Ok, so we have military families on food stamps but if the servicemember is acting in a movie, they don't get paid for it? Huh? Do they at least get coffee and donuts?
Getting paid for camo cameos
S.1669, Military Equitable Reimbursement Act.
Last action: November 2013 sent to Senate committee.
The Transformers movie franchise has grossed hundreds of billions of dollars. The U.S. military could have seen some of that money. The Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines each all supported the movies —– treating it as a public relations bonanza —– by offering up hundreds of servicemember extras, equipment including F-22 jets and Predator drones, and access to facilities such as Edwards Air Force Base in California and the Army’s White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. So, who pays and who gets paid for the screen cameos?
The military can be reimbursed for the movie productions but current laws make it uncertain whether it can keep the money for use of installations like White Sands.
Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., proposed closing the loophole and getting the services paid. "Clarifying the reimbursement policy for the film industry allows movie productions to realistically portray the skill, heroism, capability and challenges of our Armed Forces and their families while ensuring local installations are directly reimbursed for use of state-of-the-art facilities and equipment," Heinrich said in a written statement.
Amid sound and fury, some military bills likely to go nowhere
Stars and Stripes
By Travis J. Tritten
Published: November 30, 2014
WASHINGTON — The current Congress, entering its final weeks, is on course to be one of the least productive in history.
The passage of new laws hit record lows during the 113th Congress, which spans the last two years. It was not for a lack of trying; about 1,600 bills related to the military were introduced, while only 48 were signed into law, according to a government database that tracks legislation.
A variety of military issues languished — suicide screenings, illegal immigrants in officer schools and toxic exposure. Some were sent to committees, where they quietly died. Others remained in play as lawmakers prepared for a harried last few weeks of legislating following the Thanksgiving break.
Historically, only about 5 percent of bills pass into law, which has meant 300 to 600 new laws per Congress, said Josh Huder, a senior fellow with the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University in Washington.
But partisan wrangling and filibusters have dramatically reduced the number that ever make it to a vote, let alone become law. Only about 185 laws have been passed by this Congress, Huder said.
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