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1 1 (January 24, 2025)

handle is hein.crs/govesft0001 and id is 1 raw text is: FY2025 NDAA: Basic Needs Allowance for Military Families Updated January 24, 2025 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 and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 (FY2025 NDAA, P.L. 118- 159), signed on December 23, 2024. 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; Congress enacted the increase in the FY2025 NDAA. Current Law In the FY2022 NDAA (P.L. 117-81), Congress first authorized the BNA for military families whose gross household income (GHI) fell below 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 provided 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 elements of compensation as part of GHI, the service secretaries have discretion to exclude any portion of BAH in areas deemed to have a high cost of living. Some military family advocates have argued that despite this secretarial authority, the default inclusion of BAH in the income calculation precludes needy families from accessing BNA. Servicemembers must apply for BNA and recertify GHI annually. Servicemembers without dependents are not eligible. Because BNA is designed to bring households up certain percentage of the poverty line, the amount of assistance may vary by household size. Those most likely to be eligible for BNA are junior servicemembers with several dependents. BNA is considered taxable income under 26 U.S.C. §61 and is Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN12380 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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