The American Legion Department of Texas has broken with the organization’s national leadership over the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act (TCAVA), urging national headquarters to reverse its support for the sweeping veterans’ benefits package.
The disagreement became public shortly after the Texas department held its 107th annual convention in Austin from July 7 through July 12. A widely shared post by veteran advocate Elizabeth Hartman said Texas had “split” from national headquarters and was demanding opposition to TCAVA.
Commenters praised Texas for challenging national leadership, although others asked whether the action represented formal separation or simply an official statement of opposition. Online scuttlebutt described the disagreement as an unprecedented “split” between the Texas department and The American Legion National Headquarters.
National headquarters has continued campaigning for the bill. National Commander Dan K. Wiley called TCAVA a “$58 billion proposition” and argued that Congress must approve it before projected savings from proposed Department of Veterans Affairs disability rating changes return to the Treasury rather than fund veterans programs.
Other Veterans Service Organizations, like Mission Roll Call, have called on Congress to move swiftly and enact the 60-plus bill package that is widely supported, if it not were for major criticisms regarding disability benefits for tinnitus and sleep apnea.
Section 108 Drives the Revolt
The TCAVA combines more than 60 proposals involving disability compensation, health care, education, caregivers, survivors and military-to-civilian transition programs.
It includes the Major Richard Star Act, which would expand concurrent retirement and disability payments for certain combat-injured veterans who retired before completing 20 years of service.
The central dispute involves Section 108, which would enact changes to future VA disability ratings for tinnitus and sleep apnea. The changes would not reduce compensation already awarded, but opponents said they would lower or eliminate benefits that current service members and future veterans could otherwise receive.
A coalition of 15 veterans and military organizations estimates that the provision could shift approximately $57 billion in costs onto as many as 1.5 million future claimants. The organizations that support many of TCAVA’s other provisions argue that Congress should not finance them by reducing disability compensation for younger veterans, reservists and current service members.
The House Rules Committee provided additional fuel for the opposition by establishing a closed rule for the bill. Democratic amendments that would have removed Section 108 or replaced its savings with other funding offsets were submitted but were not permitted to receive floor votes.
National Leaders Defend the Tradeoff
Wiley has acknowledged that the American Legion would prefer that future veterans not finance other veterans programs.
He argued, however, that repeated attempts to pass the Major Richard Star Act and other priorities without an offset had failed and that TCAVA represented the most realistic path through Congress.
National leaders also contend that the Department of Veterans Affairs could impose similar tinnitus and sleep apnea rating changes through its regulatory process without Congress directing the resulting savings toward veterans.
Wiley said the bill would instead use the money for suicide prevention, traumatic brain injury care, caregiver assistance and other veterans programs.
The Texas department’s opposition does not automatically change the national organization’s position. National headquarters remains publicly committed to passing TCAVA.
However, the split exposes a significant internal divide over whether advancing dozens of popular veterans proposals justifies accepting future disability rating reductions as their price.
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