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NVLSP News Articles
U.S. Senators John Boozman (R-AR) and Mark Warner (D-VA) today introduced bipartisan legislation to ensure that veterans who suffer service-ending combat-related injuries are not taxed on the severance payment they receive from the Department of Defense (DOD). Under federal law, veterans who suffer combat-related injuries and who are separated from the military are not supposed to be taxed on the one-time lump sum disability severance payment they receive from DOD. [more]
Released 3/17/16 | Tags: Congressional Legislation
Lawmakers on Thursday filed legislation intended to prevent states from taxing severance pay of combat-injured veterans, which one senator claims has resulted in some $78 million improperly taken from veterans. The money being taxed is the one-time lump sum disability severance pay veterans receive from the Defense Department, a payment that is not supposed to be taxed and would not be but for a glitch with the DoD's automated payment system, according to lawmakers. "Most troubling is that we learned the government had known about this problem for decades yet continued to take this money from thousands of disabled veterans," said Tom Moore, an attorney and manager of the Lawyers Serving Warriors Project at National Veterans Legal Services Program. "The sad truth is that the government essentially stole $78 million from disabled combat veterans because of an accounting problem it's known about for years." [more]
Released 3/17/16 | Tags: Congressional Legislation
U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner (D-VA)and John Boozman(R-AR) introduced a bipartisan legislation to ensure veterans who suffer from injuries caused by combat are not improperly taxed on the payment they receive from the department of Defense (DoD) after being discharged. [more]
Released 3/17/16 | Tags: Congressional Legislation
The Pentagon has been deducting money erroneously from combat-wounded veterans’ severance pay for 25 years, an error officials knew about for years and that might have affected upwards of 13,000 troops, according to lawmakers and a veterans advocacy group. Now lawmakers are trying to return the money — estimated to be $78 million — through a bi-partisan bill introduced Thursday. [more]
Released 3/17/16 | Tags: Congressional Legislation
Richard Spataro, Director of Training and Publications at NVLSP, is quoted in this Military Times article which highlights the declining VA approval rates of disability claims for Persian Gulf War-related illnesses.
VA gets 'F' for Persian Gulf War claims approvals [more]
Released 3/16/16 | Tags:
Bill Minnix got some good news on March 1. He was told that a Department of Veterans Affairs hearing in Portland recently had decided his service from February to July in 1973 in the U.S. Air Force is considered honorable for VA purposes. The hearing was focused on the character of Minnix’ discharge from the military in 1973, when he was given a less than honorable discharge. [more]
Released 3/8/16 | Tags:
In early 2014, as his Oklahoma Air National Guard unit ramped up for a Middle East deployment, Senior Airman Jesse Daniels noticed he wasn't feeling well. He got tired after just a few minutes on his feet. He couldn't walk more than 20 feet without getting winded and feeling his heart racing. He never made it to the Middle East. But Daniels still found himself in a fight for his life. Eventually Daniels, now 27, would be diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer. [more]
Released 3/7/16 | Tags:
A Connecticut veteran who has spent years trying to gain Agent Orange benefits for veterans who served in Korea in 1967 has persuaded the Veterans of Foreign Wars and two other veterans’ organizations to take his case before Congress. [more]
Released 3/5/16 | Tags:
Four U.S. senators are calling on the Army to stop kicking out soldiers who served in Iraq or Afghanistan and have been diagnosed with mental health problems or traumatic brain injuries — effective immediately. [more]
Released 2/1/16 | Tags: Veteran's Benefits
NVLSP, The American Legion, law professors and former VA attorneys filed briefs urging the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims to allow class action lawsuits to be filed at the court. Read the full article at The Wall Street Journal. [more]
Released 12/30/15 | Tags: