FY2017 National Defense Authorization Act: Selected Military Personnel Issues Page: 9 of 44
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FY2017 National Defense Authorization Act: Selected Military Personnel Issues
CRS Point of Contact: Lawrence Kapp, x7-7609.
*Housing Allowances
Background: Under current law, all service members are entitled to either government-provided
housing or a housing allowance. For those living in the United States, the housing allowance is
known as Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH). BAH is based on three factors: paygrade (rank),
geographic location, and whether the service member has dependents. Paygrade and dependency
status are used to determine the type of accommodation-or "housing profile "-appropriate for
the service member (for example, one-bedroom apartment, two-bedroom townhouse, or three-
bedroom single family home). Geographic location is used to determine the average costs
associated with each of these housing profiles. BAH rates are higher in some areas than others,
but service members of similar paygrade and dependent status should be able to pay for roughly
comparable housing regardless of their duty location.
House-passed H.R. 4909 Senate-Passed S. 2943 P.L. 114-328
No similar provision Sec. 604 would add a new Sec. 604 requires DOD to
statutory provision defining how provide the House and Senate
BAH would be calculated for Armed Services Committee with a
certain members of the Armed report on transitioning from the
Forces beginning on January 1, current pay structure to a new
2018. In comparison to the existing "single-salary pay system"
formula, significant changes involve adequate to effectively recruit and
eliminating dependents as a factor retain a high-quality All-Volunteer
in setting BAH rates, requiring the Force, but which eliminates Basic
rate be based on actual housing Allowance for Housing and Basic
expenses, and reducing BAH for Allowance for Subsistence. The
service members who share report must include necessary
housing. legislative and administrative
proposals, along with an
implementation plan.
Discussion: The Senate bill would have altered the way in which BAH was calculated in several
ways. For covered service members, BAH would be based only on geographic location and
paygrade of recipient, eliminating dependents as a factor in the rate determination. The Senate bill
would have based BAH on actual service member housing expenditures up to a maximum
amount for a given location/paygrade, rather than the current specified rate. The provision would
also have changed how BAH was paid to service members who share the same living quarters,
reducing it in relationship to the number of people sharing the quarters. That is, if two or more
service members were to occupy the same housing, the amount of the allowance could not exceed
"the amount of the allowance otherwise payable to such member ... divided by ... the total number
of members occupying such housing." The new formula would have applied to certain members
of the Armed Forces beginning on January 1, 2018. Members covered by the new provision
would include service members who first become entitled to basic pay on or after January 1,
2018, certain reserve and retired personnel ordered to active duty, and a service member entitled
to the existing BAH on December 31, 2017, "within a particular housing or overseas area" and
who "after that date, loses uninterrupted eligibility to receive a basic allowance for housing
within an area of the United States or an area outside the United States, as applicable." The
Senate provision also would have required the Secretary of Defense to submit the proposed
regulations to implement this provision to the congressional defense committees by March 31,
2017. The House bill did not contain a similar provision.Congressional Research Service
5
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Kamarck, Kristy N.; Jansen, Don J.; Kapp, Lawrence; Mason, R. C. & Torreon, Barbara Salazar. FY2017 National Defense Authorization Act: Selected Military Personnel Issues, report, January 23, 2017; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc990766/m1/9/: accessed May 20, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.