Military Spouses, Workers See Wins in $738 Billion Defense Bill

(Bloomberg) -- Negotiators on the 2020 Defense Authorization bill have agreed to repeal the “widow’s tax,” which had shortchanged military spouses on the amount of survivor benefits they could collect.

The repeal of the widow’s tax would be phased in over three years, according to two people familiar with the decision who asked not to be named because legislation isn’t yet public. Currently Defense Department survivor benefits are required to be reduced by amounts paid under the Veteran Affairs Department’s Dependency and Indemnity Compensation program when military service causes the members’ death.

The $738 billion defense authorization bill would also include 12-week paid parental leave for all federal employees, not just those in the Defense Department, the people said.

The U.S. House likely will vote on the defense bill next week, with the Senate following after.

To contact the reporter on this story: Roxana Tiron in Washington at rtiron@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Hendrie at phendrie2@bloomberg.net, Natnicha Chuwiruch, Shamim Adam

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