GovTrack’s Bill Summary
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H.R. 570: American Heroes COLA Act
- Introduced:
- Feb 06, 2013 (113th Congress, 2013–2015)
- Sponsor:
- Rep. Jon Runyan [R-NJ3]
- Status:
- Passed House
The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. H.R. stands for House of Representatives bill.
- Full Title
To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for annual cost-of-living adjustments to be made automatically by law each year in the rates of disability compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for survivors of certain service-connected disabled veterans, and for other purposes.
- Summary
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No summaries available.
- Text
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Last updated May 22, 2013.
5 pages
- Primary Source
-
View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)
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- Citation
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Library of Congress Summary
The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.
2/6/2013--Introduced.
American Heroes COLA Act - Requires that, whenever there is an increase in benefit amounts payable under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) shall increase by the same percentage the amounts payable as veterans' disability compensation, additional compensation for dependents, the clothing allowance for certain disabled adult children, and dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children.
House Republican Conference Summary
The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.
This summary can be found at http://www.gop.gov/bill/113/1/hr570.
Background
The disability compensation program provides relief to disabled veterans. This relief is consistent with the average earning impairment received in civilian occupations as a result of disability. Every year, Congress passes legislation to set the annual cost of living adjustment (COLA) of the disability program. Social Security beneficiaries, on the other hand, automatically receive a COLA if there is an increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers.
Rather than making veterans rely on Congress to pass an annual COLA bill, H.R. 570 permanently indexes the disability compensation program COLA to the Social Security COLA, so long as the percentage increase is calculated using the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. Additionally, the savings that result from the provision that rounds the COLA increase down to the nearest dollar will be used towards increasing the benefits for the most bereft: veterans who are severely injured or disabled.
Summary
H.R. 570 provides for an automatic increase in disability compensation and dependence and indemnity compensation indexed to Social Security cost of living increases. Increases are effective December 1, 2014. The bill provides that this increase will be round down to the nearest dollar, a provision which will sunset on September 30, 2018. Lastly, H.R. 570 also provides for an increase in the special monthly compensation rates for severely injured veterans of roughly 30% effective December 1, 2014 through September 30, 2018. On October 1, 2018, the rates would rise again to about 50% over current rates.
Cost
There is no CBO score currently available.
House Democratic Caucus Summary
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The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:
Slip Laws
Slip laws refer to enacted bills and joint resolutions in their original form as enacted by Congress, that is, before other laws amend them. Slip laws are cited as “Public Law XXX-YYY”, where XXX is the number of the Congress in which the bill or resolution was introduced.
- Public Law 85-857:
H.R. 9700 (85th): An Act to consolidate into one act all of the laws administered by the Veterans Administration, and for other purposes
United States Code
The United States Code is the compilation of permanent laws enacted by Congress. Temporary and other non-permanent laws do not appear in the United States Code. (About half of the United States Code is the law itself, called positive law. The other half is merely a compilation of the laws but has no legal significance.)
- Title 38: VETERANS’ BENEFITS
- Part II: GENERAL BENEFITS
- Chapter 11: COMPENSATION FOR SERVICE-CONNECTED DISABILITY OR DEATH
- Subchapter II: WARTIME DISABILITY COMPENSATION
- Section 1114: Rates of wartime disability compensation
- Part IV: GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS
- Chapter 53: SPECIAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO BENEFITS
- Section 5312: Annual adjustment of certain benefit rates
- Title 42: THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
- Chapter 7: SOCIAL SECURITY
- Subchapter II: FEDERAL OLD-AGE, SURVIVORS, AND DISABILITY INSURANCE BENEFITS
- Section 401: Trust Funds
- Section 415: Computation of primary insurance amount
Statutes at Large
The United States Statutes at Large is the compilation of all laws enacted by Congress.
- 72 Stat. 1263