The House Armed Services military personnel subcommittee marked up a version of the 2009 defense authorization bill May 7, including provisions that reject a Bush administration proposal to increase out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs provided by TRICARE, and other forms of health care. Other provisions would:
* Approve the administration’s plan to increase Army and Marine Corps strength, but reject a proposal to reduce the Air Force and Navy by 1,473. Army National Guard strength would rise to 30,450, and Army Reserve strength to 16,320;
* Approve a 3.9-percent military pay raise, effective Jan. 1, equal to that approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee a week earlier, and half a percentage point higher than the administration requests;
* Improve tuition assistance for spouses, with incentives for them to train in skill fields that are easily transferable during permanent changes of station, and;
* Establish a pilot program under which service members could leave active duty for a few years and return, with no interruption in their career paths.
The measure, HR-5658, could reach a floor vote in several weeks.