Bills to Keep Pension Promises to Retired Veterans

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Rep. LaMalfa Cosponsors Bills to Keep Pension Promises to Retired Veterans

Washington, DC – Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) today announced that he has cosponsored two pieces of legislation to repeal the reduction in Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) passed as part of the federal budget agreement. Under the budget agreement, working-age veterans would receive a COLA increase equal to the Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation, minus one percent. The bills LaMalfa cosponsored will ensure that all veterans receive the COLA increases that they were originally promised.

"We need to keep our promises to the men and women who volunteered to serve our nation in the armed forces. We've also proven that we can pay the costs of these pensions by streamlining government, a perspective that should be applied in many other areas," said LaMalfa. "The absence of a military pension protection component was a major reason that I could not support last week's 2014 appropriations measure. While passing a budget was a key part of returning to an open and transparent process, this part of the agreement needs to be repaired immediately."

HR 3787 would repeal the COLA reduction and pay for the spending through savings created by combining prescription purchases by the Department of Defense (DOD) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The DOD and VA saved over $660 million when they combined prescription orders in 2005, more than enough to cover the cost of veteran pension COLAs. HR 3792 would simply repeal the COLA reduction immediately upon the President's signature.

Doug LaMalfa is a lifelong farmer representing California's First Congressional District including, Butte, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou and Tehama Counties.

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