15% Enlisted Pay Hike, Other Proposed Quality-of-Life Improvements Get Big Boost from House Lawmakers
U.S. House
Rep. Mike Rogers, House Armed Services Committee Chairman, speaks to U.S. Air
Force Airmen assigned to the 409th Air Expeditionary Group at Air
Base 201, Niger, May 4, 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Marcus
Hardy-Bannerman)
Posted: April 20, 2024 --- Military.com | By Rebecca
Kheel
Published April
19, 2024, at 12:39pm ET.
Signaling
how serious lawmakers are about boosting quality of life in the military, the
leaders of the House Armed Services Committee unveiled a bill Thursday (April 18, 2024) focused
on improvements to troops' lives as the 1st step in crafting this year's
must-pass defense policy bill. The Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement
Act would enact most of the key recommendations from the military
quality-of-life report released last week by a committee subpanel, including
giving junior enlisted service members a 15% raise in their base pay.
The
bill will serve as the base text when the Armed Services Committee begins
debating the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), next month, the
committee said in a news release. "The Servicemember Quality of Life
Improvement Act will serve as the foundation for everything we do in the FY25
NDAA," committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., said in a statement
Thursday evening announcing the introduction of the quality-of-life bill.
"Service
members should never have to worry about making ends meet, putting food on the
table, or affording housing. Improving the quality of life for our service
members and their families is my number one priority -- we're going to get this
done." Usually, the committee's NDAA process starts with the introduction
of a bare-bones bill, the text of which is later replaced with legislation that
lawmakers hash out through hours of committee debate.
By
instead starting the process this year with a bill of substance focused on
military quality of life, lawmakers are underscoring the importance they are
placing on ensuring the proposed improvements become law. Last week, after
months of analysis, the committee's military quality-of-life panel released 31
recommendations to enhance service members' pay, housing, health care, childcare
and spouse employment.
Topping the recommendations was a proposal to give a 15% raise to E1s through E4s. The report also called for the Basic Allowance for Housing to cover 100% of housing costs rather than the 95% it does now, and for eligibility for the Basic Needs Allowance to expand to help more troops facing food insecurity access the benefit. Other recommendations included:
- requiring that the military services report to Congress the total cost for fixing and updating their barracks
- requiring salaries for childcare workers on military bases to be competitive with market rates
- allowing troops to seek certain specialty health care without a referral, and
- giving the Pentagon permanent authority to negotiate with States to make it easier for military spouses to use their professional licenses across State lines.
All of those recommendations and more would become law under the bill introduced Thursday. In addition to Rogers, the bill is backed by the committee's top Democrat, House Rep. Adam Smith of Washington State, as well as every Republican and Democrat who was on the committee's quality-of-life panel.
"For over 6 decades, this committee has come together to pass the National Defense Authorization Act and to reiterate our unwavering commitment to investing in the greatest source of our country's strength: service members and their families," Smith said. "This year's bill leaves no doubt that the heart of America's defense will get the recognition and resources they need and deserve." The committee will meet the week of May 20 to debate the bill and add other provisions to craft the full NDAA, according to the news release.
