Bennet, Warnock Introduce Legislative Package to Bolster Affordable Military Housing for Servicemembers

Press Release

Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet joined U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and a group of his colleagues to introduce a legislative package that will examine existing barriers for servicemembers across Colorado and nationwide to obtain affordable and quality housing. The legislation aims to provide recourse to service members and military families who are left vulnerable to fluctuating markets, rising prices, inadequate base housing, and privatized military housing companies.

"With our country in the middle of a housing crisis, we need to ensure military families can find an affordable place to live and remove any existing barriers," said Bennet. "This is the least we can do for our servicemembers and their loved ones who sacrifice so much for our country."

The legislative package includes the following legislation:

The BAH Calculation Improvement Act: This bill would direct the Department of Defense to examine Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) rates nationwide and determine if BAH should be calculated more often, whether school districts can be included in BAH calculations, and whether the Department can develop a more effective allowance algorithm. Given the amount of publicly available data in the rental market, it is far past time for the Department to look at alternative methods of calculating BAH that are more responsive and transparent.

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