Major Richard Star Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 344 To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for concurrent receipt of veterans’ disability compensation and retired pay for disability retirees with fewer than 20 years of service and a combat-related disability, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 22, 2021 Mr. TESTER (for himself, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. HOEVEN, Mr. PETERS, Mr. RISCH, Mr. WYDEN, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. BLUNT, Ms. WARREN, Mr. VAN HOL- LEN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. SINEMA, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. COONS, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. BENNET, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. SMITH, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. CASEY, Mr. WARNER, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. MORAN, Mr. WICKER, Mr. MANCHIN, Mrs. GILLI- BRAND, Mr. DAINES, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. ROUNDS, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. BROWN, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina, and Mr. WARNOCK) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs MARCH 17 (legislative day, MARCH 16), 2021 Committee discharged; referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for con- current receipt of veterans’ disability compensation and retired pay for disability retirees with fewer than 20 years of service and a combat-related disability, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Mar 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\S344.RCS S344 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 S 344 RCS Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Major Richard Star 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY OF DISABILITY RETIREES WITH FEWER 6 THAN 20 YEARS OF SERVICE AND A COMBAT- 7 RELATED DISABILITY FOR CONCURRENT RE- 8 CEIPT OF VETERANS’ DISABILITY COMPENSA- 9 TION AND RETIRED PAY. 10 (a) CONCURRENT RECEIPT IN CONNECTION WITH 11 CSRC.—Section 1413a(b)(3)(B) of title 10, United States 12 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘creditable service,’’ and all 13 that follows and inserting the following: ‘‘creditable serv- 14 ice— 15 ‘‘(i) the retired pay of the retiree is 16 not subject to reduction under sections 17 5304 and 5305 of title 38; and 18 ‘‘(ii) no monthly amount shall be paid 19 the retiree under subsection (a).’’. 20 (b) CONCURRENT RECEIPT GENERALLY.—Section 21 1414(b)(2) of title 10, United States Code, is amended 22 by striking ‘‘Subsection (a)’’ and all that follows and in- 23 serting the following: ‘‘Subsection (a)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Mar 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S344.RCS S344 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 S 344 RCS ‘‘(A) applies to a member described in 1 paragraph (1) of that subsection who is retired 2 under chapter 61 of this title with less than 20 3 years of service otherwise creditable under 4 chapter 1405 of this title, or with less than 20 5 years of service computed under section 12732 6 of this title, at the time of the member’s retire- 7 ment if the member has a combat-related dis- 8 ability (as that term is defined in section 9 1413a(e) of this title), except that in the appli- 10 cation of subsection (a) to such a member, any 11 reference in that subsection to a qualifying 12 service-connected disability shall be deemed to 13 be a reference to that combat-related disability; 14 but 15 ‘‘(B) does not apply to any member so re- 16 tired if the member does not have a combat-re- 17 lated disability.’’. 18 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 19 (1) AMENDMENTS REFLECTING END OF CON- 20 CURRENT RECEIPT PHASE-IN PERIOD.—Section 21 1414 of title 10, United States Code, is further 22 amended— 23 (A) in subsection (a)(1)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Mar 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S344.RCS S344 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 S 344 RCS (i) by striking the second sentence; 1 and 2 (ii) by striking subparagraphs (A) and 3 (B); 4 (B) by striking subsection (c) and redesig- 5 nating subsections (d) and (e) as subsections 6 (c) and (d), respectively; and 7 (C) in subsection (d), as redesignated, by 8 striking paragraphs (3) and (4). 9 (2) SECTION HEADING.—The heading of such 10 section 1414 is amended to read as follows: 11 ‘‘§ 1414. Members eligible for retired pay who are also 12 eligible for veterans’ disability compensa- 13 tion: concurrent receipt’’. 14 (3) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections 15 at the beginning of chapter 71 of such title is 16 amended by striking the item relating to section 17 1414 and inserting the following new item: 18 ‘‘1414. Members eligible for retired pay who are also eligible for veterans’ dis- ability compensation: concurrent receipt.’’. (4) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 19 1413a(f) of such title is amended by striking ‘‘Sub- 20 section (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘Subsection (c)’’. 21 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 22 this section shall take effect on the first day of the first 23 month beginning after the date of the enactment of this 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Mar 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S344.RCS S344 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 S 344 RCS Act and shall apply to payments for months beginning on 1 or after that date. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Mar 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S344.RCS S344 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS