{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr250-114/featured_families-of-fallen-servicemembers-first-act-1485895722.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr250-114/featured_large_families-of-fallen-servicemembers-first-act-1485895722.jpg","shareable":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr250-114.png"},"introduced_on":"2015-01-09","title_override":"When the Government Shuts Down, Should the Families of Fallen Servicemembers Still Get Their Benefits?","summary_override":"

This bill seeks to honor those who have given their lives while serving in the armed forces by ensuring that, in the event of a government shutdown, their families still receive the benefits to which they’re entitled.

By law, when a member of the armed services die during their service, or within 120 days of being discharged, their families are paid a “death gratuity”. During a government shutdown, these benefits, like so many other government functions, grind to a halt. This bill would authorize, in the event of a government shutdown, any money left in the Treasury that hadn’t already been reserved for “military personnel” or “operation and maintenance” could be used to pay out these benefits. The benefit rate would be maintained at the levels most recently authorized by the budget.

Death benefits generally include $100,000 for the family, a year-long housing stipend, and coverage of expenses related to the service members’ funeral. The Dept. of Defense also covers travel expenses so that families can meet service members’ bodies at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

","official_title":"To provide a permanent appropriation of funds for the payment of death gratuities and related benefits for survivors of deceased members of the uniformed services in event of any period of lapsed appropriations.","short_title":"Families of Fallen Servicemembers First Act","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"Families of Fallen Servicemembers First Act \n\nThis bill provides a permanent appropriation for the payment of death gratuities and related benefits to survivors of deceased members of the uniformed services during a period of lapsed appropriations.\n\nThe bill provides the appropriations at the rate and under the conditions provided for the most recent fiscal year for which an Act making appropriations for the uniformed services has been enacted.\n\nThe appropriations are provided during a period of lapsed appropriations, in which appropriations are unavailable due to the absence of the timely enactment of an Act or joint resolution providing appropriations or continuing appropriations for the death gratuity and related benefits.","summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"A CBO estimate is unavailable. ","impact":"The families of veterans who are killed in action, every entity that takes money from the Treasury. ","argument_for":"This bill would ensure that the families of those who make the ultimate sacrifice for the country receive the financial benefits necessary to help them cope with the loss, no matter what kind of partisan squabbling may be happening on Capitol Hill. ","argument_against":"It’s critical to ensure that the families of people who die in service receive their due, yes. But what about all the other programs that are put at risk in a shutdown? It’d be a better use of Congresses time to pass legislation not to shutdown. ","bill_type":"hr","published":true,"type":"FederalBill","id":"hr250-114","bill_id":"hr250-114","formal_id":"H.R. 250","chamber":"house","congress":114,"last_action_at":"2015-01-09T00:00:00.000Z","active":false,"enacted":false,"enacted_at":null,"vetoed":false,"last_vote_at":null,"debated_on":null,"congress_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th/house-bill/250","plain_text_url":"http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-114hr250ih/html/BILLS-114hr250ih.htm","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr250-114.png","congress_full_text_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th/house-bill/250/text","is_current_congress":false,"last_version_on":"2015-01-09","related_bill_ids":[],"progress":"Introduced","house_passage_result":false,"senate_passage_result":false,"position_count":555,"committees":[{"name":"Committee on Appropriations","chamber":"house","committee_id":"HSAP","subcommittee":false}],"links":{"rollCalls":"/api/roll_calls?bill_id=hr250-114","details":"/api/bills/hr250-114/details","sharingMessage":"/api/sharing_messages/hr250-114","positionsFor":"/api/bills/hr250-114/positions/for","positionsAgainst":"/api/bills/hr250-114/positions/against"},"upcoming":false,"cosponsors_count":27,"slug":"hr250-114-families-of-fallen-servicemembers-first-act","latest_chamber_votes_id":null,"official_url":null,"target_video":true,"following":false,"vote_count":7587,"yea_vote_count":6501,"nay_vote_count":1072,"passed_house":false,"passed_senate":false,"vote_id":null,"my_position_id":null,"topic_ids":["defense","emergency-management","families"],"issue_ids":["defense","military","federal-agencies","war","states","emergency-management","families"],"sponsor_id":463}],"votes":[],"issues":[{"id":"defense","name":"Defense","slug":"defense","description":"Federal legislation related to Defense spending, the active duty military, intelligence activities, war powers and veterans’ care. Make your voice heard about the issues you care about.","page_title":"US Armed forces and Defense related Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/defense/black_defense-1429042040.