Next month, Texas residents will be voting on two propositions that might greatly affect veterans benefits.
Proposition 1 will grant 100 percent housing tax breaks to the spouses and families of fallen servicemembers, while Proposition 4 will offer disabled veterans full relief on their property taxes, states the VoteSmart website. Both measures are state constitutional amendments.
According to local news source YNN, some disabled veterans are already exempt from paying property taxes because they are fully covered by the VA. Yet many disabled veterans don't qualify for 100 percent VA coverage and are constantly struggling to pay off their increasing medical and tax bills, which is why veterans are now speaking publicly to gain voter support of Proposition 4.
"They've given that sacrifice and they face tough financial times so it's a way to say thank you in a very tangible way," state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, a supporter of the measure, told the news outlet.
Meanwhile, servicemembers and military families gathered in San Antonio this week to raise awareness of Proposition 1. According to MySanAntonio.com, the tax exemption for surviving military spouses will only be available to those who remain unmarried and will be applied to the value of the house they owned when their military spouse was killed in action.
Following a bipartisan compromise in the Senate, President Obama signed legislation Oct. 16 officially ending the federal shutdown. According to a statement released by the Pentagon, that means about 4,000 civilian Defense Department employees who remained on furlough can return to work this week.
The Pentagon also stated that the legislation requires that all furloughed employees receive the payments they missed during the shutdown.
While half of the Department of Defense's civilian employees – about 400,000 total – were initially furloughed Oct. 1, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel recalled most of the workers the following week after Congress passed legislation that appropriated funds for active-duty military personnel. Hagel took a liberal interpretation of the law, expanding it to include a majority of civilian defense employees, The Associated Press reported at the time. However, there was some confusion about the law among Defense Department civilians.
"I saw it on the news, that our boss Chuck Hagel had called us back, so I assumed he was talking about me," Mike Ferrigno, a facilities management specialist working in public works for the Navy, told CNN. "I was one of the only ones in the office that first day."
According to the Pentagon, the newly passed legislation will keep the federal government open through Jan. 15, while the debt limit is raised through Feb. 7.
In the midst of the ongoing government shutdown, a coalition of 33 military and veterans organizations is staging a rally at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. to highlight the effects the federal closure has had on the military community, the Army Times reported.
The Military Coalition will hold the rally and news conference Oct. 15 to discuss the various veterans and military programs that ceased due to the shutdown, such as survivor payments, G.I. Bill benefits and disability checks, according to the news source.
Another major point of interest for the coalition is the Department of Veterans Affairs disability claims and appeals backlog, which is expected to increase because of the cancelation of the agency's overtime processing, The Wall Street Journal reported.
"The shutdown has been devastating for the nation's military readiness and for the veterans, service members, families and survivors in the uniformed services community," the coalition said in an announcement.
Representatives of the American Legion, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and the National Military Family Association are slated to speak at the event, among others.
The Military Coalition represents about 5.5 million servicemembers, veterans and their families, and frequently testifies on Capitol Hill on the behalf of its members, according to the organization's website.
In the midst of the current shutdown struggle, the Department of Defense announced new changes to its administration and the military community at large. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel revealed in a statement that Ash Carter is resigning from his post as Deputy Secretary of Defense, effective Dec. 4.
According to the Pentagon, Hagel met with Carter the morning of Oct. 10 to approve his resignation. The defense secretary thanked Carter for his service, which began at the start of the Obama administration as the undersecretary of defense for acquisition technology and logistics, increasing the agency's buying power and fortifying its protection on growing security issues, such as cyber attacks.
"His compassion, love, and determination to overcome any and all bureaucratic obstacles earned him abiding respect and appreciation," Hagel said in his statement. "I am confident that the Department, and the country, will continue to benefit from Ash Carter's service in the months and years ahead."
As deputy secretary of defense, Carter most recently led the investigation of the Washington Naval Yard shooting in September. Before joining the Defense Department, he worked in academia, overseeing the International and Global Affairs faculty at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
After news broke that the federal shutdown halted the issuance of military death benefits to the families of fallen soldiers, outrage spread throughout the nation and all the way to the U.S. House of Representatives.
According to USA Today, the House drafted a bill earlier this week to restore the death benefits despite the ongoing shutdown. The measure passed unanimously Oct. 9 and is currently awaiting a vote in the Senate. However, the future of the death benefits still remains in the balance.
At Dover Air Force Base Tuesday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel delivered a speech that expressed his disappointment in the federal government, the news source reported.
"I am offended, outraged and embarrassed that the government shutdown had prevented the Department of Defense from fulfilling this sacred responsibility in a timely manner," Hagel told the gathered crowd.
The Pentagon announced in a release last week that the death benefits, along with numerous other military programs and benefits, would be frozen until the government shutdown is resolved. Although the death benefits have yet to be restored, military families might be able to receive the $100,000 payments thanks to the nonprofit Fisher House Foundation, which donated funds to help cover the remittance, according to the news outlet.
Military towns around the nation have been bracing for the worst since the federal government shutdown left commissaries at all U.S. military installations closed and thousands of active-duty servicemembers, veterans and civilian defense department workers unsure about their military benefits.
