Copyright: Chris Parypa Photography
The U.S. House has passed their annual defense authorization bill – H.R. 5515, 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Most important to the multifamily industry, the legislation includes a provision mitigating reductions to military housing benefits. Previous defense authorization bills established a five percent overall reduction to the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH), leading NMHC/NAA to raise serious concerns about the negative impacts of BAH cuts for service members and housing providers alike.
This year’s bill would prevent BAH reductions from moving forward in 2019 and compel the Department of Defense (DoD) to study the effects of benefit cuts to the Military Housing Privatization Initiative. Specifically, the provision requires DoD to develop a plan for ensuring the stability of recapitalization efforts in privatized military housing.
The housing provision is part of a larger measure that authorized $717 billion in defense programs. The Senate will consider their version of the bill later this year.
NMHC/NAA will continue to support full funding of military housing benefits and advocate for the preservation of privatized military housing.
Learn more about privatized military housing here.
