Duckworth Urges Biden Administration to Take Swift Action on Military Hunger
[WASHINGTON, DC] – Combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), a member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) who served in the Reserve Forces for 23 years, is urging President Biden to take action to address discrepancies that contribute to perpetuating food insecurity in the military by blocking servicemembers from qualifying for certain federal nutrition assistance.
In part, the Senator wrote: “Just as we have seen heartbreaking examples of increasing numbers Americans requiring nutrition assistance for the very first time over the past year, our Nation’s military families have also needed more help to make sure they have enough to eat. The officials you appointed to lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) should act quickly to cease considering monthly Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) as earned income when determining a military household’s eligibility for USDA nutritional programs, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.”
Duckworth continued, “By including BAH as earned income, far too many military families are cut off from USDA nutrition assistance programs and must turn to their communities instead. This may explain why we already see food pantries and food banks operating on or near many military installations. Unfortunately, the Trump administration failed to fix these antiquated bureaucratic formula discrepancies that treat BAH as earned income for members of the U.S. Armed Forces, despite bipartisan support for making this change.”
Duckworth has long advocated for hunger assistance and greater attention to this issue among our servicemembers and their families. In June, Duckworth led a bipartisan letter making this request to former Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. She has introduced bipartisan legislation that sought to exclude the value of a housing allowance for a member of a uniformed service from any income, assets, or resources calculation for determining eligibility for any federal program issuing benefits for nutrition assistance. She also successfully secured an NDAA provision that required the U.S. Department of Defense to coordinate with USDA to collect data on the number of active-duty servicemembers who are using federal food assistance so the military has the information necessary to effectively ensure no one willing to risk their lives for our nation struggles to put food on the table for their families.
A full copy of the letter is available below and here.
Dear President Biden:
I write to request your administration take swift action to address the issue of food insecurity among military members and their families, which has only become more acute during this deadly global pandemic. Just as we have seen heartbreaking examples of increasing numbers Americans requiring nutrition assistance for the very first time over the past year, our Nation’s military families have also needed more help to make sure they have enough to eat.
The officials you appointed to lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) should act quickly to cease considering monthly Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) as earned income when determining a military household’s eligibility for USDA nutritional programs, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. This action would make USDA’s treatment of BAH consistent with its treatment by other Federal agencies, such as the Internal Revenue Service, which already exempts BAH from taxation and does not consider this allowance as earned income when determining eligibility for the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit or Low-Income Housing Tax Credit.
A recent survey by Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families demonstrated that nearly 40 percent of active duty families expressed a need for food and nutrition assistance. By including BAH as earned income, far too many military families are cut off from USDA nutrition assistance programs and must turn to their communities instead. This may explain why we already see food pantries and food banks operating on or near many military installations. Unfortunately, the Trump administration failed to fix these antiquated bureaucratic formula discrepancies that treat BAH as earned income for members of the U.S. Armed Forces, despite bipartisan support for making this change. I strongly urge you to take action where the prior administration failed. Thank you in advance for considering my request.
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