Senators Reintroduce Bipartisan Bill to Tackle Military Hunger

U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) joined more than a dozen of her Senate colleagues in reintroducing the bipartisan Military Family Nutrition Access Act to support active duty military families experiencing food insecurity and prevent hunger in these families. The legislation would address this critical issue by excluding Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH)—a subset of military compensation intended to cover the costs of off-base housing—from income calculations used to determine Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) eligibility. This would ensure SNAP mirrors other federal assistance programs that already exclude BAH to determine eligibility, such as Head Start, the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit.

In addition to Baldwin, the legislation is co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Angus King (I-ME), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Peter Welch (D-VT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Cory Booker (D-NJ), John Fetterman (D-PA), Jon Tester (D-MT), and Patty Murray (D-WA).

“Our military members and their families face many barriers when serving our country and food insecurity shouldn’t be one of them,” said Baldwin. “I am proud to support the Military Family Nutrition Access Act to remove the challenges that our military members face when it comes to putting food on the table so they can keep themselves and their families fed and keep our country safe.”

Tour after tour, our servicemembers bravely serve our nation. Yet, in July 2022, a study by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) found that at least 24% of active duty military—approximately 286,000 individuals—experience food insecurity. Of this group, junior enlisted are facing the highest risk. The bill introduced is intended to create a flexible, durable solution to military hunger that will last past the expiration of the basic needs allowance and reach more military families struggling to put food on the table.

This legislation is endorsed by The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), National Military Family Association, Military Officers Association of America, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, Alliance to End Hunger, MomsRising, Share Our Strength, VoteVets, Bread for the World, Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), Military Family Advisory Network and Feeding America.