PA SR116

Pennsylvania Senate Resolution 116 urges Congress to pass the Major Richard Star Act (H.R. 2102), which would allow medically retired service members to receive both full retirement pay and VA disability benefits simultaneously

Under current rules, veterans with less than 20 years of service and disability ratings below 50% lose one dollar of retirement pay for every dollar of disability pay received

Approximately 50,000 retired service members are currently ineligible for concurrent benefits, with the average offset costing affected veterans about $1,900 per month as of 2022

The act is named for Major Richard Star, an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran who developed lung cancer from burn pit exposure and was forced to retire before completing 20 years of service; he died in 2021

The resolution directs that copies be transmitted to each member of Congress from Pennsylvania