John Plahovinsak
On September 22. 2023, Representatives Mike Levin and Cathy McMorris Rodgers introduced the H.R. 5619 Military Dependents School Meal Eligibility Act of 2023 for consideration before Congress.
This bipartisan legislation would essentially remove the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) provision from the current military’s calculation of income for active-duty military families. The current BAH makes the active-duty families ineligible for free and reduced-price school meal programs.
BAH is a basic component of the military pay package designed to offset the costs for active-duty military being forced (because of limited existing on-post housing) to rent off-base. In theory, it is determined by the costs of adequate housing for civilians with comparable income levels to service members in the same area.
Many military families struggle with “food insecurity” because they are ineligible for federal food assistance. This is caused because the BAH is counted as income.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines “food insecurity” as a lack of consistent access to enough food for each person in a household to live an active, healthy life. “Food insecurity” is a measure of how many people cannot afford or don’t have consistent access to food.
In 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, twenty-four (24%) percent of active-duty military families experienced “food insecurity” over the course of the year. Earlier in 2018, research had indicated that over twenty-five (25.8%) percent of active-duty military families experienced “food insecurity.”
Many military families are still struggling in 2023 because they are ineligible for federal food assistance all because the military includes the BAH as military income. If the BAH was removed from the calculation of income by the military, more military families would have access to free and reduced-price school meals.
The proposed legislation, H.R. 5619, would require the USDA and the Department of Defense (DoD) to provide to Congress a report on the feasibility and cost of establishing a program to directly certify military dependents for free and reduced-price school meal programs.
“The men and women who risk their lives for our country should never struggle to feed their children,” said Congressman Levin. “Though there is much more we must do to improve the financial well-being of service- members, this is an important step toward ensuring military families based at Camp Pendleton and across the country can focus on fulfilling their mission rather than on where they find their next meal.”
“It is important to note that, while the military’s BAH is adjusted regionally to account for different housing costs, the base pay is not adjusted by region,” explained San Diego Hunger Coalition’s (SDHC) President Anahid Brakke.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, over 19,500 active service members received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Benefits in 2014. However, thousands of military families are denied federal food assistance because of their BAH is counted as income.
According to the San Diego Food Bank, nearly 39,000 veterans and active-duty military personnel and their dependents use their services every month.
“In an expensive area like San Diego County,” the SDHC President Brakke said “unintended consequence is that a bigger housing allowance makes military families ineligible for nutrition assistance programs like SNAP and free and reduced-price school meals, but their base pay isn’t high enough to cover their other basic expenses in such a high-cost area.”
“Right now, more children than ever are going to bed hungry,” said Andrew Cheyne of the California Association of Food Banks. “We must do everything we can to stop child hunger, especially for those in our military families.”
“For nearly a decade, we have been urging policymakers to address the shameful and painful reality that military families are struggling with food insecurity,” commented Abby Leibman, President of MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger.
“We’ve been disappointed time and again by leaders who fail to address the devastating reality that military families around the country are quietly relying on free and reduced-price school meals, as well as seeking help from food pantries that operate on or near every military base in the United States,” said President Leibman.
“It is completely unacceptable that thousands of military families find themselves ineligible for programs like SNAP simply because their Basic Allowance for Housing is unfairly treated as income,” concluded Leibman.
My Opinion: I believe that ensuring children of active-duty service members, especially the lower-ranked enlisted personnel (who have low-incomes), have access to school meals will reduce hunger in military families. This proposed legislation will also reduce the internal stress of our soldiers as they perform their duties.
Congressman Levin worked previously with Congresswoman Susan Davis to introduce a similar legislative bill (H.R. 8534) on October 7, 2020, during the 117th Congressional Session.
Their bill would have authorized the DoD to alert the state agencies overseeing school meals to directly certify the children of eligible active-duty service members. The state agencies would then add the children to their approved student list. Unfortunately, H.R. 8534 did not pass!
H.R. 5619, the Military Dependents School Meal Eligibility Act of 2023, should be passed, receive concurrence with a companion Senate Bill and enacted into law. Action by the Department of Defense (DoD) to change their method of their BAH calculations is all that is required to implement this proposed legislation once enacted.
Almost all children of entry-level active-duty service members would qualify for school meals through the enactment of the proposed bill, as well as many children of servicemembers up to the rank of Staff Sergeant.
BioSketch: John Plahovinsak is a retired 32-year Army veteran, who served from 1967 to 1999. He is the current Hospital Chairman of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Department of Ohio and can be contacted at: plahovinsak@msn.com.