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Lawmaker proposes big boost in combat pays

A California lawmaker’s December trip to Afghanistan to visit combat troops led him to introduce legislation that would provide big increases in combat and hazardous duty pays.

Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif., proposes increases in eight different military pays:

• Hostile fire pay, now $225 a month, would increase to $600.

• Imminent danger pay, also $225 a month, would increase to $350 a month.

• Family separation allowance, now $250 a month, would increase to $450 a month.

• Continuation pay for special warfare officers, now $5,000 for each year of additional service, would increase to up to $20,000 for each year of additional service.

• Hazardous duty pay, which ranges from $150 to $450 a month, would increase to $200 to $500 a month. Service members could continue to receive up to three separate hazard pays at the same time.

• Hospitalization pay for members medically evacuated from a combat zone, now $430 a month, would increase to $600.

• Special pay for members of weapons of mass destruction civil support teams, now $150 a month, would increase to $300 a month.

• Special pay for psychologists and social workers, now $2,000 to $5,000 a year, would increase to $4,000 to $10,000 a year.

• Special pay for extending an overseas tour, now $80 a month or $2,000 a year if paid in lump sum, would increase to $200 a month or $3,000 in a lump sum.

McNerney calls the package of pay increases the Combat Operations and Medical Benefit Authorization for our Troops Act, or COMBAT Act. Introduced Jan. 13, the bill, HR 4440, was referred to the House Armed Services Committee for consideration as part of the 2011 defense budget.

McNerney is not a member of the armed services committee, which means chances for passage of the increase will depend on his ability to get someone on the committee to support the legislation. He does serve on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, which has close ties to the armed services panel.

A price tag for all of the increases, which will be a major factor in the bill’s fate, is not yet available.

McNerney said he started working on the measure after visiting U.S. troops in Afghanistan. “Many of the service members who I spoke with shared the struggles they face providing for their families while away from home and in the midst of grueling conditions,” he said in a statement. “Raising pay for service members who encounter injuries, hazardous duty and separation from their families is simply the right thing to do. Some of these types of pay haven’t been raised in years.”

McNerney visited Afghanistan in late December as part of a bipartisan delegation.