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From National MOAA

• Senate Passes Defense Bill: Here Are The Key Takeaways

• Vets: Indiana Will Help You Get A Job And Pay You $5,000 To Move There

• Beware: Trusts and VA Home Loans Don’t Mix

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Senate Passes Defense Bill: Here Are The Key Takeaways

In an 85 to 10 vote, the Senate on Monday passed its version of the FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act. The sprawling legislation must now be reconciled with the House, which passed its version of the bill in May.

The bill authorizes a 2.6 percent military pay raise, matching both the administration's request and what House lawmakers passed. The raise, consistent with private-sector wage growth, would be the biggest pay raise for servicemembers in eight years. This also aligns with MOAA's 2018 Storming the Hill agenda. 

Issues to Watch (* indicates MOAA's support)

TRICARE fees

House position: No new fees*

Senate position: Repeal grandfathering

MOAA Position: The most controversial provision in the Senate bill unwinds an important TRICARE grandfathering provision from last year's defense bill. The move repeals protections for health care beneficiaries who entered into the service prior to Jan. 1 from a new cost share structure, one with higher fees and pharmacy copays.

MOAA strongly opposes the Senate provision. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, higher out-of-pocket costs will push 20,000 beneficiaries out of TRICARE.

Survivor Benefits

House position: “Sense of Congress” to end the widows tax ASAP*

Senate position: Nothing

MOAA position:  While the Senate remained silent on survivors benefits, the House included a language providing a “sense of Congress” that they “must work together to find a way to eliminate the widows' tax entirely.” It may seem like a small gesture, but the language provides a line in the sand for us to return to lawmakers and say “You've admitted this is wrong. Now let's work towards a solution.”

Housing allowance

House position: No change to BAH

Senate position: No change to BAH

MOAA position: BAH is an essential part of Regular Military Compensation and should not be reduced.

Senators offered hundreds of amendments to the bill, including several MOAA-supported proposals to eliminate the widows tax, expand concurrent receipt, and to provide transition assistance to military spouses, but only a handful of amendments were voted on.

Sens. Rand Paul (R-Kent.) and Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) had a public intraparty feud of the amendment process, each accusing the other of holding up debate on the bill.

The fallout led Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), who shepherded the defense bill while Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) remains home battling brain cancer, to say he's considering changing the rules for next year's defense bill.

Last week, the administration issued a tepid statement on the bill saying, given the short time between the bill's release and when it was voted on, it was not providing feedback at this time. The statement said the White House would continue to work with Congress as the defense bill goes through the legislative process.

The bill now moves to conference committee for House and Senate lawmakers to iron out differences between the two bills. Lawmakers say they expect to complete their work on the bill by the end of July.

Vets: Indiana Will Help You Get A Job And Pay You $5,000 To Move There

Veterans seeking work may just want to give Indiana a look.

The state, in cooperation with several large corporations, is offering $5,000 in relocation expenses to veterans who accept a job offer and move to Indiana.

The Next Level Veterans Initiative will help veterans get good, high-paying jobs with companies like Allison Transmission, Faurecia auto equipment, Honda, Subaru, Toyota or dozens of other employers from healthcare to high-tech.

The NextLevel Veterans Initiative has partnered with , a regional economic growth public-private partnership that seeks to match employers desperately seeking employees with veterans who may not think of moving to Indiana for employment.

State looking to veterans to fill job vacancies

According to Indiana's Governor, Eric Holcomb, there are 85,000 unfilled jobs in Indiana because employers can't find people with the right skills.

Some of the employers that are participating in the NextLevel Veterans program have over 2,000 openings for skilled and unskilled workers. 

Jobs specifically chosen for veterans 

According to Wes Wood, an Army veteran who founded the Invets program, a public-private partnership that works with the state, "these employers are specifically looking for veterans to fill their vacancies, because the specialized skill-set and mind-set that veterans bring to the job is unmatched by their civilian counterparts."

If you are a veteran who has been looking for work, you know that sometimes military experience doesn't translate to the civilian world. You may have supervised 50 people and millions of dollars in inventory or equipment, but when you go to the civilian world, you may end up pushing a broom.

These jobs are specifically chosen with high potential for advancement, so while some of the jobs may start out at a low pay rate, the ability for advancement is good. You could start out at $35K annually but be making over $90K in 3 - 4 years. That's good money in Indiana - that's good money almost anywhere.

Why Indiana?

In case you didn't know it, that Honda CR-V or Toyota Highlander you see on the road was probably made in Indiana. The state has a vibrant manufacturing sector.

The state also has a low cost of living and one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country and offers several benefits to veterans and retirees. Also, if you have a disability rating, your children may be able to get a huge savings on the cost of college. Many employers in the program also offer free college to their employees.

How to get in on this program 

To apply, visit the  website and create an account.

You can enter your military and civilian job experience including your MOS/NEC, military education, training and jobs held. You can even upload your NCO Eval Report. The organization can help translate your military skills to experience that civilian employers can understand and submit your information to the employers who are looking for veterans.

The group will forward your information to employers who will then review all applications. Applications submitted via this website will get special consideration. If you are offered a position, the employer will offer you a $5,000 relocation allowance to move to the state and take the job.

To read more about the H.R. 5671 visit the MOAA website.

Beware: Trusts and VA Home Loans Don’t Mix

If you’re a veteran nearing full retirement or getting your estate in order, you might be establishing a living trust instead of preparing a simple will. But are you also considering taking out a new VA Home Loan?

Beware: One MOAA life member recently found out the hard way that because he and his wife had transferred their home into an irrevocable living trust, they were ineligible for a new VA Home Loan on this property. The VA Home Loan Office told them that if a home is placed in trust, then both of the individuals had to qualify for the home loan — meaning both had to be veterans. 

The Code of Federal Regulation section on veteran loan guaranty (38 CFR § 36.4354 “Estate of Veteran in Real Property”) states, “The title of the estate in the realty acquired by the veteran, wholly or partly with the proceeds of a guaranteed or insured loan … shall be not less than: a life estate, provided that the remainder and reversionary interests are subject to the lien; or a beneficial interest in a revocable Family Living Trust …, provided the lien attaches to any remainder interest and the trust arrangement is valid under state law.”

In layman’s terms: You can put your home in a trust, but you can’t get a loan if you’ve put your home in an irrevocable trust. Unfortunately, this member and his spouse had done exactly that and were denied a refinancing VA Home Loan.

Generally, what is a trust? A property owner passes some or all of their property to a trust. The trustee manages the trust until such time that it can be transferred to the beneficiary, typically upon the death of the owner(s).

What are some of the benefits of a living trust? Two main benefits entice individuals and families toward a trust.  The first is a trust avoids probate, which typically means a faster transfer of assets to your beneficiaries. The second is that trusts provide privacy over the matter of asset distribution; wills do not. A will’s provisions are made public after death.

For a more detailed list of characteristics of trusts and wills please visit the MOAA website.

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