The Iowa House of Representatives on Wednesday became the latest legislative body to formally throw its support behind a federal bill stalled in Congress for years that would change how combat-injured veterans receive disability compensation and pension payments.
Over the past year seven other states have passed or are considering similar legislation asking Congress to pass the Major Richard Star Act, which changes a law that bars veterans who were forced to medically retire before 20 years of service from receiving full retirement benefits and disability benefits.
Current law forces these veterans to waive a portion of their retirement benefits when they opt to receive disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs. The dollar-for-dollar offset leaves some veterans receiving no retirement benefits at all, according to the Wounded Warrior Project, which is advocating for passage of the bill.
This legislation allows veterans to choose whether to stay in the Combat-Related Special Compensation program or opt out and receive their VA compensation and the entirety of their military retirement pay.
"These heroes deserve our undying gratitude. Instead, we repay their bravery with a wounded-veteran tax forcing them to choose between two benefits when they deserve both," Iowa House Rep. Ken Croken, a Democrat from Davenport, said in a statement.
He cosponsored the Iowa bill and read the resolution aloud on the house floor in Des Moines on Wednesday morning. The resolution now heads to the Iowa Senate.
The legislation is named after Army Reserve Maj. Richard Star, who was medically retired in 2018 after he developed lung cancer linked to burn pits and other airborne toxins in war zones in Afghanistan and Iraq. Star died in 2021.
He had 18 years of service and spent his final years advocating for this change in benefits.
There are roughly 54,000 retired service members who would be affected by the Richard Star Act, including an estimated 1,300 Iowans, Croken said.
States that have passed a resolution include California, Pennsylvania and Louisiana. It's moving through state capitals in Kentucky, Alabama, Arizona and South Carolina.
Pennsylvania House Rep. Chris Pielli, a Democrat from Chester County, said in a statement he worked on the resolution because veterans deserve the average $1,900 a month they are losing in earned benefits.
"For these reasons, we passed this bipartisan resolution urging Congress to quickly pass legislation enabling all service members who are medically retired to have full access to both military retirement pay and Department of Veterans Affairs disability benefits," Pielli said.
Charles Choi, deputy director of government affairs with the Wounded Warrior Project, said Thursday that when states speak up on the Star Act he has something to use to show members of Congress where their constituents stand.
"The state action speaks loud in D.C.," he said. "[It's] supporting action to what is going on at the federal level."
The Star Act has failed to clear votes in Congress despite drawing bipartisan support since it was first introduced in 2021. It failed in fiscal 2024 over cost concerns. The Congressional Budget Office estimated in 2023 that implementation would increase direct spending for compensation to military retirees by $9.75 billion through 2033.
The current bill has 315 cosponsors in the House and 77 in the Senate.
There a several factors holding up the bill, despite so much support, Choi said.
Cost is a factor, he said. Also, it's one of those bills that is "easy to support but hard to pass." Particularly in the current Congress, which hasn't afforded much floor time to pass standalone bills, he said.
One factor may be that it's been routed through veterans committees as a veteran-related issue when it is more of a military issue for the armed forces committees, Choi said.
"We've got to start looking at this from recruiting, retention and the force management," he said. "This is about the next conflict that we don't know when it's going to come and we don't know how it's going to come. ... That's why this is important to pass it now then waiting for it till later."
For that reason, advocates are looking toward the next National Defense Authorization Act.