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/defense/grey_defense-1429042040.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/defense/white_defense-1429042040.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"military","name":"Military","slug":"military","description":"Vote on the latest federal legislation regarding Military . Make your voice heard about the issues you care about. \r\n","page_title":"Military Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/military/black_military-1429042060.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/military/grey_military-1429042060.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/military/white_military-1429042060.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"federal-agencies","name":"Federal Agencies","slug":"federal-agencies","description":"Vote on the latest federal legislation regarding Federal Agencies. Make your voice heard about the issues you care about. \r\n","page_title":"Federal Agencies Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/federal-agencies/black_federal-agencies-1429042054.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/federal-agencies/grey_federal-agencies-1429042054.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/federal-agencies/white_federal-agencies-1429042054.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"war","name":"War","slug":"war","description":"All is fair in love and war? Have your say in the latter. Tell your congressperson how you feel about current legislation related to war!","page_title":"War Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/war/black_war-1429042061.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/war/grey_war-1429042061.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/war/white_war-1429042061.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"states","name":"States","slug":"states","description":"Vote on the latest federal legislation regarding States. Make your voice heard about the issues you care about. \r\n","page_title":"States Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/states/black_states-1453508817.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/states/grey_states-1453508817.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/states/white_states-1453508817.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"emergency-management","name":"Emergency Management","slug":"emergency-management","description":"The Federal government directly impacts the federal response to natural disasters, homeland security, disaster relief and emergency planning. Legislation can relate to fires, accidents, first response and evacuation. ","page_title":"Federal legislation related to Homeland Security, Emergency Planning / Disaster Relief- Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/emergency-management/black_emergency-management-1429042037.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/emergency-management/grey_emergency-management-1429042037.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/emergency-management/white_emergency-management-1429042037.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"families","name":"Families","slug":"families","description":"Congressional legislation related to Families encompassing a wide variety of potential subjects, including: adoption child care, child safety, domestic violence and abuse, marriage, divorce and teenage pregnancy.","page_title":"Federal legislation related to Families - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/families/black_families-1429042038.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/families/grey_families-1429042038.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/families/white_families-1429042038.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false}],"users":[{"name":"Michael","vote_count":189,"photos":{"large":"https://graph.facebook.com/1001939736485752/picture?width=150&height=150","small":"https://graph.facebook.com/1001939736485752/picture?width=75&height=75","tiny":"https://graph.facebook.com/1001939736485752/picture?width=20&height=20","facebook":"https://graph.facebook.com/1001939736485752/picture"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/3W1NJwxZ/following","followers":"/api/users/3W1NJwxZ/followers"},"about_me":null,"twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":null,"issue_count":1,"is_following":null,"influence_score":30,"influence_level":10,"follower_count":0,"following_count":0,"position_count":66,"id":"3W1NJwxZ","partner_id":null}],"bill_position":{"flagged":false,"id":"dfa3c819-25bf-4daf-aa23-3f1bc96cfb4c","argument_for":"Military is the only part of the federal government that shouldn't be closed. The rest should be closed permanently and authority returned to states","argument_against":null,"show_argument_for":true,"show_argument_against":false,"upvote_count":0,"upvotes_for_count":0,"upvotes_against_count":null,"has_upvoted":false,"endorsement_count":0,"links":{"self":"https://www.causes.com/positions/dfa3c819-25bf-4daf-aa23-3f1bc96cfb4c"},"body":"Military is the only part of the federal government that shouldn't be closed. The rest should be closed permanently and authority returned to states","stance":"yea","created_at":"2015-06-27T17:15:08.173Z","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/positions/dfa3c819-25bf-4daf-aa23-3f1bc96cfb4c.png","note_color":null,"note_text":null,"bill_id":"hr250-114","user_id":"3W1NJwxZ","endorser_ids":[]}}

Like Causes?

Michael

When the Government Shuts Down, Should the Families of Fallen Servicemembers Still Get Their Benefits?