House panel OK's more than 30 quality of life improvements for the troops
By Mike Gooding
May 28, 2024 13 News Now
Lawmakers have voted to increase the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH). It's one of more than 30 proposed quality-of-life improvements they approved.
The BAH is paid to active service members who do not live on base but instead must rent in the local commercial housing market. Until 2016, the Defense Department (DOD) paid each qualifying member 100% of their region's median housing costs.
But since then, the DOD has only covered 95 % of the total.
But on a 57-1 vote, the House Armed Services Committee last week advanced the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), restoring the BAH back to 100% and creating a pilot program to evaluate how the allowance rate is calculated.
Rep. Jen Kiggans (R, VA-02) said such improvements are sorely needed.
"This was an important priority for Congress this year and I need our military members to know that Congress is listening and we're putting our money where our mouth is this year," she said in an interview with 13News Now.
Other quality-of-life improvements approved by the panel include:
A 19.5% pay raise for E-1 to E-4 junior enlisted personnel
Reviewing bonuses and retention allowances for military childcare workers
Developing a strategy to provide new privatized barracks
Raising the threshold for the basic needs allowance to 200% of federal poverty guidelines
The full House of Representatives must still vote on the NDAA. The Senate is expected to begin debate in mid-June.
