Bill Text: CA AJR29 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Introduced

California Assembly Joint Resolution 29 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Military: survivor benefits.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-02-19 - From printer. [AJR29 Detail]

Download: California-2019-AJR29-Introduced.html

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Joint Resolution

No. 29

Introduced by Assembly Members Choi and Mathis
(Principal coauthor: Senator Dahle)

February 18, 2020

Relative to military survivor benefits.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AJR 29, as introduced, Choi. Military: survivor benefits.

This measure would respectfully urge the United States Congress to pass, and the President of the United States to sign, legislation that would immediately end the military survivor’s compensation offset known as the Widow’s Tax.

Fiscal Committee: NO

WHEREAS, When a service member dies on active duty or in retirement, survivor compensation from the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs for the service member’s dependents is offset, resulting in a decreased benefit; and

WHEREAS, The Department of Defense-funded Survivor Benefit Plan is an annuity, up to 55 percent of a service member’s retired pay, paid to dependents after a military retiree’s death; and

WHEREAS, Surviving dependents may receive payments through the Department of Veterans Affairs Dependency and Indemnity Compensation Plan, a tax-free monetary benefit paid to survivors when a service member dies from a service-connected injury or disease; and

WHEREAS, By law Survivor Benefit Plan annuitants cannot receive full Survivor Benefit Plan payments and Dependency and Indemnity Compensation payments at the same time; and

WHEREAS, Dependency and Indemnity Compensation payments are deducted from the amount of Survivor Benefit Plan payments payable to a survivor; and

WHEREAS, This benefit offset is known as the “Widow’s Tax,” affecting approximately 65,000 surviving military spouses nationwide; and

WHEREAS, The average offset of the Widow’s Tax is $925 per month, according to experts; and

WHEREAS, The 2020 National Defense Authorization Act would phase out the Widow’s Tax beginning in 2021, when Survivor Benefit Plan recipients would begin receiving one-third of the offset amount, followed by two-thirds in 2022, and the full amount in 2023; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature respectfully urges the United States Congress to pass, and the President of the United States to sign, legislation that will immediately eliminate the military survivor’s compensation offset known as the Widow’s Tax in its entirety; and be it further

Resolved, That the Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the President of the United States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the author for appropriate distribution.