Bill > HR5858

This bill, the Rachel Booth Act, aims to expand the availability of transitional compensation for dependents of members of the Armed Forces who have been convicted of dependent abuse or accused of dependent abuse and required to forfeit all pay and allowances for an unrelated offense. The key provisions of the bill include: 1. Expanding the covered punitive actions to include members who are convicted of a dependent-abuse offense in a federal or state court and separated for an unrelated offense, as well as members who are accused but not convicted of a dependent-abuse offense and required to forfeit all pay and allowances for an unrelated offense. 2. Modifying the recipients of the payments to include dependents and former dependents of the members referred to in the expanded covered punitive actions. 3. Specifying the commencement of the payment to be the first date of pretrial confinement or the date of the commander's determination of probable cause for the members described in the expanded covered punitive actions. 4. Amending the definition of "dependent child" to align with the expanded covered punitive actions. 5. Delegating the authority to authorize eligibility for the benefits to the first general or flag officer (or civilian equivalent) in the chain of command of the member.