{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://yarmuth.house.gov/press/rep-yarmuth-leads-bipartisan-group-of-177-members-supporting-repeal-of-socalled-widows-tax/", "Rep. Yarmuth Leads Bipartisan Group of 177 Members Supporting Repeal of So-Called \"Widow's Tax\"", "2019-09-17", "2019", "2019-09", "Democrat", "House", "KY", "John Yarmuth", "Y000062", "yarmuth.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON Today, Congressman John Yarmuth (KY-3), Chairman of the House Budget Committee, led a bipartisan letter signed by 177 members of the House of Representatives calling for an end the so-called Widow's Tax on surviving military spouse benefits.\r\n\r\n\tThe signers urge the respective Chairmen and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees to include the House-passed Yarmuth Amendment permanently repealing the offset as they begin their upcoming Conference on the National Defense Authorization Act. Yarmuth's amendment corrected a provision in current law that unfairly requires surviving spouses of deceased military members to forfeit part or all of their Department of Defense Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuity when they receive Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) from the Department of Veterans Affairs. There are an estimated 60,000 surviving families negatively impacted by the SBP-DIC offset, which reduces surviving spouses' benefits by an average of $1,000 per month, or $11,000 annually.\r\n\r\n\tA copy of the letter can be found here, and text can be found below:\r\n\r\n\tSeptember 17, 2019\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\tThe Honorable Adam Smith  The Honorable Mac Thornberry\r\n\r\n\tChairman  Ranking Member\r\n\r\n\tCommittee on Armed Services  Committee on Armed Services\r\n\r\n\t2216 Rayburn House Office Building  2216 Rayburn House Office Building\r\n\r\n\tWashington, DC 20515  Washington, DC 20515\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\tThe Honorable James Inhofe  The Honorable Jack Reed\r\n\r\n\tChairman  Ranking Member\r\n\r\n\tCommittee on Armed Services  Committee on Armed Services\r\n\r\n\t228 Russell Senate Office Building  228 Russell Senate Office Building\r\n\r\n\tWashington, DC 20515  Washington, DC 20515\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\tDear Chairman Smith, Chairman Inhofe, Ranking Member Thornberry, and Ranking Member Reed,\r\n\r\n\tAs you begin deliberations for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 conference, we respectfully request you keep the House-passed repeal of the Survivor Benefit Plan/Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (SBP/DIC) offset, also known as the widow's tax, in the final agreement. Surviving families of the men and women of our military have been waiting for a fix to this unfair offset for 40 years.\r\n\r\n\tCurrent law unfairly requires surviving spouses of deceased military members to forfeit part or all of their Department of Defense Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuity when they receive Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) from the Department of Veterans Affairs. More than 60,000 surviving families are negatively impacted by the SBP-DIC offset, which reduces surviving spouses' benefits by an average of $924per month, or $11,000 annually. The House-passed NDAA eliminated this unfair offset.\r\n\r\n\tIt is clear that Congress understands the importance of this issue and the need to finally end the widow's tax. The two pieces of legislation repealing this offset have a record number of bipartisan cosponsors. H.R. 553, The Military Surviving Spouses Equity Act currently has 372 cosponsors, and the companion legislation S. 622 has 75 cosponsors.\r\n\r\n\tOur nation made promises to the surviving spouses of fallen service members, and it is among our highest moral responsibilities to see those promises honored. For far too long, Congress has failed to do what's right and keep our word to our heroes and their families. Now is the time to repeal this offset once and for all, and send a clear message to those families that we value their sacrifice and we value the heroism of their loved ones.