House subpanel approves bill to help soldiers terminate service contracts
Bill gives service members financial protection if deployed for more than 90 days, or transferred to another base.
The House Veterans' Affairs Economic Opportunity Subcommittee passed a bill June 26 making it easier for active duty soldiers to terminate service contracts.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Pa., amends the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, a bill intended to provide soldiers with financial protection. The bill was approved by unanimous voice vote.
Murphy, an Iraq war veteran, said at an April 16 Economic Opportunity Subcommittee hearing that his bill would help soldiers focus on missions without "worrying about their credit rating or whether bill collectors are harassing their families."
The bill would allow soldiers to terminate contracts for cellular phone, cable or satellite television, internet, automobile insurance and utilities if a soldier is deployed for a period of more than 90 days or a soldier is transferred from one base to another.
The bill also entitles soldiers to refunds for fees paid in advance on terminated contracts.
The bill called for violations of the bill, such as seizing funds or property, to be punishable by up to one year in prison or fines. A substitute amendment from Rep. John Hall, D-N.Y., approved by voice vote, changed the punishment to $5,000 for an individual and $10,000 for an organization.
In a letter to the subcommittee, Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association Vice President Jot Carpenter said its organization requires its members to allow penalty-free contract termination. Carpenter said, however, that the punishment for violations in the original bill were excessive.
The bill also added a penalty for creditors that knowingly fail to reduce interest rates on soldiers that receive deployment orders. The penalty was up to one year in prison and fines, but Hall's substitute altered that provision.