MOAA’s fight to protect survivors of deceased military members from an unfair policy that deprives them of a deserved benefit will enter the home stretch in September – and your support can help show Congress that now is the time to right this wrong.

As we have previously shared, the “widows tax” is in the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and likely faces an uphill battle in the conference committee, where the House and the Senate will debate their differences on myriad issues related to the defense of our nation.

[TAKE ACTION: Ask Your Lawmaker to Repeal the Widows Tax]

At issue regarding the widows tax is the recurring challenge to find a source of funding to pay for this repeal. The lack of a so-called “pay-for” in the Senate’s version of the bill is what led to its failure when Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) sought unanimous consent from the Senate in June.

Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), as he registered the formal objection to unanimous consent on behalf of a colleague who was not present, reaffirmed his long-standing and continued support for this legislation, but said it could not be through this bill because of the lack of a funding source.

[RELATED: MOAA Summer Storm 2019 Resources]

Over 85 percent of our Congress supports this legislation – and without
some exceptional leadership and influence, we run the risk of getting turned away at the finish line.

We need you to surge, along with any of your friends and family. One does not need to be a MOAA member to use our engagement link. We updated the proposed letter to increase its urgency and are asking all of you to send these revised letters to your members of Congress; if you’ve sent a previous version, click the link to send an updated one.

As an added measure, we need each of you to share this link with as many people as you can – all ages, all states. This is our last real chance to prep the conference committee with the resolve they will need to overcome this fiscal hurdle. The basic will is there: Now we need exceptional commitment from everyone, to include Congress.

Thank you for being a part of MOAA’s Summer Storm and this important surge.