Off The Chain with RatDog EP14 - Major Richard Star Act

Dog, Kells and Special Guest, Leo Skinner discuss the Major Richard Star Act HR1282/S344, which is currently on Capitol Hill. This needs our support for our disabled veterans who have been wounded in combat. Links to the bills are below. Show will air on 6/29/23 at 7am EST.

To find more informaiton on the Major Richard Star Act:

https://twitter.com/MajorStarAct

https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/344/all-info
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/1282/all-info

Leo Skinner Link
https://twitter.com/LeoSOFADAD

News Interview:WKYT Investigates Major Richard Star Act

The informational gap Leo discussed:
My question pertains to the Major Richard Star Act (HR 1282 )and the need for more clarification in its text.

The understanding is that a medically retired service member that is eligible to receive Combat-Related Special Compensation(CRSC) would benefit from the passage of the Major Richard Star Act. The passing of HR 1282 would allow the medically retired service member to receive Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay (CRDP) under the guise of the service member increasing benefit entitlements.

The specific question is would the service member receive their medical retirement based on their disability percentage granted by their respective service and their VA disability pay?

Why is this question important, and why does it need clarification?

Under current law, CRSC cannot exceed the longevity portion of a service member's retirement based on the calculation of 2.5 percent for each year of active federal service (AFS) multiplied by their base pay specific to rank and time in service, equating to the amount they would receive monthly in addition to their VA disability pay.

Currently, without clarification or inclusion into the bills text of whether a medically retired service member would receive the benefits specific to their branch of service's granted disability rating increases the probability of a large number of medical retirees with eight years of AFS in the military receiving no change to their pay as intended by the creation of HR1282.

Example of how this is possible:.
An Army SSG (E-6) with eight years of AFS is medically retired and granted a 100% CRSC percentage.
2.5 X 8 = 20% ( With a 100% " Best Case Scenario" CRSC rating, they would receive less than 20 % under the current law of $3,864.30 per month base pay for an E-6 with eight years in addition to VA disability pay)

20% x $ 3864.30 = less than $ 772.86 tax-free CRSC

If the Major Richard Star Act is passed and this nuance has yet to be addressed within the context of the bill, the Army SSG (E-6) in the example would begin to receive CRDP at an amount of $772.82 minus taxes equating to little or no change in pay

The intention of HR 1282 is not to have an outcome that would produce little to no benefit to many service members who were medically retired at eight years or less and meet the criteria for "Combat-Related." The intention, from my understanding, is to increase pay benefits for these service members by granting them pay based on their branch of services given disability percentage coupled with their VA disability regardless of the longevity equation.

RatDog's Links
https://truthsocial.com/@RatDog2020
https://twitter.com/2020Ratdog
https://gettr.com/user/2020ratdog

Kells' Links
https://truthsocial.com/@Kells9700
https://twitter.com/Kells9700