Senate expected to vote to restore military pensions
The Senate is expected to pass a bill Wednesday to restore military pension increases, which would be good news for 750,000 military retirees with tens of thousands of dollars at stake.
The bill, which the House passed Tuesday, reinstates cost-of-living hikes in the pensions for all current retirees and anyone who enlisted before Jan. 1, said two congressional aides.
If passed, the bill would then go to President Obama for his signature.
In December, a deal to fund the federal government led Congress to trim a full percentage point from cost-of-living raises for military retirees starting in 2015, yielding $6.3 billion in savings.
The move sparked outrage among veterans and retiree groups, who accused Congress of "betraying" promises made to those who risked their lives in wars overseas.
The cuts would decrease the pensions of 750,000 military personnel. Over the course of their lifetime, those cuts would trim, on average, around $69,000 from enlisted members' pensions and $87,000 from officers' pensions, according to a Congressional Research Service report this month.
The bill does not extend pension increases for military personnel who enlisted after Jan. 1.
While lawmakers have generally agreed they want to help military retirees, they've stumbled on how to pay for reinstating the increases, which would cost around $6 billion.
The House bill would pay for the increases by extending for one year budget cuts from the so-called "sequester." That idea was initially rejected by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, aides say, but he changed his mind.
Several conservative Democrats facing tough re-elections in their red-leaning states pushed their party to take up the bill.
"It's true that our country faces difficult fiscal challenges, but we cannot balance the budget on the backs of the military men and women who have served us," said Sen. Kay Hagan of North Carolina.
Most military retirees are a lot younger than private sector retirees. They enlist in their 20's and retire in their 40's. Very few stay on until they reach 62 -- those who are lucky enough to escape major injuries at war, or rise to higher echelons in the military system.
Last month, lawmakers reversed course on part of the pension cuts. They said they never intended to hurt disabled veterans or surviving families, and passed a bill to restore those pensions, leaving out other retirees.
-- CNN's Ted Barrett contributed to this report.
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