1.4-Percent Pay Raise Offered in Senate Bill

The Senate completed mark-up of its version of the 2011 defense bill, which includes a provision to increase pay for all service members by 1.4 percent. The pay raise would take effect Jan. 1, 2011. Another key provision would repeal the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which bars homosexuals from military service but allows service members to keep their private lives confidential on official forms. A key change to health care policy would allow eligible dependents of service members to remain covered by TRICARE until age 26.