Res 0600-2026

Res. No. 600 Resolution calling on the U.S. Congress to pass and the President to sign H.R.2102/S.1032, the Major Richard Star Act By Council Members Morano, Schulman, Wong, Aldebol, Hankerson, Ariola, Vernikov and Paladino Whereas, Today approximately 54,000 United States (U.S.) combatinjured Veterans are being denied their full concurrent military retirement pay and VA disability compensation due to outdated federal policies that penalize wounded Veterans retired under Chapter 61 of Title 10 of the U.S. Code; and Whereas, Chapter 61 of Title 10 of the U.S. Code, governs military medical retirement for service members found unfit for duty due to illness or injury prior to completing 20 years of service; and Whereas, Under Chapter 61, a service member may be medically retired if their condition is rated at 30 percent or higher by the Department of Defense (DoD), including when the injury or illness occurred in the line of duty; and Whereas, Unlike service members who complete 20 or more years of service, Chapter 61 retirees are often involuntarily separated through no fault of their own because their injuries prevent continued service; and Whereas, Despite the involuntary and often combatrelated nature of their retirement, Chapter 61 retirees are treated differently under the concurrent receipt rules set forth in Sections 5304 and 5305 of Title 38 of the U.S. Code; and Whereas, 38 U.S.C. §§ 5304 and 5305 prohibit Veterans from receiving more than one federal benefit for the same period of military service unless Congress creates a specific exception, such as for Veterans who complete 20 or more years of service; and Whereas, As a result of these statutes, Chapter 61 retirees must forfeit a portion, and in some cases all their DoD retirement pay if they receive VA disability compensation due to a dollarfordollar offset—a practice that is often referred as the “wounded Veteran tax”; and Whereas, DoD retirement pay represents earned compensation for years of honorable service, while VA disability compensation exists to address the lifelong physical and health impacts of serviceconnected injuries, yet the current policy treats these two distinct entitlements as mutually exclusive; and Whereas, This treatment creates a financial penalty that disproportionately affects combatinjured Veterans whose military careers were prematurely ended due to serviceconnected injuries or illness; and Whereas, For many Veterans this results in reduced income, diminished financial stability, and added strain during their transition to civilian life, a period during which many are left without adequate support and face heightened mortality risks; and Whereas, Experiences of Major Richard Star, a Chapter 61 retiree who served as a combat engineer in both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, underscore the impact of this inequity; and Whereas, After years of demanding deployments and exposure to hazardous environments, Major Star developed an aggressive serviceconnected cancer that forced his medical retirement just short of the 20year threshold; and Whereas, Despite the combatrelated nature of his illness, Chapter 61 rules prevented Major Star from receiving full concurrent retirement and disability benefits, as his earned DoD retirement pay was offset by VA disability compensation, leaving him and his wife without sufficient financial support during his cancer treatment; and Whereas, Rather than accepting this outcome Major Star became a dedicated advocate for reform and worked with lawmakers and Veterans’ organizations to highlight how existing law penalizes those injured in service, even as he underwent chemotherapy and fought stagefour cancer; and Whereas, Although Major Star passed away in February 2021 following his battle with lung cancer, his advocacy and tireless work resulted in the introduction of H.R. 2102/S. 1032, known as the Major Richard Star Act, bipartisan legislation sponsored by Representative Gus Bilirakis and Senator Richard Blumenthal, intended to remedy the wounded Veteran tax; and Whereas, The Major Richard Star Act would allow Chapter 61 combatinjured medical retirees to receive both full military retirement pay and VA disability compensation without offset, and preserves flexibility by allowing Veterans to choose between CombatRelated Special Compensation (CRSC) and full concurrent receipt, recognizing that individual financial circumstances for each Veteran vary based on their rank, time served, and nature of disability; and Whereas, Although CRSC currently provides taxfree payments for certain combatrelated disabilities, it only partially offsets, rather than fully restores the retirement pay earned by Chapter 61 retirees, and this legislation would address the financial strain, instability, and stress that frequently follow involuntary medical retirement by restoring choice and ending the wounded Veteran tax; and Whereas, Passage of the Major Richard Star Act would honor Major Star’s legacy, restore fairness for Chapter 61 retirees, and reaffirm the nation’s commitment to combatwounded Veterans whose careers and health were sacrificed in service to the United States; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls on the U.S. Congress to pass and the President to sign H.R.2102/S.1032, the Major Richard Star Act. LS #22376 7/13/2026 2:40 PM M.B.