S. 1032, the bipartisan Major Richard Star Act, has the full support of BVA and approximately 50 of its sister organizations as Senate Veterans Affairs’ Committee Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Rick Scott (R-FL) team up to introduce the bill in the U.S. Senate.

As proposed legislation affecting a number of blind and low vision veterans, S. 1032 already has 43 Senate co-sponsors. A House of Representatives companion version has also been introduced by Representatives Gus Bilirakis (R-FL-12) and Raul Ruiz (D-CA-25) with 185 co-sponsors from both the Republican and Democratic sides of the proverbial political aisle.

The bill has been named in honor of Major Richard A. Star, a decorated Operation Desert Shield Desert Storm veteran who was forced to medically retire due to his combat-related injuries. Major Star sadly lost his battle with cancer in early 2021.

Currently, more than 50,000 combat-injured retirees cannot collect both disability and retirement benefits they have earned, even if combat injuries force them to retire before they serve for 20 years or more. Only veterans with disability ratings above 50 percent and more than 20 years of service are now eligible to receive the full amount of their Department of Defense (DOD) retirement and VA disability payments. Passage of the bill will correct that injustice, Senate co-sponsors asserted in a press advisory released earlier this week by Senator Blumenthal.