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1 1 (Updated October 2, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/govequy0001 and id is 1 raw text is: FY2025 NDAA: Basic Needs Allowance for Military Families Updated October 2, 2024 In 2023, the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) established the Quality of Life (QOL) Panel to develop legislative proposals for the 118th Congress. On April 8, 2024, the QOL Panel released its final report. Several of the Panel's recommendations were included in the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement Act (H.R. 8070). The bill became the vehicle for the House version of the FY2025 NDAA, known as the Servicemember Quality ofLife Improvement and National Defense Authorization Actfor Fiscal Year 2025. One of the pillars of the Panel's effort was a review of military pay and compensation. The Panel recommended increasing the eligibility threshold for a Department of Defense (DOD) benefit called the basic needs allowance (BNA) to 200% of the federal poverty guidelines. The House version of the FY2025 NDAA (H.R. 8070) would adopt this threshold and also would remove basic allowance for housing (BAH) from consideration for the benefit. The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC)- reported bill (S. 4638), as well as a package of amendments (S. Amdt. 3290) that SASC leadership has stated is part of negotiations for an FY2025 NDAA, does not propose any changes to the BNA. However, the Committee report to accompany S. 4638 directs the Secretary of Defense, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to report to the congressional defense committees on military food security to include an analysis of the adequacy of military pay and the BNA. Current Law In the FY2022 NDAA (P.L. 117-81), Congress first authorized the BNA for military families whose gross household income (GHI) is less than 130% of the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) federal poverty guidelines. Section 611 of the FY2023 NDAA (P.L. 117-263) expanded eligibility for BNA to military families with GHI less than 150% of the federal poverty guideline and provides discretionary authority for the Secretary of Defense to grant BNA to families making up to 200% of these guidelines if deemed appropriate. Federal poverty line thresholds vary by household size and location. GHI is defined in DOD policy and includes most sources of household income. The BNA is an element of compensation for low-income servicemember households that is in addition to other cash pay (e.g., basic pay, basic allowance for subsistence, BAH). While DOD considers these Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN12380 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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