Congress OKs new pay and benefits provisions

[unhappycamper]

Congress OKs new pay and benefits provisions
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Dec 6, 2007 21:18:08 EST

After months of bickering, congressional negotiators have approved a $649 billion defense policy bill that includes a 3.5 percent military pay raise, improvements to treatment and benefits for wounded combat veterans, and precedent-setting changes in reserve retired pay and survivor benefits.

The agreement comes in time for Congress to pass it, and President Bush to sign it, before the Dec. 31 expiration of a variety of recruiting and retention benefits, including enlistment and re-enlistment bonuses — as long as no surprises pop up when lawmakers take the required final votes on the measure.

The pay raise, the wounded warrior assistance package, the more generous reserve retirement plan and a monthly increase in survivor benefits are all examples of congressional initiatives that were opposed by the White House and Pentagon, but which lawmakers felt were needed in time of war.

Under the agreement struck Dec. 6, active and reserve members would get a 3.5 percent increase in basic pay and drill pay Jan. 1, an amount 0.5 percentage point more than the Bush administration proposed. The White House sought a 3 percent increase that would have matched average private-sector wage growth last year.

But negotiators dropped a House plan that would have provided raises in 2009 through 2012 that also would have been modestly higher than civilian wage growth, something White House and defense officials said was overly generous and would take money from other priorities.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/12/military_newauthbill_071206w/



uhc comment: Those other priorities include helicopters that don't work in the heat, refitted Ohio class submarines, new destroyers that were canceled, $330,000,000 F-22 Raptors that are in the shop, $239,000,000 F-35 Lightnings that don't fly above 40,000 feet, MRAPs, etc. etc.

It's all in this forum if you want to read it.