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House passes bill to expand SCRA rights

An omnibus veterans bill, which includes an expansion of Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act protections and allows parents to be buried in veterans cemeteries if their military sons or daughters had no dependents, has passed the House of Representatives and joins a growing pile of legislation awaiting Senate action.

The Veterans’ Small Business Assistance and Servicemembers Protection Act of 2009 passed the House on Tuesday by a 382-2 vote. It expands service members’ ability to cancel service contracts without penalty if they move to a new duty station or deploy overseas for 180 days or more.

Under the bill, HR 3949, contracts for cell phones, including family plans; retail and vehicle leases; and utilities, Internet and cable services could be cancelled without penalty or early termination fees if a service member provides a copy of orders and a written cancellation note.

The bill would close loopholes in current law that sometimes do not allow cancellation when a family member’s name is also on the contract, or that still allow termination fees in some cases.

The bill also would allow the government or individuals to sue businesses or people that violate a service member’s legal or financial protections under the Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act. The government can seek penalties of up to $110,000, and a service member can seek monetary damages for violations.

Also included in the bill are burial rights for parents of service members with no dependents who die on active duty as a result of combat or training-related causes. In this case, biological or adoptive parents may be buried in the same plot as the service member, as long as space is available. The provision would apply to any service member who has died since the 2001 terrorist attacks.

The bill also would tighten Veterans Affairs Department policies on awarding contracts to veteran-owned businesses.

Business listed as veteran- or disabled-veteran-owned in VA’s database would have to have their ownership certified.

The House and Senate veterans’ affairs committees hope at some point to combine veterans-related bills into one or more packages that could pass by the end of the year. But committee aides were unwilling to predict when a compromise might be reached.