The Mid-Atlantic Regional Group
Blinded Veterans Association
Legislative News
July 31, 2008
News for all Blinded Veterans Association key contacts and members on legislative list.
Yesterday the Senate passed the COLA for FY 2009, but this percent may very well change because it is tied to annual cost of living and inflation costs.
Rumor is because of growing inflation the COLA could jump to 3.6% by October but we will wait until then to find out.
SENATE UNANIMOUSLY APPROVES COLA INCREASE FOR DISABLED VETERANS
“I commend my colleagues for
passing the Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2008. Many
veterans and their survivors count on these monthly payments to get by, and in
these hard times, we must not allow rising costs to eat away at their spending
power. For veterans and their survivors who rely on their compensation,
including nearly 18,000 served by VA’s regional office in my home state of
S. 2617, introduced by Senator Akaka, will adjust veterans’ compensation rates to keep pace with inflation, effective December 1, 2008. According to recent data provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs, this increase will go to 2.8 million veterans and over 300,000 surviving spouses receiving dependency and indemnity compensation.
The bill now moves to the House of Representatives for their consideration. While this year’s cost-of-living increase has yet to be determined, the Congressional Budget Office has projected a 2.8 percent increase. Last year’s increase was 2.3 percent.
Tom Zampieri
Blinded Veterans Association
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