Iowa veterans, lawmakers urge Congress to allow medically retired veterans to receive full benefits

DES MOINES — Veterans from across Iowa rallied at the state Capitol on Wednesday after House lawmakers approved a resolution pushing congressional lawmakers to allow medically retired veterans to receive full benefits no matter when they retired.

The Iowa House resolution urges members of Congress to support the Major Richard Star Act, which would allow medically retired veterans to draw full retirement and disability benefits. Under current federal law, veterans must complete 20 years of service to receive both full retirement and disability benefits.

Iowa state Rep. Ken Croken, a Democrat from Davenport, introduced the resolution Wednesday morning alongside House Majority Leader Bobby Kaufmann, of Wilton. The House adopted the resolution with a voice vote later Wednesday.

“The service you will have given to this country cannot be repaid with a simple thank you. We owe you, and we need as a nation to deliver on what we owe, and the Richard Star Act makes good our promise to you because you kept your promise to us,” Croken said during the rally in the Iowa Capitol rotunda Wednesday afternoon.

The resolution was sparked by Bob Stark, a U.S. Army veteran from Bettendorf who brought the issue to Croken’s attention last year.

Stark was injured while serving in Iraq in 2005 when a rocket hit just feet away from him while he was working on a Humvee, blasting his left side, riddling his back with shrapnel and causing lifelong injuries.

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Now at age 57, Stark has neuropathy, or a burning sensation in his feet, which prevents him from sleeping; has a cracked pelvis and had both hips replaced; can’t straighten his arm all the way; has ringing in his ears; and has chronic back pain from his injuries.

Since Stark medically retired before hitting the 20-year mark, he has to offset his disability benefits dollar-for-dollar from his military retirement pay.

Veterans advocates have been pushing legislation to change this federal rule since 2019.

The bill is named after Richard Star, a veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars who was diagnosed with lung cancer after exposure to burn pits and medically retired before reaching 20 years of service.

Darrin Alderson, department commander of the American Legion of Iowa, noted the legislation’s broad bipartisan support in Congress.

The legislation has over 300 cosponsors in the U.S. House and 77 in the U.S. Senate.

He said the bill will restore up to $1,200 per month in retirement pay for medically retired veterans.

“For many families, that's a difference between stability and struggle. That's a mortgage payment, that's groceries and that's dignity,” Alderson said.

Iowa’s four U.S. House members — Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Ashley Hinson, Zach Nunn and Randy Feenstra — are all co-sponsors on the legislation.

Some congressional lawmakers have expressed hesitancy about passing the legislation, citing the cost.

A 2023 Congressional Budget Office memo estimated that enacting the bill would increase direct spending for compensation to military retirees by $9.75 billion over the 2024-2033 period.

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Veterans of Foreign Wars National Commander-in-Chief Carol Whitmore, the first woman and Iowan to serve in the position, criticized Congress’ delay in advancing the legislation, arguing that medically retired veterans deserve both forms of benefits.

She said roughly 460 Iowa veterans would be affected by the bill.

“Washington has a name for this. They call it concurrent receipt. They call the offset preventing double-dipping. Veterans call it what it is: injustice,” Whitmore said. “There is nothing double about earning retirement through years of service and earning disability compensation because your body was broken in uniform. One does not cancel out the other.”

Sarah Watson of the Quad-City Times contributed to this report.