Bill Text: CA AJR32 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Introduced

California Assembly Joint Resolution 32 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Armed Forces: retirement age.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-02-17 - From printer. [AJR32 Detail]

Download: California-2017-AJR32-Introduced.html

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Joint Resolution

No. 32

Introduced by Assembly Member Mathis

February 16, 2018

Relative to the Armed Forces.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AJR 32, as introduced, Mathis. Armed Forces: retirement age.

This measure would urge the President and Congress of the United States to enact legislation that would eliminate the age requirement for retirement that applies to certain Armed Forces members, as specified.

Fiscal Committee: NO

WHEREAS, Under Title 10 of the United States Code, service members who retire from the Reserves and National Guard (Non-Regular) fall under what is called the “Gray Area Retirement.” This means that those service members and their families are not entitled to the same benefits as their active duty counterparts; and

WHEREAS, Their pension, which they are not entitled to receive until they are 60 years of age, is based on a points system to calculate their pension. While the points system means that their pensions are not the same as their active duty counterparts, it is a fair and reasonable method for calculating Non-Regular pensions. The fact that they are not entitled to receive their pension until 60 years of age is not fair or reasonable; and

WHEREAS, Non-Regular retirees are not entitled to affordable health care. An active duty retiree pays only $47.10 per month for health care through TRICARE, whereas a Non-Regular retiree has to pay $1,013 per month for the same health care; and

WHEREAS, Active duty retirees are authorized to be accompanied with their families on space-available military flights, whereas Non-Regular retirees are not. The families of the Non-Regular retiree, who also sacrificed, cannot receive any benefits for their sacrifice; and

WHEREAS, These are just a few examples of the unfair treatment of the Non-Regular retirees who have served our country, deployed overseas in hostile areas, sacrificed their time, and fought for our country’s freedoms, side by side with their active-duty counterparts; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature urges the President and Congress of the United States to stop this unfair treatment of a vital community of our Armed Forces by eliminating the age requirement for retirement as set forth in Sections 12731(a)(1) and 12731(f) of Title 10 of the United States Code; and be it further

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