The Biden administration’s proposed defense bill calls for a 4.5-percent basic pay hike for all service members. Image: Tada Images/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffEnlisted service members in pay grades E-1 through E-4 would get a 19.5-percent raise in basic pay, under the House’s proposed defense-spending bill for fiscal year 2025, which still has a long way to go in conference.
Besides the pay hike, the measure would focus on “improving unaccompanied housing, expanding access to specialty medical providers, boosting access to childcare, [and] providing support for military spouses seeking employment,” Armed Services Committee chairman Rep. Mike Rogers, R.-Alabama, said. Rogers’ comment was cited in a National Review article that was published on the committee’s web site in the form of a press release.
The Biden administration’s proposed defense bill calls for a 4.5-percent basic pay hike for all service members.
The House measure, in contrast, calls for a 15-percent hike for all other junior troops. Other provisions include calculating the basic allowance for housing (BAH) at 100 percent of calculated costs, up from present the 95 percent. Rates for BAH were calculated at the higher level between 2005 and 2016. The basic needs allowance would also rise under the House plan, to 200 percent of federal poverty guidelines. Under the $17.5 billion military construction budget the House is calling for, $1.15 billion would go toward improving housing conditions.
“The condition of our barracks in particular is shocking,” said Rep. Mike Waltz, R. Florida. “We have to provide safe barracks and housing and put our service members’ welfare first.” Waltz’s comments were published in Stars and Stripes, in an article also identified as a press release by the committee.
Other provisions include: authorizing the use of an electronic management system to keep track of funds and facility conditions; permanent authorization of a fellowship program for military spouses who seek employment; expanded access to specialty health-care providers; and full funding of childcare fee assistance programs.
The House’s defense spending bill however contains many of the same partisan policy riders that ultimately were stripped from this years after a drawn out series of continuing resolutions – and is already getting push back. There appears to be some bipartisan support for a pay hiked however, but major differences are setting up a contentious process this fall with likely more temporary spending bills to come.
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