Legislation recently approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) would, if it became law, fundamentally change the current military retirement system.The Defense Authorization Bill for fiscal 2016 includes a provision that reflects the recommendations made earlier this year by the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission (MCRMC) and largely mirrors language included in the authorization bill passed May 15 by the House of Representatives.Instead of the current 20-year, cliff-vested retirement benefit, service members who serve at least 20 years would get government contributions to a 401(k) in exchange for a reduced retirement pension.Troops who stay less than 20 years will have a portable benefit when leaving the service.The Senate’s plan would continue the defined benefit for those who complete at least 20 years of service at a multiplier rate of 2.0 times years of service and would authorize government-matching Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) contributions for members of the uniformed services that will vest at the beginning of three years of service (two years, one day) at a government matching rate of up to 5 percent.This new modernized retirement system would apply to members first joining a uniformed service on or after January 1, 2018; current members are grandfathered but may choose to be covered by the new plan.The House bill’s modifications would take effect on or after Oct. 1, 2017.The bill takes the changes even further than the House bill.The Senate’s version "authorizes the Secretary concerned to allow the voluntary election of lump sum payments of retired pay for those serving 20 or more years of service."Members who elect to take the lump sum may choose to take 100 percent or 50 percent of the discounted present value of their defined retirement benefit that would be due to them prior to becoming eligible for Social Security.Unlike the House proposal, the Senate bill stops government contributions to 401(k) accounts after 20 years of service.AUSA is not convinced by the conclusions reached by the MCRMC.While we are supportive of some changes to the current compensation and retirement benefit, we want to ensure any changes do not impact negatively on the Army’s ability to recruit and retain highly-qualified personnel.Further, determining the actual value of future benefits is next to impossible. The MCRMC’s analysis is based on assumptions for unknowable factors like future inflation, military pay raises, stock market returns and individual investment decisions.The rest of the story. AUSA has a big problem with other provisions included in the Senate Armed Services Committee’s bill. These include a proposed 1.3 percent pay raise; reductions in Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH); a reduction in funding for commissaries and a proposal that would double TRICARE pharmacy co-pays over 10 years."The FY 2016 SASC mark proposes a 1.3 percent pay raise cap (vs. a 2.3percent raise mandated by law).This would be a third straight years of pay caps, with four more years planned.The past three years have had the smallest pay raises in 50 years; this is not the appropriate message to send to our men and women in uniform after 13 years of war," states a letter sent to the Senate by AUSA and its partners in The Military Coalition.The SASC also adopted language that not only reduces BAH by up to 5 percent for military families, but for married service members living together, BAH would be restricted to the spouse of higher rank.Troops living together would be hit with a 25 percent cut in BAH.Commissaries also take a hit.AUSA joined our partners in the Coalition to Save our Military Shopping Benefits to strongly protest the proposed changes to the commissary benefit.Key Senate leadership has been notified that we strongly oppose provisions that would:Cut $322 million from the commissary funding.Authorize an increase in prices across the board to reimburse the appropriation for transportation of products to overseas commissaries.Remove the requirement that commissary products be sold at cost and authorizes DoD to raise prices to fund operating expenses.Change the requirement of the surcharge to be used only for maintenance, modernization, and building of new stores by adding language that allows for the purchase of operating suppliesDirect the secretary of defense to submit a report on a plan for privatization, in whole or in part, of the commissary system.Require a pilot program on privatization on no fewer than five commissaries chosen from the Defense Commissary Agency’s largest U.S. markets.YOU CAN HELP! Please join us and let your elected representatives know how you feel.Visit the AUSA webpage, www.ausa.org. Click on the Legislative Agenda link and then click on Contact Congress. Enter your zip code and then on the letter titled "Preserve Our Military Benefits."