{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.gallego.senate.gov/news/press-releases/gallego-introduces-bipartisan-legislation-to-protect-veterans-disability-pay/", "Gallego Introduces Bipartisan Legislation to Protect Veterans\u2019 Disability Pay", "2026-08-06", "2026", "2026-08", "Democrat", "Senate", "AZ", "Ruben Gallego", "G000574", "www.gallego.senate.gov", "gallego", "https://www.gallego.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2014 Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) introduced the Restore Veterans\u2019 Compensation Act, legislation that protects veterans who receive disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from having their separation pay unfairly recouped.\n\n\u201cIt is ridiculous to claw back money from a veteran who has put life and limb on the line, just because later in life they qualify for disability benefits,\u201d said Senator Gallego. \u201cSeparation pay and disability compensation serve two entirely different purposes\u2014one honors time served, while the other addresses workplace injuries sustained. My bill ensures we stop unfairly penalizing our heroes and guarantees that Arizona veterans keep every dollar of the benefits they have rightfully earned.\u201d\n\nSeparation pay can be given to service members when they depart the military for several reasons. For example, when members of the Armed Forces with more than six years of service meet reenlistment requirements but are not allowed to reenlist, they are eligible for separation pay. Separation pay is also used to incentivize service members to depart the military when the Pentagon is working to downsize the force.\n\nCurrently, outdated policies prohibit veterans from receiving concurrent receipt of unrelated benefit payments. Therefore, veterans who receive separation pay who later qualify for VA disability benefits have their separation pay recouped.\n\nRead more on the issue from Military.com: Senator introduces bill to stop VA from recouping military separation pay from disabled vets. The Restore Veterans\u2019 Compensation Act would fix this unwarranted policy through several key provisions.\n\nSpecifically, the bill would:\n\nNo longer allow for the recoupment of separation pay from veterans who later become eligible for VA disability benefits because the two compensate for different things\u2014workplace injuries (disability benefits) versus time served (separation pay);\n\nEnsure veterans who later qualify for military retirement pay only have to repay the net amount of separation pay instead of the gross amount to prevent the federal government from recouping more than the veteran received; and,\n\nChange the recoupment rate for retired military veterans to 25 percent of those same veterans\u2019 paycheck instead of the current 40 percent.", 1, "2026-08-07T06:11:19Z", "2026-08-07T06:12:42Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.gallego.senate.gov/news/press-releases/gallego-introduces-bipartisan-legislation-to-protect-veterans-disability-pay/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8672419935464859, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}