Rao bulletin 1 February 2017 html edition this bulletin contains the following articles pg Article Subject
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- BRAC Update 53 ► McCain Labels Congresss Handing Cowardice
- Military Family Tax Burden ► H.R.282 | Spouse State Residency
- * Military *
Back in July, Rubio teamed up with then U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL) who was serving as the chairman of the U.S. House Veterans Affairs Committee, to bring out the bill last summer. The bill adds more “protections for whistleblowers,” would “increase flexibility to remove VA employees for poor performance or misconduct” and “reform the department’s disability benefits appeals process.” The proposal also closes loopholes from the “VA Accountability Act” from Miller and Rubio which passed the House in 2015 but stalled in the Senate.Rubio explained why the bill was needed when he brought it out back in July. “For far too long, veterans have been victims of a broken and incompetent VA system,” said Rubio. “To make real progress in fixing the VA, we need to tackle the first problem plaguing the VA, which is the lack of accountability among employees. It is simply unacceptable that it can take years to fire one employee for poor management or misconduct. “The VA Accountability First and Appeals Modernization Act ... goes further to address the excessive backlog of appeals found at the department that have spiraled out of control,” Rubio added. “To give our veterans the care they deserve, it is crucial this legislation is passed and signed into law.” Rubio brought back this proposal as well as more than a dozen other bills that never crossed the finish line, focusing on everything from former President Barack Obama’s health-care law to Second Amendment issues. “In this new Congress, I will continue pursuing solutions that will make a positive difference in the lives of Floridians and all Americans,” said Rubio when he reintroduced his bills. “By reintroducing this legislation today, we’re moving forward with our work to stop a taxpayer-funded bailout of health insurance companies under Obamacare, keep guns out of terrorists’ hands while protecting the constitutional rights of law-abiding gun owners, improve hurricane forecasting, modernize the VA, and reform the disastrous HUD inspections process that has jeopardized countless lives in Florida and across the country.” Rubio sounded an optimistic note since President Donald Trump was now in the White House and Republicans controlled both chambers on Capitol Hill. “Now that Republicans control the Senate, House and White House, it is my hope that we can pass these – and many other – meaningful, commonsense solutions to the problems facing our country,” Rubio said. The VA reform bill has the support of a number of groups including the American Legion, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) and Student Veterans of America. Diego Echeverri, CVA’s Florida spokesman, praised the bill on 18 JAN. “If passed, Rubio's VA Accountability First and Appeals Modernization Act would help put an end to the horror stories we hear daily about VA negligence, incompetence, and corruption,” Echeverri insisted. “CVA urges Congress to pass this bill immediately. Veterans' lives are on the line." [Source: Sunshine State News | Kevin Derby | January 23, 2017 ++]. ***************************** BRAC Update 53 ► McCain Labels Congress's Handing Cowardice The head of the Senate Armed Services Committee said he will consider starting another military base closing round in the near future, calling Congress’ handling of the issue “cowardice” and a threat to military readiness. "We need to talk about it, I think it has to be considered as all things should be on the table,” Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said during a 24 JAN committee hearing on the defense budget. He said that committee ranking member Sen. Jack Reed, (D-RI) is “seriously considering the issue of BRAC, and obviously we want to talk to now-Secretary of Defense (James Mattis) about it.” Even discussing a possible base closing round would be a significant shift on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers have been fiercely against the idea of shuttering bases in their districts. Pentagon officials have repeatedly asked for a reexamination of the military’s domestic footprint with an eye toward closing underused or outdated facilities. They estimate the five previous base closing rounds since 1990 have saved taxpayers at least $12 billion annually. But lawmakers have responded by not only rejecting the idea but prohibiting defense officials from planning future base closing plans, largely in response to the controversial 2005 reorganization which many saw as overly complicated and minimally fiscally justified. McCain suggested that future rounds may be handled differently, instead of relying on an independent commission as has been practice in the past. “We can't make the decisions ourselves, so we leave it up [to] a commission, and frankly the last commission made some very bad decisions,” he said. “Like sequestration, it’s a cowardly act, because it shows we can’t make the decision ourselves.” House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX) in the past has said he would be open to allowing the Defense Department to update research on how many DoD facilities may be underused or obsolete. Pentagon officials have said in recent years they are paying to maintain 22 percent more infrastructure than they need, but lawmakers have argued those figures are based on outdated studies. As it has been in recent years, the base closing issue is expected to be a major talking point in the fiscal 2018 defense budget debate later this spring. [Source: MilitaryTimes | Leo Shane III | January 24, 2017 ++] ***************************** Military Family Tax Burden ► H.R.282 | Spouse State Residency Military spouses would be able to simplify their state residency status -- and their tax bills -- under new legislation introduced by a pair of Republican lawmakers this week. The Military Residency Choice Act H.R.282 is designed to untangle the sometimes complicated residency rules surrounding military families, whose frequent duty assignment changes and cross-country moves can leave a confusing trail of paperwork. Bill sponsors Rob Wittman, (R-VA) and Darrell Issa (R-CA) said simplifying those rules could lead to fewer financial problems for those families and even help military spouses continue their careers as they jump from state to state. “The last thing our military families need is additional stress during tax season,” Wittman said in a statement. “Allowing military families to establish a consistent state of residency will give spouses the confidence to rejoin the workforce when they move and help them better provide for their families.” Under current law, servicemembers are allowed to stay residents of the state where they enlisted for tax and voting purposes for the duration of their military careers. Troops who sign up at a recruiting station in Florida, for example, are considered Florida residents even if their military assignments take them to other states or countries. Military spouses are granted that steady residency too, but only if their state of residency matches their servicemembers’ at the time of marriage. Otherwise, they’re required to refile based on their new home states’ rules with every move. For military couples who meet and get married mid-career, that can lead to a complicated mess of state tax bills and residency regulations every few years. “Each transition requires difficult adjustments as they adapt to new schools, new jobs, new churches and new communities,” Issa said in a statement. “They shouldn’t be burdened yet again when tax season comes around.” The new measure allows military spouses to adopt their servicemembers’ state of residency as their own, even if they never lived there before. For all future moves, the couple will have the same state for tax and voting purposes. The proposal was introduced in Congress last year (H.R.5428) but stalled in the House. The Congressional Budget Office has already said the move would not cost the government any money, and would have minimal effect on state and local government budgets because the population of individuals electing to make the change would be spread out all over the country. But Wittman said the move would be a major help for a number of military families. “Our nation's military is only as strong as the men and women serving and the families who support them,” he said. “Passing this simple residency fix will send a strong signal to our military families that we have their best interests at heart.” No timetable has been set for hearings or a vote on the measure. [https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/282/text] [Source: TREA Washington Update | January 10, 2017 ++] * Military * 
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