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Bill would combine commissaries, exchanges

In what some are calling a a “sneak attack” on commissaries, the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee passed a bill June 29 that would open Department of Veterans Affairs health care to veterans and their family members who developed health problems after exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

VA would be responsible for providing the care. The Defense Department would agree to reimburse VA for the costs of all the care.

While advocates groups have supported helping these veterans and families, they were blindsided by the method proposed by the bill, S 277, to pay for that benefit: DoD would be forced to eliminate funding for commissaries and consolidate its commissary and exchange systems.

“By consolidating these into one retail operation, S 277 would eliminate redundant services without sacrificing the availability of goods and services to active duty members of the armed forces,” states a committee summary.

Press releases from the two North Carolina senators who sponsored the legislation, Democrat Kay Hagan and Republican Richard Burr, tout their success in helping veterans and their families who drank the tainted water at Camp Lejeune, but do not mention how the benefits would be funded.

An estimated 750,000 people were exposed to probable and known carcinogens in the post’s drinking water, between the 1950s and 1980s. “Our veterans and their families exposed to contaminated water while serving our country clearly deserve health care through the VA system,” Hagan said in a press release.

This year, the Congressional Budget Office recommended consolidating the commissary and exchange operations over five years. By the end of that period, taxpayer savings would be about $2 billion, according to CBO.

The commissary system receives about $1.3 billion a year in taxpayer dollars to operate the stores, selling groceries at cost. They have a mandate from DoD to provide an average savings of at least 30 percent. Exchanges, which sell department store items, rely on sales revenue to cover their costs, so they mark up prices, and also contribute part of their profits for morale, welfare and recreation programs.

The Association of the U.S. Army and other members of the Military Coalition is sending a letter to all senators requesting that they vote against S 277 “or any other legislation that would make such radical cuts in support for military commissary and exchange programs,” according to AUSA’s July 5 newsletter. “This is certainly worthy legislation; however, we strongly object to the way the committee plans to pay for it,” the newsletter stated.

The Military Officers Association of America indicated its support for the initial bill proposed earlier this year. But that was before the committee inserted the provision to fund the health care by eliminating commissary funding and consolidating commissaries and exchanges.

“MOAA strongly opposes this sneak attack on the military benefit package,” stated the organization’s legislative update.

MOAA advocates noted that the committee proposes “virtually dismantling the commissary system without any hearings or other effort to assess the adverse impact of such a dramatic cut to a core military benefit.

“There are good reasons why the armed services committees, who actually understand the commissary and exchange programs, have ardently rejected similar proposals for the last four decades,” the group said.