President Donald Trump on Dec. 31 signed into law a package of veterans bills known as the Veterans Benefits and Transition Act of 2018, which includes provisions from three bills supported by U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE).
“These are important solutions that will better serve our nation’s veterans, Gold Star families and service members,” Sen. Fischer said on Dec. 20 following U.S. Senate passage of S. 2248, which includes language from Fischer’s bipartisan Veterans Fair Debt Notice Act of 2018, S. 2884; the Gold Star Spouses Leasing Relief Act, S. 3241; and a bill to amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, S. 1619.
The bills collectively “address a number of issues, including helping veterans navigate the VA bureaucracy when they receive accidental payments and owe money back,” said Sen. Fischer, referencing S. 2884, which requires the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to partner with Veteran Service Organizations to create a new notice of indebtedness letter.
Previously, the lawmaker explained that “many of our nation’s veterans and their families are accidentally overpaid by the VA, only to later find they owe money back.” She said S. 2884 will help them navigate the complicated VA bureaucracy in such confusing cases, while also addressing the overpayments issue in general.
For example, S. 2884 calls for an indebtedness letter to explain why an individual owes alleged debts, as well as the steps a veteran can take to challenge or mitigate the debt, according to a summary of the bill provided by the senator’s office.
The VA also would be directed to establish an electronic method to notify individuals of their debt, according to the summary of the bill.
Sen. Fischer sponsored S. 2884 in May 2018 and the bipartisan bill garnered support from nine other senators, including U.S. Sens. Dean Heller (R-NV), John Thune (R-SD), and lead original cosponsor Jon Tester (D-MT).
Another bill Fischer supported will provide relief to the nation’s Gold Star families, who are the survivors of a military member killed while serving the United States. S. 3241 specifically will offer military spouses the option to terminate their residential leases, said Sen. Fischer.
For instance, S. 3241 provisions would allow a widow or widower of a service member who died while in military service to end a jointly held residential lease without incurring a penalty within one year of the service member’s death, according to the senator’s summary.
S. 3241, sponsored by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in July 2018, included Sen. Fischer among its four original cosponsors.
Finally, the lawmaker also supported S. 1619, which she said shields current members of the military ”from TV and internet cancellation fees when they are deployed — the last thing they should have to worry about while preparing for active duty.”
Under existing law, according to Fischer’s summary of the bill, a cable-internet service termination provision now permits U.S. service members to not only break contractual agreements for cell phones, car leases and other items, but also for pay television and internet services without penalties if they’re relocated or deployed on official orders.