Amendment expands certain coverage to National Guard, Reserve and inactive-duty training.
8/5/2019 7:00
The U.S. Senate recently passed a bill titled, “The Gold Star Spouses and Spouses of Injured Servicemembers Leasing Relief Expansion Act,” as part of the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. If the bill passes the U.S. House and becomes law, it would amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) to add protections for spouses of service members who die or sustain an injury or illness while performing full-time National Guard duty, active Guard and Reserve duty, or inactive-duty training.
The bill would allow a surviving spouse of a service member who died during military service to terminate a vehicle lease within one-year of the service member's death. It would also allow the spouse of a service member who suffered a catastrophic illness or injury to terminate a residential lease or vehicle lease. Again, the spouse would have a one-year period from the date of the service member's illness or injury in which to terminate the lease.
As part of the Department of Defense’s disability evaluation system, a “catastrophic injury or illness” is a designation that can be given to a service member based on an evaluation of the service member's condition. The Department of Defense, defines “catastrophic injury or illness” as “a permanent, severely disabling injury, disorder, or illness incurred or aggravated in the line of duty that compromises the ability to perform ADL (activities of daily living) to such a degree that a service member requires personal or mechanical assistance to leave home or bed, or requires constant supervision to avoid physical harm to self or others.”
ACA International will continue to monitor this bill and report more information as it becomes available.