April 9th, MOAA and more than 150 volunteers took to Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., for Advocacy in Action 2025, meeting with over 330 congressional offices. Together, we delivered a unified message: Congress must do all that it can to protect service-earned pay and benefits.  We had five people from CALMOAA representing California in an effort to meet with as many as the 52 legislators that represent the state.  The team included:

• Ramona Chávez, Alameda Chapter - MOAA partner Joelle Cox, HQ Staff
• Kristen Dennis, Silverstrand Chapter - MOAA partner Lincoln Smith,   
• William Nelson, Miramar Chapter - MOAA partner Marvin H. Heinze | Board of Directors
• Sue Gonzales, Alameda Chapter - MOAA partners Jim Camaran and Rina Cai | HQ Staff  
• Patty Wernet, Contra Costa Chapter - MOAA partner Sharron Mackey | Board of Directors

However, the fight is not over.
The 119th Congress is just getting started, and lawmakers need to keep hearing from constituents like you. The work we did on Capitol Hill last week must be reinforced by MOAA advocates from across the country.
We urge you to take action on MOAA’s top legislative priorities:

• Incentivize Military Spouse Hiring: Actions to combat stagnant, high rates of unemployment among military spouses must include measures to incentivize their hiring. Cosponsor the Military Spouse Hiring Act to add a military spouse target group to the Work Opportunity Tax Credit program.
• Unaccompanied Housing Improvements: Transparency is key to supporting lawmaker oversight of this ongoing issue and addressing a $137 billion maintenance backlog. Ask Congress to require DoD to make reports on unaccompanied housing installation conditions publicly available.
• Ending the Wait for Toxic-Exposed Veterans: Pass legislation to shorten how long millions of veterans must wait before receiving service-earned care and benefits.
• Support Veteran Caregivers: Champion/cosponsor the passage of the Veteran Caregiver Reeducation, Reemployment, and Retirement Act.

And do not forget — every message does make a difference. The pressures on service-earned pay and benefits aren’t going away — but neither is MOAA.

We need every voice and every advocate to help us keep fighting, and to remind Congress that the greatest asset to our nation’s security and prosperity is not a weapon system — it’s the men and women in uniform and their families.

Visit MOAA's Legislative Action Center and take action today.

Advocacy in Action Overview – Learn more about the issues we will be discussing, including detailed issue papers and topic training videos.

MOAA’s C&C Legislative Leaders Webpage – Other important details about this year’s event, along with additional advocacy-related resources you can leverage throughout the entire year.

California Team for AIA 2025.  Front Left to Right:  Patty Wernet, Sue Gonzales, Sharron Mackey | Back Left to Right:  Ramona Chávez, Rina Cai, Kristen Dennis, Bill Nelson, Marvin Heinz, Jim Camaron