Press Releases

The U.S. House of Representatives approved Congressman Earl L. "Buddy" Carter's (R-Ga.) legislation today that works to protect American veterans from military service deposit errors made by federal agencies. The Correcting Miscalculations in Veterans' Pensions Act authorizes federal agencies that make a mistake in calculating military service deposits and pensions to pay the incorrectly accrued interest on behalf of veteran employees.

"It is great news that this legislation passed the House today because it is a real issue for our veterans," said Carter. "I have heard firsthand from veterans who, after serving our nation, move on to work for federal agencies and these agencies are miscalculating their pensions, accruing thousands of dollars in interest without the veteran ever even knowing about it. Our current system requires these veterans to repay sometimes tens of thousands of dollars in interest due to no fault of their own. The legislation passed today says federal agencies, not our brave veterans, should pay the interest payments when the federal government is responsible for the miscalculation."

Background:

American veterans working at a federal agency are required to pay a military service deposit in order to count their time in military service toward their civil service pension. Due to a misclassification in the type of the employee’s status, the federal agency will therefore charge different interest rates on those military service deposits, often leading to miscalculations. 

Once the federal agency becomes aware of the miscalculation, they will contact the veteran/employee and notify them of the need to pay back the balance with accrued interest. In some scenarios, that interest can be tens of thousands of dollars that the veteran would be required to pay. 

Currently, there is no recourse for veterans to mediate that payment and there is no authority for the federal agency to wipe away the incorrectly accrued interest.

Carter's legislation, the Correcting Miscalculations in Veterans' Pensions Act, authorizes agencies that make a mistake in calculating military service deposits and pensions to pay the incorrectly accrued interest on behalf of the veterans.

The legislation passed the U.S. House of Representatives today and will now be considered by the United States Senate.