The Monsters Under the Bed and Other Scary Tales National Military Family Association

1. The Monsters Under the Bed and Other Scary Tales National Military Family Association Christina Jumper Volunteer Services Director AWAG - Germany

2. To fight for benefits and programs that strengthen and protect uniformed services families and reflect the Nation’s respect for their Service. Our Mission 2

3. Founded in 1969 by military wives concerned about military widows Has decades of expertise in family issues Serves all Services, ranks, components Works nationally, but responds to grassroots Uses all program work to support advocacy mission Acts as the go-to group for Congress, Department of Defense, the White House, and millions of military families About Us 3

4. Sequestration 2014 Budget The Monsters Under the Bed and Other Scary Stories 4

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6. Besides Defense, where Are the Cuts? • Emergency Response • Money for disaster recovery • Unemployment Benefits • Shrink by up to 9 percent • Homelessness Programs • More than 100,000 formerly homeless people would lose their current housing • Rental Assistance • About 125,000 low-income families would be at risk of losing their housing • The sequestration would eliminate care for up to 373,000 "seriously mentally ill" people

7. Food Safety • The FDA would conduct fewer food inspections • Head Start • About 70,000 children would lose access to the early education program Head Start • Small Business Assistance • The government's small business loan guarantees would get slashed by nearly $1 billion • Scientific Research • The sequestration would slash scientific research funding at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF), HIV Prevention • Up to 424,000 HIV tests would be on the chopping block. Thousands of people with HIV also would lose access to "life-saving" HIV medications.

8. What’s Exempt from Cuts? • Social Security • Medicare • Medicaid • Veterans – All programs administered by the Veteran’s Administration, and special benefits for certain WWII veterans are safe. • Food stamps • Social Security income (SSI) • Foster care • Treasury bonds • Tax credits (EITC) • Low-income support programs such as school breakfast and lunch programs, children’s health insurance, temporary assistance for needy families • Pell grants

9. What’s Affected by Cuts? • Federal workers • Defense contractors • Coast Guard – rescue aircraft will fly fewer hours and cutters will patrol the seas a few number of hours • Airports • Schools – Head start, teacher reductions, teachers and teacher aides for special needs students • College – could affect 29 million loan borrowers • Food safety • Medicare – 2% cut in gov’t reimbursements to doctors and hospitals • Programs for the poor • National Parks • Long-term effects: restrain funding for 10 years

10. The Monster Under the Bed - Sequestration 10

11. Fact: Military pay and allowances are protected Fact: DoD is protecting funding for operations in Afghanistan and not cutting accounts to war operations. Bad news: Other accounts are subject to greater cuts – installation training, maintenance and operations budgets Fact: Restoration of Tuition Assistance Bad news: Funding for this program is still cut by sequestration, so to fund it at the current levels requires the Services to find the funds Facts vs Myth 11

12. Fact: Wounded Warrior Programs protected Unknown: Much support for Wounded Warrior programs come from other sources such as health care, AW2, Marine for Life, and Navy Safe Harbor. Staffed by civilians that will be furloughed. DoD Civilian Furloughs Fact: DoD schools protected, furloughs at 14 days. Services are trying to work this out. Army – furloughs or longer deployments Military health care and TRICARE Fact: $3 billion in cuts, civilians furloughed Fact: TRICARE for Life is protected Bad news: Possible increase cost for prescriptions Facts vs Myth 12

13. Fact: Community Support Services will be affected by furloughs and will have to be creative with adjusting hours. Subject to hiring freezes, smaller staffs – longer wait times to include access to counseling, financial advise, new parent support, survivor outreach, and victim advocates Schools for Military Kids Fact: Federal education cuts of $106 million in Impact Aid, $1 billion in special education programs Child Development Centers Fact: Unclear Civilian furloughs Facts vs Myth 13

14. Commissaries Fact: Commissary closures, fewer if any case lot sales Exchanges: Are safe. They do not receive federal funding PCS Orders Fact: Unclear – seeing delays in orders, moves happening with shorter notice Facts vs Myth 14

15. Dealing with 2013 budget and cuts from sequestration The Administration’s budget overview contained NO REFERENCE to national security, service members and their families, or veterans 1% pay raise 4.2% increase for housing allowances, 3.4% subsistence allowances 8.5% billion in family support 2014 Budget 15

16. Child Care and Youth reduced from $1.3B to $1.2B MRW reduced from $1.4B to $1.3B Family services increase $1.6B to $1.7B DoD schools increase $2.6B to $2.8B Military spouse employment programs reduced $.2B to $.1B $7M for Defense Suicide Prevention programs and $25M for sexual response programs 2014 Budget 16

17. New round of BRAC in 2015 $49.4B for military health care Includes increase to TRICARE retiree enrollment fees, co-pays, deductibles, and catastrophic cap, some pharmacy co-pays. DoD wants fee increases based on the percentage of the beneficiaries’ gross military retirement pay. Maintains funding levels for NG & Reserve family and employer support programs $1.4B for commissaries 2014 Budget 17

18. $2.3B for recruiting and retention bonuses DoD is assuming 34,000 troops will remain in Afghanistan through Sept 2014, but no operations funding yet in budget Legislation enacting a deficit reduction plan is how we get rid of future automatic cuts. If Congress doesn’t pass legislation including tax increases and spending reductions, then sequestration will occur in 2014 and DoD will have to find $50B in savings out of this budget. 2014 Budget 18

19. Ending the wars won’t end military families’ need for strong support systems Focus on the legacy of a decade at war on military families, especially the children Recognize cuts may be inevitable, but military families need sustained support Remember, this is not a one-size-fits-all population Private sector can support but not take over government responsibilities Fund what works, protect most vulnerable, value service Focusing on Enhancing the Strength of Military Families 19

20. Stay involved Social media campaigns (sequestration pages) Send us information VOLUNTEER Overseas needs are different Participate in town hall meetings and be aware of what is happening at your installation Service specific – AFAP, Caring for People Installation levels How to Advocate for Your Military Family 20

21. www.MilitaryFamily.org CJumper@MilitaryFamily.org Info@MilitaryFamily.org facebook.com/militaryfamily twitter.com@military_family twitter.com@nmfachristina Check Out our Website and Write to Us! 21