PRE News

Sen. Tillis files bill to raise compensation for disabled veterans, military survivors

PRE News & Ideas | By Ryan Shaffer

Published April 17, 2024 at 6:25 AM EDT

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email

Republican delegates in North Carolina voted Saturday at their annual convention to censure U.S. Senator Thom Tillis for backing LGBTQ+ rights, immigration and gun violence policies.

Tillis has gained influence in Congress for his willingness to work across the aisle, but his record of supporting some key policies has raised concerns among some state Republicans that the senator has strayed from conservative values.

Several delegates in Greensboro criticized Tillis, who has held his seat in the Senate since 2015, for his work last year on the Respect For Marriage Act, which enshrined protections for same-sex and interracial marriages in federal law.

Both the state and national GOP platforms oppose same-sex marriage. But Tillis, who had opposed it earlier in his political career, was among the early supporters of the law who lobbied his GOP colleagues in Congress to vote in favor of it. — FILE - U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee business meeting on Feb. 16, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. On Saturday, June 10, 2023, Republican delegates in North Carolina voted at their annual convention to censure Tillis for supporting policies that they said violate key tenets of the GOP platform. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)

Compensation for veterans with military-related disabilities and military survivors could be increasing under a newly proposed federal bill.

Senator Thom Tillis, alongside Senators Jon Tester of Montana and Jerry Moran of Kansas, filed the Veterans' Compensation Cost of Living Adjustment Act to raise disability compensation to account for inflation.

Tillis said in a statement the 3-page bill is a "commonsense measure meant to reflect the true cost of living, so no veteran has to worry about making ends meet."

If approved, the Veteran's Administration would increase compensation according to October's Consumer Price Index and go into effect as early as December 1st of this year.