1、CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i FY2020 NDAA Analysis: Elimination of Benefits Offset for Surviving Spouses and Related Legal Issues Updated February 13, 2020 Efforts to eliminate a “benefits offset” that affects surviving spouseswidows
2、and widowers of deceased military servicemembersgained momentum in the 116th Congress. Bills to accomplish this had been introduced for several years, and garnered significant bipartisan support in this Congress. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (FY2020 NDAA) ultimately in
3、cluded a gradual phase-out of the offset, resulting in full elimination by 2023. This Sidebar first explains the legal background of the benefits offset, which involves two military benefits: the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP), a taxable annuity paid by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to survivors
4、 of active duty or retired servicemembers, and Dependent Indemnity Compensation (DIC), a non-taxable benefit paid by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to survivors of servicemembers who died in the line of duty or had a service-connected injury or disease. This Sidebar then analyzes the F
