Moran seeks support for bill offering equal maternity pay, points for U.S. Armed Forces reservists

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) recently made a request of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS) to favorably review and recommend his bipartisan bill to permit women service members of the U.S. reserve component to receive pay and points towards retirement while on maternity leave.

“As in the active component, women choosing to serve our great nation in the reserve component should be guaranteed the time they need to recover from childbirth and spend important time with their newborn without losing a paycheck or delaying their career,” wrote Sen. Moran and U.S. Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) in a Sept. 11 letter sent to the chair and vice chair of DACOWITS.

DACOWITS, one of the oldest U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) federal advisory committees, provides advice and recommendations on matters and policies related to the recruitment, retention, employment, integration, well-being and treatment of servicewomen in the U.S. Armed Forces.

Sens. Moran and Udall, who in May introduced the Mothers of Military Service (MOMS) Leave Act, S. 1615, want DACOWITS to advise the DOD Secretary to favorably recommend the policy changes proposed in the legislation.

“We write to express our strong support for providing military mothers in the National Guard and Reserves equal treatment for maternity leave as their active component counterparts,” the letter said. “Given your committee members’ vast and diversified military experience, which represents every service component, we expect that you understand the importance of codifying maternity leave as a standing policy rather than a case-by-case leadership decision left to the discretion of the directorate, command or an individual.”

If enacted, S. 1615 would offer reserve component mothers six duty days of paid time off for maternity leave and to accumulate 12 points, which they would otherwise lose that count toward their service obligation, retirement and promotions, according to the senators’ letter.

“We urge you to review the MOMS Leave Act maternity leave proposal favorably during your committee’s upcoming quarterly business meeting [this week] and to recommend to the Secretary of Defense that these maternity leave policy changes for the National Guard and Reserves be implemented.”