June 21, 2024

Key Duckworth Provisions in New National Defense Bill to Support Illinois Servicemembers and Jobs

 

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), who served in the Reserve Forces for 23 years and is a member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), secured several important provisions to support and benefit Illinois in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that the committee passed late last week and is now expected to be considered by the full U.S. Senate. Some of Duckworth’s Illinois priorities included in the committee-passed legislation would support the communities and servicemembers near Illinois’s Rock Island Arsenal and Scott Air Force Base as well as help school districts near military bases alleviate state and local tax funding shortfalls exacerbated by their proximity to those bases by enabling the school districts to receive Impact Aid from the Department of Defense. The NDAA authorizes funding for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), sets our nation’s defense policy and ensures that our servicemembers have the tools they need to defend our nation.

“The brave men and women in uniform who serve our nation at home and abroad deserve to know that our country fully supports them as they and their families sacrifice to defend our country and our Constitution,” Duckworth said. “Though I do not support every provision in this bipartisan compromise, I’m proud I was able to secure critical provisions that support our military families and the communities around military bases in Illinois, and I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to continue improving this NDAA and ensure Congress passes a strong bill that lets our troops know we have their backs.”

Key Duckworth provisions included in this year’s Committee-passed NDAA to support Illinois include:

  • Increasing Playground Inclusivity for Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) Families by authorizing a pilot program to build or upgrade inclusive playgrounds at six military installations that directly support EFMP families.
  • Supporting Community Schools and Kids by authorizing an additional $80 million for school districts to receive critical Impact Aid from the DoD, rectifying state and local tax base funding shortfalls due to the presence of federal property in their district. For Illinois school districts with large populations of students living on military bases, this funding will be critical in ensuring our schools, teachers and students have the resources needed and budget shortfalls are addressed.
  • Expanding Aeromedical Evacuation Capabilities by requiring a study on creating an Aeromedical Evacuation Center of Excellence to enhance advanced training and interoperability for operations in a contested environment, building on the outstanding work done by the men and women of TRANSCOM at Illinois’s Scott Air Force Base.
  • Sustaining the Army’s Real Estate Management Cost Savings Tools by authorizing a one-year extension of the Army’s Real Property Management program, which aims to use taxpayer dollars efficiently and identify opportunities for installations like Rock Island Arsenal.
  • Building Stronger Local Communities by allowing the Department to make grants to local communities to improve infrastructure around military bases that benefit local communities, like those surrounding Rock Island Arsenal.
  • Ensuring Lovell Federal Health Care Center’s Continued Success by extending for one year the authority of the Joint Medical Facility Demonstration Fund U.S. Treasury account, which serves as the operating account for the Lovell FHCC, located in North Chicago, Illinois. The bill also includes language authorizing transfer of funds specifically to Lovell that Duckworth and Senator Durbin worked to secure.
  • Resourcing a Vital USTRANSCOM Requirement through a Duckworth-supported amendment authored by Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) that would increase the cap on the DoD's authority to buy used sealift vessels, a major priority for Belleville-based U.S TRANSCOM.
  • Enabling the Military’s Use of Sustainable Fuel, much of which is produced in Illinois, by removing an existing prohibition on the bulk purchase of renewable fuels to allow the Department to take advantage of advancing fuel technology to make logistical, environmental and health gains for servicemembers.
  • Expanding the Department's use of Illinois-produced Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) by authorizing the expansion of a Duckworth-created pilot program to six geographically diverse facilities that can benefit from using the latest SAF technology.

A full list of Duckworth’s priorities included in the committee-passed FY25 NDAA, including a historic provision that would expand access to IVF for uniformed servicemembers and military families, can be found here. 

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