For Immediate Release: Contact: Chandler Smith January 16, 2014 202-224-6244 Heller: Omnibus Breaks Promises to Nation’s Veterans (Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) voted against H.R. 3547, the vehicle for the Omnibus Appropriations bill. In December, Heller voted against the Ryan/Murray budget deal, which established the guidelines for this omnibus package. “In December, Congress chose to balance the budget on the backs of veterans and our nation’s hard-working military men and women. This bill does not go far enough to restore the benefits that these service members earned while serving our nation. It is a shame that Congress has been unable to keep the promises made to those who have sacrificed so much to preserve our freedom,” said Senator Dean Heller. Heller continued, “I also believe that Congress is wrong to allow this bill to pass without first addressing the lack of Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) funding for Nevada’s rural counties. PILT is not a discretionary fund to be used for other purposes. It is an obligation the federal government has to any county with public lands. I will continue working with Senator Mark Udall (D-CO) on our bill to permanently fund the program and applaud Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) for his efforts to restore funding to this bill.” Background In an effort to reverse the damaging cuts to our nation’s veterans established in December’s budget agreement, Senator Heller and seven Republican colleagues introduced an amendment to the Unemployment Insurance Extension Act (S. 1845) which would repeal the unfair cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) reduction for military retirees. Today, Heller and these seven Senators also introduced the amendment as stand-alone legislation (S. 1931). This bill repeals the cuts in the military retiree COLA. H.R. 3547 also fails to fund the Payment in Lieu of Taxes program (PILT), which is a critical resource for Nevada’s rural counties. This week, U.S. Senators Heller and Mark Udall (D-CO) introduced a bill to permanently authorize and fund the PILT program to provide for teachers, firefighters, law enforcement, and other essential services. Heller also cosponsored an amendment to the Omnibus bill, introduced by Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), to restore funding for PILT. The amendment would have provided $421 million for PILT in Fiscal Year 2014.
Posted on: Fri, 17 Jan 2014 06:14:23 +0000
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