Res 0632-2026

Res. No. 632 Resolution calling on the U.S. Congress to pass, and the President to sign, H.R.1004, also known as the Love Lives On Act, in relation to barring the Department of Defense from terminating the payment of an annuity for a surviving spouse under the Survivor Benefit Plan solely because the surviving spouse remarries By Council Member Morano Whereas, The United States Department of Defense (DoD) Survivor Benefit Program (SBP), enacted in 1972, provides cash benefits up to fifty-five percent of a service member's retired pay to an eligible beneficiary, usually the spouse or unmarried legal children under the age of eighteen, upon the service member's death; and Whereas, The original intent of the program was to "ensure that the surviving dependents of military personnel who die in retirement or after becoming eligible for retirement will continue to have a reasonable level of income,” and since its inception the program has been expanded to include the surviving dependents of those who died while on active service; and Whereas, SBP is available to surviving and former military spouses until death as long as they do not remarry before the age of fifty-five; and Whereas, Surviving spouses who do remarry have their annuity paused for as long as they remain remarried, and can have the annuity reactivated if their remarriage ends; and Whereas, According to testimony from New York City (“NYC” or “City”) Department of Veterans Services (DVS) Commissioner Yesenia Mata during the City Council’s 2026 preliminary budget hearings, there are an estimated one hundred and thirty-one thousand veterans in NYC, and DVS estimates approximately thirty percent are younger than fifty-five; and Whereas, According to the 2021 NYC Veteran and Military Community Survey, about one-third of surviving spouses, veteran family members, or veteran caregivers reported that they feel lonely three or more days in a typical week; and Whereas, Further, around thirty-seven percent of family members or caregivers had an annual household income of under forty thousand dollars and about a quarter said they were in need of current assistance or services including access to healthcare, housing, or financial assistance to address immediate needs such as utility bills; and Whereas, Despite the financial and emotional needs faced by surviving family members and spouses, according to the advocacy group TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Programs for Survivors), ninety-five percent of surviving spouses under the age of fifty-five choose not to legally remarry in order to retain their existing SBP; and Whereas, A 2018 Assessment of the SBP by RAND found that SBP is a key contributor to financial status and for younger surviving spouses who do not yet receive Social Security, SBP contributes about half of their total income; and Whereas, H.R.1004, also known as the Love Lives On Act, sponsored by Representative Richard Hudson, would bar the Department of Defense from terminating the payment of an annuity for a surviving spouse under the Survivor Benefit Plan solely because the surviving spouse remarries; and Whereas, H.R. 1004 would prevent surviving spouses from having to choose between the financial security that their family earned through service and sacrifice, and seeking companionship and the legal protections of marriage; 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. 1004, also known as the Love Lives On Act, in relation to barring the Department of Defense from terminating the payment of an annuity for a surviving spouse under the Survivor Benefit Plan solely because the surviving spouse remarries. PR LS# 24299 8/13/26