AFSA Chapter Legislative Playbook

2026–27 Legislative Platform

This platform of legislative objectives serves as a blueprint for AFSA’s testimony and advocacy, in conjunction with responses dictated by day-to-day events.

Success will not always be defined by what is gained. It will be determined by the level at which a benefit is preserved, or by gaining a portion of an objective. At its core, AFSA’s mission is to defend the quality of life for service members and their families.

Read the full platform (PDF)

7major focus groups

75,000+members represented

1961defending quality of life since

Seven focus groups

Open a group, pick the points that fit your district, and copy them into your one-pager.

Benefits & ProgramsMaintain pay comparability and protect non-pay quality-of-life benefits.
  • Support full military pay raises in line with current law.
  • Protect and strengthen BAH, COLA, special pays, leave policies, commissaries, exchanges, and MWR programs.
  • Improve Regular Military Compensation to reflect real-world economic conditions.
  • Expand bereavement leave and allow voluntary leave transfer between service members.
  • Strengthen oversight of privatized military housing and enforce the tenant bill of rights.
Veteran & Retiree Healthcare and BenefitsHonor service by delivering timely, comprehensive, and equitable care.
  • Improve access to VA healthcare, reduce claims backlogs, and fully fund ancillary support programs.
  • Extend concurrent receipt to all disabled retirees, ending the offset of earned benefits.
  • Support full implementation of the PACT Act to ensure veterans exposed to toxic substances receive timely and complete benefits.
  • Expand access to Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) for treatment of persistent TBI and PTSD/PTSI.
  • Strengthen suicide prevention efforts through research, treatment access, and caregiver support.
  • Ensure women veterans receive equitable access to high-quality, gender-specific care.
  • Ensure veterans have access to emerging and alternative therapies, including psychedelic-assisted treatments, under strict medical supervision, with full informed consent, safety protocols, and evidence-based evaluation.
  • Guarantee veterans’ right to informed consent across all treatment options, with clear disclosure of risks, benefits, alternatives, and the voluntary nature of participation in any medical or therapeutic intervention.
Military HealthcareProtect access, affordability, and readiness of the military health system.
  • Preserve earned TRICARE benefits and oppose fee increases and higher pharmacy copays.
  • Expand access to healthcare benefits to not fall behind the private sector and other federal employees.
  • Ensure any military medical billet reductions or MTF restructuring do not reduce access or shift costs onto families.
  • Allow pre-tax payment of health, dental, and long-term care premiums to reduce out-of-pocket burden.
  • Expand access to TRICARE Reserve Select, including for Air Reserve Technicians.
Military FamiliesReduce systemic stressors that harm readiness and retention.
  • Expand access to affordable, high-quality childcare aligned with operational realities.
  • Strengthen military spouse employment programs and eliminate PCS-driven licensure barriers.
  • Promote policies that accommodate military lifestyles, including tax and payment flexibility.
  • Preserve Impact Aid to ensure military-connected children receive consistent educational support.
EducationProtect and modernize education benefits for service members and families.
  • Fully fund MilTA, MyCAA, and GI Bill programs and preserve benefit transferability.
  • Ensure all components of the Total Force have equitable access to federal tuition assistance.
  • Improve credit transfer and prior learning recognition to reduce time-to-degree and cost.
  • Focus on empowering the Airman for future success before, during, and after transition.
Caring for SurvivorsEnsure survivors are not penalized for their sacrifice.
  • Allow surviving spouses to receive the full final month of retired pay.
  • Permit DIC recipients to remarry at age 55 without loss of benefits.
  • Protect survivor benefits from offsets or erosion under budgetary pressures.
Air National Guard & Air Force ReserveDeliver benefit equity without reducing compensation value.
  • Credit all post-9/11 active-duty service toward Guard and Reserve early retirement.
  • Reduce the retirement age and remove caps on creditable inactive duty points.
  • Expand education benefits for Guard members and dual-status technicians.
  • Reform duty status authorities to ensure compensation, benefits, and protections match service performed.

This year’s top priorities

The bills AFSA carried to Capitol Hill at its March 2026 Hill Day. Figures are as of that month. Copy the talking points into your notes or one-pager.

For those currently serving

Pay Our Troops Act

Pay Our Troops Act, H.R. 5401; Senate counterpart, the Pay Our Military Act, S. 3002

  • Government shutdowns can delay pay for service members and their families.
  • Keeps military pay and allowances flowing during a lapse in appropriations, including for Department of War civilians and essential contractors who support military operations.
  • Pay disruptions affect quality of life, readiness, retention, and family financial stability.
  • AFSA’s first priority is full-year defense appropriations on time; this bill is a backstop.

IVF for Military Families Act

H.R. 2557 / S. 1231

  • Service-connected injuries and deployments can affect a service member’s ability to start a family.
  • Ensures TRICARE covers IVF treatment.
  • Closes the gap with federal civilian workforce health care in access, affordability, and quality.
  • Supporting family planning supports retention and readiness.

Military Family GI Bill Promise Act

H.R. 4540

  • Transferable education benefits give recruits a family-focused reason to serve.
  • Lets members who have earned the benefit pass it to their families, including after separation.
  • Members who have children later in life or after separation can still transfer their benefits.

Also targeted for advancement

For veterans

Veteran mental health and suicide prevention

Written Informed Consent Act, S. 3314 / H.R. 4837; NOPAIN for Veterans Act, S. 3209 / H.R. 4509

  • An average of 17.6 veterans die by suicide each day.
  • 61% of VHA facilities face severe psychologist shortages, which lengthens wait times.
  • Require written informed consent before black box psychiatric medications are prescribed, so veterans understand the risks.
  • Expand the mental health workforce through competitive pay, loan forgiveness, and streamlined VA hiring.
  • Expand telehealth as a complement to in-person mental health care, not a replacement.

If you or a veteran you know is in crisis, call the Veterans Crisis Line: dial 988, then press 1.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy access

HBOT Access Act of 2025, S. 862

  • Traditional treatments show limited success for many veterans with PTSD and TBI.
  • Clinical studies show HBOT reduces PTSD symptoms and improves cognitive function in veterans with brain injuries.
  • Establish VA pilot programs to evaluate HBOT as a covered treatment option.
  • Increase research funding to validate HBOT as a standard, evidence-based VA treatment.

Major Richard Star Act

H.R. 2102 / S. 1032

  • More than 52,000 combat-injured veterans see their earned retirement pay reduced dollar for dollar by their VA disability compensation.
  • The bill allows concurrent receipt of retirement pay and VA disability compensation.
  • Retirement pay and disability compensation are different payments for different purposes.
  • 315 House and 77 Senate cosponsors, about three-quarters of Congress, as of March 2026.

Also targeted for advancement

  • Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act, H.R. 6047
  • Guard and Reserve GI Bill Parity Act, H.R. 1423 / S. 649
  • Love Lives On Act, H.R. 1004 / S. 410
  • Caring for Survivors Act, H.R. 2055 / S. 611
  • Veteran Caregiver Reeducation, Reemployment & Retirement Act, H.R. 2148 / S. 879
  • Preserve VA disability compensation and military retirement pay in budget decisions