963, which was introduced by Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.). The first procedural vote will occur Monday evening.
{mosads}Pryor’s bill would repeal the $6 billion pension cut from the December 2013 budget deal that has come under harsh criticism, but the measure is not offset with a pay-for.
The Senate Armed Services Committee is prepared to mark up the legislation Monday, and Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said he wants to have floor amendment votes on offset proposals.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has introduced an omnibus veterans bill that also addresses the issue, paying for the pension fix by using funds from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Republicans said that wasn’t a true pay-for, however.
Democrats have rejected a proposal from Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) that would reverse the pension cuts by preventing illegal immigrants from claiming a child tax credit. Democrats had other proposals as well that targeted offshore tax loopholes, but those were non-starters with Republicans.
In the budget deal, some veterans’ cost-of-living retirement benefits were reduced by 1 percent. The omnibus spending bill corrected the fact that disabled veterans’ benefits were also cut, but some lawmakers have argued no service member should see a reduction in cost-of-living increases.
If 60 senators vote to end debate on the motion to proceed, the Senate will likely spend the rest of the week debating that bill.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Regular the hill posts