The Wounded Veteran Tax: What the Major Richard Star Act Would Fix
Imagine serving your country, getting blown up by an IED in Iraq, losing both legs, and then coming home to find out the government is going to take back a dollar of your military retirement pay for every dollar of VA disability compensation you receive.
That's not a hypothetical. That's the reality for approximately 54,000 combat-injured veterans right now. And it's exactly what the Major Richard Star Act is trying to fix.
The Problem: The "Wounded Veteran Tax"
Military retirement pay and VA disability compensation are two separate things designed for two separate purposes. Military retirement pay rewards honorable service. VA disability compensation is meant to help cover the long-term costs of injuries sustained in service.
But under current law, if you are medically retired before completing 20 years of service due to combat injuries, your military retirement pay is reduced dollar-for-dollar by whatever VA disability compensation you receive. You can't collect both. One cancels out the other.
Consider a real example. A Staff Sergeant, age 27, married with two kids, nine years of service, loses both legs to an IED in Iraq. He's medically retired at 70% — the maximum allowed — which gives him $2,870 per month. The VA rates him at 100% disabled and awards him $4,198 per month based on his family situation.
If he could receive both, he'd have $7,068 per month — $84,816 per year — to support his family. Instead, the Department of Defense claws back his entire retirement pay because it's less than his VA disability. He receives only the VA payment: $4,198 per month, or $50,376 per year. That's barely above the poverty line for a family of four.
This is the wounded veteran tax. And it falls hardest on the veterans who sacrificed the most.
Who Was Major Richard Star?
Army Major Richard Star was a post-9/11 combat engineer who developed cancer linked to toxic exposure during deployments to the Middle East. His diagnosis forced him to retire early — before reaching 20 years of service — which meant he was subject to the exact offset this bill seeks to end.
Major Star passed away in 2021, nearly a year after the legislation bearing his name was first introduced in February 2020. He never saw it pass. But his story — a soldier who gave his health to his country and then watched the system penalize him for it — became the face of a fight that 54,000 veterans are still waging today.
Where the Bill Stands
The Major Richard Star Act has overwhelming bipartisan support. As of May 2026, it has 320 co-sponsors in the House — that's 73% of the entire chamber — and 79 co-sponsors in the Senate. A discharge petition has been introduced to force a floor vote.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly backed the bill this week, calling it a matter of basic fairness for combat-injured veterans. The Wounded Warrior Project, the American Legion, and virtually every major veteran service organization in the country support it.
The cost of passing the bill is approximately $13 billion over 10 years — about $1.3 billion per year. For context, the current military engagement in the Middle East costs close to $1 billion per day.
Why This Matters Beyond the Numbers
Department of Defense data shows that 68% of young Americans cite concerns about injury as a reason not to serve. When combat-injured veterans are financially penalized for their wounds, it sends a signal to every potential recruit: if you get hurt in the line of duty, the system will not treat you fairly.
Fixing this policy doesn't just help 54,000 veterans who are being shortchanged right now. It tells every future service member that if they sacrifice their body for this country, their country will honor that sacrifice fully — not subtract from it.
What You Can Do
The bill has the co-sponsors. It has the public support. What it needs is pressure on the members of Congress who haven't yet committed to bringing it to a vote.
Contact your representative at house.gov and ask them to support the Major Richard Star Act and the discharge petition. Contact your senators at senate.gov and urge them to push for a floor vote. Share this post — the more people who understand what the wounded veteran tax is, the harder it becomes for Congress to ignore.
Major Richard Star gave everything he had. The least we can do is make sure the 54,000 veterans still living with this injustice finally get what they were promised.
To track the status of the Major Richard Star Act, visit congress.gov and search "Major Richard Star Act." To find your representatives, visit house.gov and senate.gov.