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GOP seeks more military benefits in budget

As Congress begins the process of writing a 2010 budget guideline, House Armed Services Committee Republicans have laid out an expensive agenda for pay and benefits increases that they would like to see funded rather than the domestic programs being pushed by Democrats.

A letter sent March 13 to the House Budget Committee but not made public until Tuesday calls for a bigger military pay raise, caps on out-of-pocket health care costs for military families and retirees, more generous retirement benefits and more money for disabled retirees and for the survivors of people who die of service-connected causes.

Pay and benefits issues are included in a letter prepared by Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina, ranking Republican on the armed services subcommittee on military personnel, and signed by other Republican subcommittee members. Since Republicans are in the minority in Congress, it is not clear how much weight the request will be given by the budget committee, which begins Wednesday on the process of writing a tax and spending plan for the 2010 budget.

The letter does, however, give a preview of some of the partisan battles that may take place over the budget and over defense legislation.

Wilson’s letter calls for a 3.4 percent military pay raise for 2010, bigger than the 2.9 percent raise requested by President Barack Obama, which might be something some Democrats can support even though it would put them at odds with the new president.

Republicans also make clear they will oppose any effort to raise health care fees. That isn’t a new position for Congress, considering lawmakers for three consecutive years rejected attempts by the Bush administration to increase co-payments, fees and deductibles for military retirees and their families using the Tricare health program, as well as a change in pharmacy copayments that would have applied to retirees and military families. Over those three years, Republicans were often pressured by the White House to support fee increases. Now, they are hoping to see a reversal of sides where some Democrats will be pressed to support cost-cutting measures coming from a Democratic president.

Also mentioned in the letter is a call for better retirement benefits for National Guard and reserve members, something Wilson has been pushing, plus increases in military retired pay and in survivors benefits, which would result if the government ended a policy of reducing military benefits dollar-for-dollar by the amount received in veterans benefits. The Obama administration has proposed a modest change that would allow disabled retirees who left the military with fewer than 20 years of service to receive their full military retirement and veterans disability benefits, although details of the proposal have not been released.

The House and Senate budget committees hope to complete their several budget plans by the end of the week, setting the stage for battles next week on the floor of the House and Senate. The plans, known as budget resolutions, set tax and spending guides that are used as lawmakers work on details of the legislation. In the case of the defense budget, the budget resolution will set a spending cap for 2010 and goals for the future that will be used by the armed services and appropriations committees that write policy and funding bills.