Within the National Guard Museum headquartered in Washington, D.C., representatives from almost all of the 54 states and territories (representing Enlisted National Guardsmen within their respective state) gathered to attend the annual Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United Stated (EANGUS) Legislative Workshop.ย This workshop was the first in-person meeting since 2020 as the 2021 was held virtually due to travel restrictions.ย The day was filled with guest speakers, networking, instructions and ended with a Q&A session from the top enlisted members of the Army National Guard, Air National Guard and the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chief, National Guard Bureau.
During the workshop, it was emphasized to the audience that it is imperative that the individual state’s representatives seek out, set meetings with and garner their state’s elected officials support – both the Senate and Congress.ย With only a small full-time staff, EANGUS staff cannot visit with every elected official to encourage lawmakers to amend or change laws.ย Having additional states’ representatives of EANGUS on the ground in the Nations Capitol greatly advanced EANGUS’ progress with educating lawmakers on issues facing the National Guard.
The 2022 Legislative Priorities are:
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EANGUS TRICARE for all Reservists
EANGUS urges the 117th Congress to legislate health care for all Reserve and NationalGuard Servicemembers. This would bridge the readiness and retention issues the branches currently have.ย If a bill were created and passed, this would grant National Guard members access to TRICARE Prime, regardless of status, free of charge. -
Affordable Health Care for Gray Area Reserve Retirement
EANGUS urges Congress to provide the same health care coverage to retirees who qualify for the gray area early age retirement. (Title 10 U.S.C. โ1074).ย The gray area law was meant to recognize the increased reliance on the Reserve Components and EANGUS urges congress to reduce the age of TRICARE eligibility to match the the intent of early retirement. -
Reserve Employers Comprehensive Relief and Uniform Incentives on Taxes Act of 2021
Guard and Reserve servicemembers continue to experience problems maintaining employmentย because of the demands for meeting the steady operational support provided to the Active Component as well as an increase in Domestic Response mobilizations. In February 2017, the Department of Labor found Gulf War-era II veterans continue to have higher unemploymentย rates than their civilian counterparts.ย Servicemembers have told EANGUS that they are seeing fewer and fewer Guard and Reserve employees because of the cost and disruption to companies. That is exacerbated in high-demand specialties. Because the purpose of tax credits is to promote a specific behavior, EANGUS believes offering tax credits to companies will encourage them to hire Guard and Reserve members. -
Guard and Reserve GI Bill Parity Act
Guard and Reserve GI Bill Parity Act passed the House of Representatives on January 12th, 2022, with a decisive bipartisan vote of 287-135. This bill aims to eliminate most of the confusion over which types of duty allow the Guard and Reserve members to qualify for federal education benefits. H.R. 1836 enables all days in service, including weekend drills, annual training, and specific state active duties such as 502(f), to count toward the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Additionally, there is a Senate version of National Guard GI Bill parity, S.2644 โ the Guard, Reserve, and Active-Duty Department of Veterans Affairs Educational Assistance Parity (GRAD) Act.ย If passed, this will allow for Title 32 days to count toward Post-9/11 GI Bill credit as well as Annual Training and ADT days.
For additional information, refer to the white paper linked below.
