Democratic members of the House Armed Services and Agriculture committees have asked the Pentagon to adjust how it administers its new basic needs allowance to help more military families facing food insecurity.
The allowance, included in the fiscal year 2022 defense authorization bill, ensures that all troops with dependents have incomes that total at least 130% of the poverty line, as CQ noted. Anyone meeting those criteria can apply for the allowance. Service members will be regularly screened and notified if they’re eligible.
But in a letter written last week, 31 House Democrats from those two committees suggested “establishing the BNA as an ‘opt-out’ benefit, automatically enrolling all who are eligible, based on the Department’s screening, and allowing them to submit applications for the allowance after enrollment or decline the allowance in writing if they do not wish to receive it.”
They also want to exclude any money a service member gets from the basic allowance for housing as income when calculating eligibility for the basic needs allowance.
“As members of the House Committee on Agriculture and the House Committee on Armed Services, we share your desire to address food insecurity for servicemembers and look forward to working together on this issue,” they wrote.
Army photo of volunteer distributing food to military families by Spc. Jamil Birden
