TREA WASHINGTON UPDATE FOR FEBRUARY 19, 2010
Both the Senate and the House of Representatives have been out of session this President’s Day Week (Hope you saw some of them in their home districts and states). Add to that Washington is finally digging out from 2 historic blizzards and very little has happened on the Hill. However, that doesn’t mean that the rest of the government has not been busy.
1) House VA Committee to Hold “Claims Summit 2010: A Call for Solutions”
2) VA Demanding Recoupment of Advanced Payments They Made Last Year For Post 9/11 GI Bill Payments
3) More on the GI Bill- GI Bill Phone Hot Line Reopens 5 days a Week
5) Child Award Contest Nominations Are Due
6) Many Retirees Wish To Return To Active Duty
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1) House VA Committee to Hold “Claims Summit 2010: A Call for Solutions”- On March 18,,Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Bob Filner (D-CA) will hold a stakeholders meeting concerning the problems with the VA claims and adjudication system. TREA’s Executive Director of the Washington Office Deirdre Parke Holleman will be representing TREA. The claims delay and backlog (which has reached 1,000,000 pending claims) is one of the most serious problems facing the VA. The VA Committee is asking for proposed solutions and ideas on how to improve both the speed and the accuracy of the process. If you have had experiences that you think focus on a problem or ideas that may be helpful please e-mail me at dholleman@treadc.org for possible inclusion in our oral or written statements.
2) VA Demanding Recoupment of Advanced Payments They Made Last Year For Post 9/11 GI Bill Payments-Last October the VA started to make advanced payments of $3000 to students enrolled in the brand new Post 9/11 GI Bill when it became completely clear that they were going to be late in paying students’ book allowances and living stipends. Now they want their money back. Over 122,000 veterans have already received one letter and will be getting another one any day. The VA says after February 8 there will be no more emergency payouts because they are not going to be late in paying the costs in the spring semester.
The VA wants their $3,000 back, interest free in one year. If a veteran is receiving GI Bill benefits during the spring semester they have the option of having payments recouped at a rate of $750 a month from the monthly living stipends, which means the advance pay received during the fall term would be repaid in four months. Under that option, deductions would begin April 1. If they are not enrolled other plans need to be made. To pay back the full $3000 in a year would require a $250 monthly payment.
The VA states that they will turn over the names of anyone who does not respond to their letters to the U.S. Treasury’s Offset Program. They can garnish salaries and keep tax refunds. (The usual procedure to request a debt waiver is available. A person needs to fill out a financial statement with the VA and show why collecting the debt would create a financial hardship or would be unfair)
As of January 19, 167,000 student veterans enrolled under the Post 9/11 GI bill. As of February 5 the VA has said that they paid more than 147,000 students.
3) More on the GI Bill- GI Bill Phone Hot Line Reopens 5 Days a Week-The VA has announced the reopening of the GI Bill telephone hotline. The number is 1-888-GIBILL-1 (1-888-442-4551) Starting yesterday the phone line is open 7 a.m.-5 p.m. - Central Time - Monday through Friday.
The VA says that improvements have been made. When it first stood up there were tremendous delays and 90% of the calls never went through. Furthermore it was operating only three days a week. So numerous veterans never were able to speak to an education counselor.
If a student or school is calling from outside of the United States and can’t use the toll free number they should call the VA’s Buffalo N.Y. regional office for help. There non-toll-free numbers are: 716-857-3196 or 716-857-3197 and then chose “option one” when asked.
4) Mississippi Governor Joins Others In Leadership Team To Build The Education Center For The Vietnam War Memorial- This week Governor Haley Barbour joined the “Leadership Team” to help the campaign to build the Vietnam War Memorial’s (The Wall) Education center. The Education Center was authorized by statute in 2003 and since that time the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund has been raising money and making plans to build the 2 layer underground center under the National Mall in Washington DC. The Leadership Team includes several Governors: Georgia’s Sonny Perdue, Florida’s Charlie Crist , Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal, New Mexico’s Bill Richardson, Pennsylvania’s Edward G. Rendell and Texas’ Rick Perry. They are recruiting supporters, raise awareness and gather information and photographs from their states of individuals whose names are on the Wall. Members of TREA should urge the governor’s to join this important cause. If you need any information to help with your grass roots campaign, call us or visit: www.buildthecenter.org
The campaign to build the Education Center is being chaired by San Antonio Spurs owner Peter M. Holt. Gen. Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.), is an honorary chairman and actor Tom Selleck is its National Spokesman. Approximately $25 million has been raised (including a $10 million gift from Time Warner).
5) Military Child Award Contest Nominations Are Due-Nominations for the “2010 Military Child Award” are due on February 25. The award recognizes “the service and sacrifice of the nation’s youngest heroes.” To be nominated the child must be between 8 and 18 years old and enrolled in the Defense Eligibility Enrollment Reporting System (DFAS). The winner receives $5,000 + plus a trip for him or herself with a parent or guardian to Washington DC with meals and accommodations to be presented with the award.
6) Many Retirees Wish To Return To Active Duty- All the services have created programs for military retirees who want to return to duty. And many retirees are jumping at the chance. At the present time 974 Army enlisted members and officers volunteered to return to active duty after retirement. Since 9/11, 3,077 Army retirees have voluntarily returned to some period of active duty. Any Army retiree who has served at least 20 years of service and is under the age of 70 can apply for recall. Of course there is a rigorous fitness, security and need analysis before they are accepted.
The other services have much smaller and more specialized recall programs. The Air Force established a voluntary program in January- December 2009 for officers only(!) and had 386 retirees return. Last year the Navy had 378 retired personnel and officers return to duty. The Navy says that most of them had very specialized skills- examples Doctors and Chaplains. The Marines had a small recall program for 300 senior non-commissioned officer positions in February 2008 to February 2009 which were all filled.
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What if TREA earned a penny every time you searched the Internet? Or how about if a percentage of every purchase you made online went to support our cause? Well, now it can!
GoodSearch.com is a new Yahoo-powered search engine that donates half its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. Use it just as you would any search engine, get quality search results from Yahoo, and watch the donations add up!
GoodShop.com is a new online shopping mall which donates up to 37 percent of each purchase to your favorite cause! Hundreds of great stores including Amazon, Target, Gap, Best Buy, ebay, Macy's and Barnes & Noble have teamed up with GoodShop and every time you place an order, you’ll be supporting your favorite cause.
Just go to www.goodsearch.com and be sure to enter Retired Enlisted Association (Aurora, CO) as the charity you want to support. And, be sure to spread the word!
http://www.goodsearch.com/?charityid=815089
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MAKE A DONATION TO TREA, JUST BY SHOPPING! CLICK BELOW:
http://www.mypowermall.com/mall/111349
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AS YOU ARE PLANNING YOUR 2010 CHARITABLE DONATIONS, PLEASE CONSIDER A DONATION TO THE RETIRED ENLISTED ASSN. MAKE YOUR DONATION ONLINE AT: www.trea.org/DonationPage.html
OR MAIL YOUR DONATION TO: TREA HQ, 1111 S ABILENE CT., AURORA, CO 80012
YOU MAY EARMARK YOUR DONATION TO SUPPORT WHATEVER YOU WOULD LIKE. (GENERAL FUND, THE VOICE/WEB, MEMORIAL FOUNDATION, SCHOLARSHIP, OR JUST MARK "WHERE IT IS NEEDED MOST")! DONATIONS TO TREA ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT!!!
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