WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME), a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee (SVAC), is cosponsoring bipartisan legislation to provide more combat-injured veterans with their full earned benefits. The Major Richard Star Act would adjust the qualifications for full benefits to include tens of thousands of combat-injured veterans who are left out under the existing law.

Currently, only veterans with disability ratings above 50 percent, and with more than 20 years of service, are eligible to receive the full amount of their Department of Defense (DoD) retirement and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability payments — leaving behind more than 50,000 combat-injured military retirees. The Major Richard Star Act will fix this unjust policy for combat veterans by providing them with their full VA disability and DoD retirement payments.

“Our veterans put their lives on the line for our country and deserve access to their full benefits when they were injured as a result of their service; however, under current law tens of thousands of disabled veterans are unfairly left behind.” said Senator King. “The Major Richard Star Act is commonsense legislation that would provide full retirement and disability benefits to our men and women who were injured during their service and forced to medically retire. Supporting our veterans and doing right by them is not a partisan issue and this bill reaffirms our promise to take care of them in return for their courageous service.”

This bipartisan legislation is named in honor of Major Richard A. Star, a decorated war veteran who was forced to medically retire due to his combat-related injuries. Major Star sadly lost his battle with cancer on February 13, 2021. The legislation is cosponsored by a bipartisan group of 43 senators.

Representing one of the states with the highest rates of military families and veterans per capita, Senator King is a staunch advocate for America’s servicemembers and veterans. A member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee (SVAC), he works to ensure American veterans receive their earned benefits and that the VA is properly implementing various programs such as the PACT Act, the State Veterans Homes Domiciliary Care Flexibility Act, and the John Scott Hannon Act. Recently, Senator King introduced bipartisan legislation to help reduce suicides among veterans by providing free secure firearm storage to veterans. In addition, he helped pass the Veterans COLA Act, which increased benefits for 30,000 Maine veterans and their families. Senator King has also introduced bipartisan legislation to improve care coordination for veterans who rely on both VA health care and Medicare.

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