LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS NETWORK UPDATE

                                                   2023 NDAA 

        Wins:

• Stops medical billet cuts for three years
• A 2.7% military pay raise
• Provisions from the Military Hunger Prevention Act
• Guard and Reserve Pay Parity

        Losses:

• Concurrent Receipt for Chapter 61 retrees

                                                     SC State

                  2021 & 2022 Legislative session report.

            (Supported & identified 6 pieces of legislation.)

Wins:

• Military retirement pay exemption from state income tax – passed
• VSO stipend for Burial Honor Guard support – passed
• Occupational Therapist licensing compact – passed
• Audiology and Speech Therapist licensing compact – passed
• Psychology Interjurisdiction Compact – passed

         Losses:

• Advanced School Enrollment – failed, although significant progress made
• The South Carolina Council of MOAA Chapters was the leader in forming The South Carolina Veterans Coalition.

South Carolina Veterans Coalition (SCVC):

The South Carolina Veterans Coalition (SCVC) is a grassroots consortium of veteran service organizations (VSOs) within SOUTH CAROLINA representing over 56,000 members. It was formed in early 2021 to help advance legislative proposals and policies before the South Carolina Legislature and the Office of the Governor. The SCVC is a non-profit, non-partisan advocacy organization comprised of prominent South Carolina veteran and military groups, whose overall goal is to protect and enhance the well-being of our uniformed services community: those currently serving, veterans, retirees, their families, and survivors.

Current member organizations include American Veterans (AMVETS), Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Palmetto and Coastal Chapters, Disabled American Veterans (DAV), Marine Corps League (MCL), Military Officers Association of America (MOAA), Navy League of the United States, Reserve Officer Association (ROA), and the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). Several other VSOs are in the process of joining this coalition.

The SCVC was the key power behind the passage of South Carolina's new Military Acts.

Note: The South Carolina Department of Veteran Affairs recently formed an organization with an out-of-state group and named it the South Carolina Veteran Coalition. There is only one letter difference, "s", in the name of this organization and the South Carolina grass roots organization SCVC. SCMOAA is not a member of this group.

We encourage every member to get involved and help make a positive difference by contacting your Federal elected officals by using the following link:

"http:/takeaction.moaa.org"

Attention: MOAA National and SC Council of Chapters are

                       non-partisan organizations.