\r\n\r\n\tThank you for your consideration of this request. We hope we can count on your support.\r\n\r\n\tSincerely,\r\n\r\n\t John Yarmuth\r\n\r\n\t Lori Trahan  C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger\r\n\r\n\t Donald S. Beyer, Jr. Val Demings\r\n\r\n\t Chris Pappas  Gilbert R. Cisneros, Jr.\r\n\r\n\t Debbie Dingell   TJ Cox\r\n\r\n\t Harley Rouda Eleanor Holmes Norton\r\n\r\n\t Ed Perlmutter Brian Higgins\r\n\r\n\t Steve Cohen Mike Thompson (CA)\r\n\r\n\t Gerald E. Connolly Jason Crow\r\n\r\n\t Mike Doyle Ruben Gallego\r\n\r\n\t Peter Welch Ann Kirkpatrick\r\n\r\n\t Terri A. Sewell   Andy Kim\r\n\r\n\t Bobby L. Rush  Anthony G. Brown\r\n\r\n\t Cynthia Axne Scott Peters\r\n\r\n\t Juan Vargas Scott DesJarlais, M.D.\r\n\r\n\t James P. McGovern Vicente Gonzalez\r\n\r\n\t Veronica Escobar Brian Fitzpatrick\r\n\r\n\t John Curtis Greg Stanton\r\n\r\n\t Deb Haaland Alan Lowenthal\r\n\r\n\t Jim Costa Peter A. DeFazio\r\n\r\n\t Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. Elaine G. Luria\r\n\r\n\t Kurt Schrader Roger Williams\r\n\r\n\t Tulsi Gabbard Mike Kelly\r\n\r\n\t Linda T. Snchez Lisa Blunt Rochester\r\n\r\n\t Debbie Mucarsel-Powell G. K. Butterfield\r\n\r\n\t Ben Ray Lujn  Lucille Roybal-Allard\r\n\r\n\t Sean Patrick Maloney Alcee L. Hastings\r\n\r\n\t Jerrold Nadler Mark Takano\r\n\r\n\t Jerry McNerney  Randy K. Weber\r\n\r\n\t Josh Harder Derek Kilmer\r\n\r\n\t Bonnie Watson Coleman David Trone\r\n\r\n\t Pete Olson Al Lawson\r\n\r\n\t Katie Hill Xochitl Torres Small\r\n\r\n\t  Daniel W. Lipinski Haley M. Stevens\r\n\r\n\t Julia Brownley  Jennifer Wexton\r\n\r\n\t Jeff Van Drew Raja Krishnamoorthi\r\n\r\n\t Bill Foster Diana DeGette\r\n\r\n\t Chellie Pingree  Albio Sires\r\n\r\n\t Louie Gohmert  Ted Budd\r\n\r\n\t Susan Wild Max Rose\r\n\r\n\t Cedric L. Richmond Sylvia R. Garcia\r\n\r\n\t Tom R. Suozzi  Eddie Bernice Johnson\r\n\r\n\t Ral M. Grijalva Jared Golden\r\n\r\n\t Steve Watkins Kelly Armstrong\r\n\r\n\t Dina Titus Ross Spano\r\n\r\n\t Rodney Davis Betty McCollum\r\n\r\n\t Buddy Carter Conor Lamb\r\n\r\n\t Joe Neguse Ron Wright\r\n\r\n\t Sharice L. Davids Dean Phillips\r\n\r\n\t Peter King Bill Pascrell, Jr.\r\n\r\n\t Colin Allred Joseph P. Kennedy, III\r\n\r\n\t Don Bacon Al Green\r\n\r\n\t Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. Bill Johnson\r\n\r\n\t Michael Cloud Henry C. Hank Johnson, Jr.\r\n\r\n\t Tom McClintock Gus Bilirakis\r\n\r\n\t Stephen F. Lynch Lee Zeldin\r\n\r\n\t Mark Green Doris O. Matsui\r\n\r\n\t Mike Levin Dan Crenshaw\r\n\r\n\t Salud Carbajal Lucy McBath\r\n\r\n\t Don Young Ted S. Yoho, DVM\r\n\r\n\t Emanuel Cleaver, II Danny K. Davis\r\n\r\n\t David N. Cicilline Jan Schakowsky\r\n\r\n\t Darren Soto Sean Casten\r\n\r\n\t Tom O'Halleran  Greg Gianforte\r\n\r\n\t Suzan K. DelBene Ben McAdams\r\n\r\n\t Stephanie Murphy Kathy Castor\r\n\r\n\t Robert C. Bobby Scott Ro Khanna\r\n\r\n\t French Hill Angie Craig\r\n\r\n\t Jahana Hayes Dwight Evans\r\n\r\n\t Antonio Delgado Scott R. Tipton\r\n\r\n\t Henry Cuellar Rick Crawford\r\n\r\n\t Gregory W. Meeks Grace Meng\r\n\r\n\t Rashida Tlaib Mark Meadows\r\n\r\n\t Ralph Norman David B. McKinley, P.E.\r\n\r\n\t Alex X. Mooney Barry Loudermilk\r\n\r\n\t Steve King Andr Carson\r\n\r\n\t Joaquin Castro Mario Diaz-Balart\r\n\r\n\t Denver L. Riggleman, III Anna G. Eshoo\r\n\r\n\t A. Donald McEachin Mary Gay Scanlon\r\n\r\n\t Cheri Bustos Donna E. Shalala\r\n\r\n\t Dave Loebsack  Jack Bergman\r\n\r\n\t Doug Lamborn  Bill Flores\r\n\r\n\t Denny Heck Lloyd Doggett\r\n\r\n\t Jess G. Chuy Garca  Ann McLane Kuster\r\n\r\n\t Norma J. Torres  Abigail D. Spanberger\r\n\r\n\t Pramila Jayapal  Charlie Crist\r\n\r\n\t Brendan F. Boyle Brad Sherman\r\n\r\n\t Katie Porter Abby Finkenauer\r\n\r\n\t Elissa Slotkin Susie Lee\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\t###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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://yarmuth.house.gov/press/rep-yarmuth-leads-bipartisan-group-of-177-members-supporting-repeal-of-socalled-widows-tax/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9590401314198971, "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"}