Many of these towns depend on the military bases they house. For instance, Fayetteville, N.C., is home to Fort Bragg, and with 57,000 servicemembers, thousands of veterans and more than 200 defense contractors, it's one of the most populated military installations in the nation. More than 7,000 civilian workers were furloughed at the large southern base Oct. 1, and the shutdown combined with the earlier sequester and other defense reductions have left the town faltering financially, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The news source reported that Fort Bragg funnels $25 million into the town's economy each year, while the greater Fayetteville area relies on the base for 38 percent of its gross domestic product. Street sweeping, maintenance repairs and other functions have also ceased at the base, according to the news source.
Although the town has been protected from the recession, many business owners told the news outlet that they were finally feeling the effects of an economic downturn.
"It'll definitely hurt us," local business owner Jose Valentin told the news outlet. "And the longer it goes on, the worse it's going to get."
Most of the 400,000 furloughed civilian employees of the Department of Defense were summoned back to work this week by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, according to a written announcement released by the DOD.
Half of the Pentagon's civilian workforce was suspended Oct. 1 despite a last-minute measure drafted by Congress that allowed both civilians and active-duty servicemembers to receive their paychecks on time during the government shutdown, the Associated Press reported.
According to the news source, Hagel, along with Defense Department lawyers, took a liberal interpretation of the newly passed military pay law – an action he promised he would take just days after the shutdown began.
The Defense Department also consulted the Department of Justice about the law, Hagel said in the DOD statement. While the DOJ legal counsel decided that the law does not allow a "blanket recall" of all the Pentagon's civilian employees, there was still good news to be had for suspended defense department workers.
"Attorneys concluded that the law does allow the Department of Defense to eliminate furloughs for employees whose responsibilities contribute to the morale, well-being, capabilities and readiness of service members," Hagel said.
Under Secretary of Defense Robert F. Hale told CNN that about 90 percent of the Pentagon's furloughed civilian staff will be returning to work. Overall, 800,000 federal workers were furloughed last Tuesday, the news outlet reported.
Although Congress passed a last-minute measure Sept. 30 to fund servicemembers and civilian Department of Defense employees working during the government shutdown, the Pentagon has yet to tell which employees will receive their military paychecks, according to Stars and Stripes.
Signed by President Obama just hours before the shutdown began, the Military Pay Law ensures that active-duty troops would receive their paychecks during the shutdown instead of having them suspended due to the lack of government funding. The law also applies to the nearly 400,000 defense department civilians that were not furloughed.
In a statement released by the DoD earlier in the week, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel claimed that supervisors would provide their employees with the proper information. However, defense officials were still finalizing guidelines on how to implement the law, leaving many workers unsure about their financial situations, the news source reported.
Employees of the Defense Department of Defense Education Activity told the news outlet via email that they were still unsure if they would receive their paychecks.
"[We were told] that our pay will be delayed. We have been given no further information," one employee wrote. "I think it is important that our community understands that currently, teachers are still teaching their children with no idea when a paycheck will come."
Officials from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service also told the news source that the agency was waiting for a final word from the defense department before processing paychecks.
Wholesale retailer Sam's Club announced this week that it will waive membership requirements for servicemembers, veterans and their families during the government shutdown, according to Military Times. A Sam's Club spokesperson told the news source that it will allow them to shop at the large retailer as if they were members and receive discounts on their purchases.
To obtain the military benefits, servicemembers must present proof of present or past military service at a Sam's Club member desk or checkout counter.
The announcement came after dozens of commissaries at U.S. military installations were forced to close Oct. 2, leaving military families already living on tight budgets with less affordable shopping options. Military families save about 30 percent on groceries and other household goods at commissaries, and the products are tax-free, according to the Defense Commissary Agency. The Associated Press reported that nearly 12 million military personnel, veterans and their family members are eligible to shop at commissaries worldwide.
"Military personnel, retirees and their families heavily depend on commissaries for low-cost groceries and everyday needs," the retailer said in a statement.
The new directive applies to every Sam's Club in the U.S. and will last until the shutdown is resolved, the news source reported.
Despite the recent change in the Department of Defense's policy, many same-sex military couples are facing obstacles when trying to obtain the full military benefits they were promised.
Following the landmark Supreme Court ruling of the Defense of Marriage Act, the Pentagon announced in mid-August that servicemembers involved in same-sex relationships will be eligible for a range of benefits, including low-cost health care and military identification cards, that were previously exclusive to heterosexual couples. For couples who do not reside in a state where same-sex marriage is legal, the DoD is granting them up to seven days of leave to travel to state where a marriage license can be obtained.
However, the policy has caused widespread confusion among servicemembers, according to the Los Angeles Times. Only the Marine Corps has issued official guidelines explaining the leave application requirements, the news source reported. The Air Force has yet to issue any directions to its same-sex servicemembers.
After interviewing more than half a dozen servicemembers and their same-sex partners, the news source found that same-sex service members are repeatedly having their requests for leave denied by their superiors without an explicit reason.
"[My commander] said if leave is granted for me to be married then it's not fair to heterosexuals," Ohio National Guard Spc. Jodie Harper told the news source.
Some branches of the military, including the Army, plan to remedy the leave process soon.
"[The Army] will issue additional guidance clarifying the policy in the coming weeks," Army spokesman Lt. Col Justin Platt told the news outlet.