BREAKING: Tester’s Bipartisan Bill to Deliver Cost-of-Living Increase for Montana Veterans Heads to President’s Desk

Senator’s bipartisan legislation to increase rates of disability compensation for 30,000 disabled veterans and survivors passes Senate

The Senate unanimously passed Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester’s Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Act—bipartisan legislation to ensure the rate of compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and military survivors under the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) keeps pace with the cost of living.

This bill now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law.

“At a time when folks are struggling with rising costs, from housing to groceries, Montana veterans deserve absolute certainty when it comes to providing for their families,” said Chairman Tester. “Boosting veterans’ hard-earned benefits to keep pace with the cost of living is a necessary cost of war, and I’m proud this bipartisan legislation will deliver a benefits increase to millions of disabled veterans and survivors nationwide—including 30,000 in Montana.”

The Senator’s bill would increase certain VA benefits including disability compensation, clothing allowances, and dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children to reflect increases in the cost of living. The cost-of-living adjustment will match the annual COLA adjustment to social security benefits, as determined by the Social Security Administration, and would go into effect December 1, 2024. The Social Security Administration bases its annual COLA on the Consumer Price Index, as determined each October by the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.