The hits just keep on coming.
Congress will vote this summer on whether married military couples should continue to be paid two BAH payments each month.
Stars & Stripes reported that the Senate Armed Services Committee has drafted the 2016 defense authorization bill to present to Congress this summer. In it, the committee suggests cutting BAH for married military members.
Currently, married members both receive BAH. The more senior ranking member receives
BAH with dependents (if the couple has children) while the other spouse is paid BAH at the without dependents rate.
The new bill suggests that only the higher ranking service member be paid BAH. And the other, nothing.
Couples assigned to different geographic locations, outside of reasonable commuting distances, would continue to receive dual BAH to pay for the two residences.
On social media, the masses have split into two very different camps. On one side are civilian spouses who say they see the extra BAH as a windfall for those families; an extra $1,000 a month to do whatever they want with.
On the other, are military spouses who say the extra money is used to cover the cost of having two military members in the household. They pay extra child care for extended duty hours, they pay extra helpers to pitch in when both are deployed. The extra money is necessary to help them do their job.
But if Congress wins, everyone will be feeling the changes. The bill essentially puts an end to unmarried military roommates too.
The bill requires E-4 servicemembers and above, who live together, to have their BAH payment capped at 75 percent.
These cuts are in addition to those requested by President Obama to slow BAH spending in the coming years. Currently the DOD spends over $1 billion annually to house its military and their families.
Obama has suggested that BAH pay be decreased over the coming years until military members are paying 5 percent of rent and utility costs out of pocket.
We have been told the cuts are coming. We have been told the spending will stop. We are officially at the beginning of that moment.
Programs have been slashed. Commissary prices may be rising and hours falling. Your quarters will no longer be a free perk of the job.
It may be time to take a very serious look at your household's spending habits and align them with the cuts Congress wants to make. None of us want these changes, but if they become law, none of us want to be caught with empty pockets, unable to pay for our homes and electricity.
Change is coming. Don't be caught unprepared.
Read Stars & Stripes full story here: http://www.stripes.com/opinion/dual-service-couples-may-see-housing-allowance-cut-under-senate-plan-1.349209
