Disabled veterans who retire due to combat-related injuries are currently subject to an offset that reduces their retirement pay by the amount they receive in service-connected disability compensation, a practice often referred to as the “Wounded Veteran Tax.” The Major Richard Star Act, now before both chambers of Congress, seeks to eliminate this offset and allow eligible veterans to receive both full retirement pay and disability benefits.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM Union), which includes many military veterans among its 600,000 active and retired members, has announced support for the bill. Other major veterans organizations—such as Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), Wounded Warrior Project (WWP), The American Legion, and Disabled American Veterans (DAV)—also back the legislation.
“On behalf of the 600,000 active and retired members of IAM Union, I want to thank the bipartisan group of U.S. Senators and members of the U.S. House of Representatives for supporting this very important piece of legislation that is intended to improve the lives of those who have sacrificed so much for this country,” said IAM Union International President Brian Bryant. “The IAM is a diverse labor union with a very significant number of veterans in our membership. We will always fight for the rights of our veterans. The House and the Senate must pass the Major Richard Star Act to end the unjust offset that penalizes combat-injured veterans by denying them the full benefits they have earned.”
The Major Richard Star Act is described as bipartisan legislation aimed at ending what supporters see as an unfair penalty against combat-injured veterans who are medically retired.
