Reed backs bill to give fallen soldiers’ families full benefits, end ‘widow tax’

U.S. Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY) joined a legislative effort to protect the financial security of fallen soldiers’ families this week when he signed on as a supporter of the Military Surviving Spouses Equity Act, which targets the “widow tax” and other gaps in the system.

Under current
law, surviving spouses of fallen soldiers are unable to collect both
spousal benefits and benefits for their children and other dependents
without being charged a dollar-for-dollar offset. This “widow tax,” as
it is called, essentially eliminates spousal benefits if the surviving
spouse also has collected benefits for dependent children.
The Military Surviving Spouses Equity Act would correct this injustice
by doing away with the “widow tax” and letting military families receive
full benefits. The bill currently is under consideration in the House Armed Services Committee.

“As the son of an Army officer myself, I know just how important it is to make sure we care for our veterans, troops and their families,” Reed said. “It’s only fair that we offer the families of our fallen soldiers the same survivor benefits that we would offer to any other federal employee.”

The law caused an uproar when it was revealed that all other federal employees are afforded both spousal and dependent survivor benefits without being subject to any offset.

“The last thing a widow or widower of a fallen solider should have to concern themselves with is how to make ends meet following such a terrible loss,” Reed said. “It’s only fair that we make this change. This is a stark injustice, and it really punishes a group of people that have already lost so much.”

Reed was first elected to represent the 29th District of New York in a special election in 2010. Reed took office during the “lame duck” session of the 111th Congress and began his own full two-year term in the 112th Congress on January 5, 2011. Reed was re-elected in 2012 to serve a two-year term in the new 23rd District.