Congressmen Try to Force Survivor Benefit Vote

May 13, 2004

Democratic representatives are pushing for a House vote on a bill that would increase the basic annuity for many surviving military spouses age 62 and older. Currently, the annuity is 35 percent of the deceased's retired pay. The bill, H.R. 548, is known as the Military Survivor Benefits Improvement Act of 2003.

Recently a discharge petition was filed-if passed it would force House leadership to bring the bill to the floor for a vote. The petition requires the signatures of 218 House members (a majority) to pass. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Texas, introduced the petition March 30 and as of April 28, 177 members had signed it.

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., introduced similar legislation, S. 1916, in the Senate in November 2003 and it now sits in the Armed Services Committee.

Landrieu's bill adjusts the basic Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuity amount for surviving spouses, age 62 and older, of former military personnel to: 

1. 35 percent of the retired pay of the decedent (the current amount) for months before October 2005;
2. 40 percent for months beginning after September 2005 and before October 2008;
3. 45 percent for months beginning after September 2008 through September 2014; and
4. 55 percent for months after September 2014.

The House and Senate bills make similar percentage adjustments for survivors of reserve personnel and survivors of persons who die while on active duty.

The legislation also provides a one-year open enrollment period for SBP participation, beginning October 1, 2005, for those currently not participating, those electing to increase current coverage and those wishing to participate in the supplemental SBP.

According to one of the petition signers, Rep. John B. Larson, D-Conn., the bill would affect hundreds of thousands of military spouses. Under current law, when the spouse of a military retiree reaches age 62, the survivor benefits guaranteed to them drops from 55 percent of the deceased spouse's military retired pay to 35 percent.

"Over the next 10 years, 200,000 military spouses are expected to lose benefits under this survivor benefit penalty, and it will eventually affect the 1.2 military retirees enrolled in the Survivor Benefit Plan," Larson said.

"The House Republican leadership has refused to bring this bill to the floor for a vote, despite its broad bipartisan support," he said. There are 130 Republican co-sponsors of the legislation, but none of them signed the petition.

Rep. Sam Farr, D-Calif., said, "It's the least we can do to correct this Survivor Benefit Penalty and ensure that the families of our military retirees can keep the benefits they earned." More than one million military retirees pay premiums for years and anticipate that upon their death, their spouse will receive 55 percent of their retirement benefit, he said.

"The spouses of those we send into battle make sacrifices, too," said Rep. Jim Olver, D-Mass. "That's why a growing number of members are fighting to provide military retirees and their spouses with the retirement benefits they earned serving our country."