EXCLUSIVE — Rep. Matt Van Epps (R-TN) is introducing his inaugural piece of legislation on Thursday, marking an effort to raise the “death gratuity” for Gold Star families for the first time in decades.
Fresh from a special election win last December, Van Epps framed the bipartisan HONOR Gold Star Families Act in the context of the United States’s war against Iran, arguing it is needed to support those closest to slain soldiers. Reps. Jill Tokuda (D-HI) and Jen Kiggans (R-VA) are co-leading the legislation, which would double payments from $100,000 to $200,000 and apply retroactively to the beginning of 2026 to ensure families who lost service members in the Iran conflict are included.
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