Bilirakis Makes Another Push for Major Richard Star Act

Representative Gus Bilirakis's (R-FL) bipartisan Major Richard Star Act has garnered strong bipartisan support in the House and Senate but has gotten nowhere since it was introduced in August 2022. This led him and Representative Raul Ruiz (D-CA) to demand action in a recent letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to bring the bill to the floor for a vote before the end of President Biden's term in office.

Rep. Bilirakis's bill would rectify a common practice. Every dollar combat-injured veterans receive as disability pay is a dollar taken from retirement pay they would receive later, which the Florida Congressman called an "unfair offset" in his letter.

In a May interview with The Floridian, Rep. Bilirakis expressed his frustration with offsetting retirement pay for disability pay, calling the system "bullsh*t."

"They're losing a portion of their pension, either a portion of their pension, they don't get the full 100% or a portion of their VA disability.  They have to choose one or the other, whichever one they take, and that's bullsh*t. These people sacrificed so much, we're giving all this money to illegal aliens, and our veterans are being cheated out of that," the Florida Congressman said.

Additionally, despite some reforms, such as the 2004 concurrent receipt system, approximately 50,000 veterans cannot receive both disability and retirement pay in full.

"Congress has enacted legislation to progressively provide relief for this unfair offset between military retired pay and disability compensation, including in 2004, when Congress implemented concurrent receipt for veterans who served over 20 years and had at least a 50 percent disability rating. However, many veterans remain penalized under the status quo," Rep. Bilirakis added in his recent letter.

Moreover, the bill has 326 cosponsors in the House and 73 in the Senate, signifying it "has the momentum and support necessary to carry it quickly through both chambers in Congress and to the President to be signed into law. Given its substantial support in Congress and true bipartisan nature, we respectfully urge you to consider this bill under suspension of the rules at your earliest opportunity."