Military Hunger Prevention Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2339 To amend title 37, United States Code, to establish a basic needs allowance for low-income regular members of the Armed Forces. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 1, 2021 Mr. PANETTA (for himself, Mr. YOUNG, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mr. BACON, Mr. CARBAJAL, and Mr. BAIRD) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To amend title 37, United States Code, to establish a basic needs allowance for low-income regular members of the Armed Forces. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Military Hunger Pre- 4 vention Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2339.IH H2339 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2339 IH SEC. 2. BASIC NEEDS ALLOWANCE FOR LOW-INCOME REG- 1 ULAR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 7 of title 37, United 3 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 402a 4 the following new section: 5 ‘‘§ 402b. Basic needs allowance for low-income reg- 6 ular members of the armed forces 7 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE REQUIRED.—(1) Subject to para- 8 graph (2), the Secretary of Defense shall pay to each cov- 9 ered member a basic needs allowance in the amount deter- 10 mined for such member under subsection (b). 11 ‘‘(2) In the event a household contains two or more 12 covered members entitled to receive the allowance under 13 this section in a given year, only one allowance may be 14 paid for that year to a covered member among such cov- 15 ered members whom such covered members shall jointly 16 elect. 17 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF ALLOWANCE FOR A COVERED 18 MEMBER.—(1) The amount of the monthly allowance pay- 19 able to a covered member under subsection (a) for a year 20 shall be the aggregate amount equal to— 21 ‘‘(A) the aggregate amount equal to— 22 ‘‘(i) 130 percent of the Federal poverty 23 guidelines of the Department of Health and 24 Human Services for the location and number of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2339.IH H2339 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2339 IH persons in the household of the covered member 1 for such year; minus 2 ‘‘(ii) the gross household income of the 3 covered member during the preceding year; and 4 ‘‘(B) divided by 12. 5 ‘‘(2) The monthly allowance payable to a covered 6 member for a year shall be payable for each of the 12 7 months following— 8 ‘‘(A) in the case of an individual whom the Di- 9 rector of the Defense Finance and Accounting Serv- 10 ice first notifies in a given year under subsection 11 (c)(3)(A), March of such year; or 12 ‘‘(B) in the case of an individual whom the Di- 13 rector of the Defense Finance and Accounting Serv- 14 ice first notifies in a given year under subsection 15 (c)(3)(B), September of such year. 16 ‘‘(c) NOTICE OF ELIGIBILITY.—(1)(A) Not later than 17 June 30 and December 31 each year, the Director of the 18 Defense Finance and Accounting Service shall notify, in 19 writing, each individual whom the Director determines will 20 be a covered member during the following year, regarding 21 the potential entitlement of that individual to the allow- 22 ance described in subsection (a) for that following year. 23 ‘‘(B) The preliminary notice under subparagraph (A) 24 shall include information regarding financial management 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2339.IH H2339 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2339 IH and assistance programs administered by the Secretary of 1 Defense for which a covered member is eligible. 2 ‘‘(2) Not later than January 31 each year, each indi- 3 vidual who seeks to receive the allowance for such year 4 (whether or not subject to a notice for such year under 5 paragraph (1)) shall submit to the Director such informa- 6 tion as the Director shall require for purposes of this sec- 7 tion in order to determine whether or not such individual 8 is a covered member for such year. 9 ‘‘(3) The Director shall notify, in writing, each indi- 10 vidual the Director determines will be a covered member 11 in the following year not later than— 12 ‘‘(A) February 28 of each year; and 13 ‘‘(B) August 31 of each year. 14 ‘‘(d) ELECTION NOT TO RECEIVE ALLOWANCE.—(1) 15 A covered member otherwise entitled to receive the allow- 16 ance under subsection (a) for a year may elect, in writing, 17 not to receive the allowance for such year. Any election 18 under this subsection shall be effective only for the year 19 for which made. Any election for a year under this sub- 20 section is irrevocable. 21 ‘‘(2) A covered member who does not submit informa- 22 tion described in subsection (d)(2) for a year as otherwise 23 required by that subsection shall be deemed to have elect- 24 ed not to receive the allowance for such year. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2339.IH H2339 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2339 IH ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 1 ‘‘(1) The term ‘covered member’ means a reg- 2 ular member of the armed forces— 3 ‘‘(A) who has completed initial entry train- 4 ing; 5 ‘‘(B) whose gross household income during 6 the most recent year did not exceed an amount 7 equal to 130 percent of the Federal poverty 8 guidelines of the Department of Health and 9 Human Services for the location and number of 10 persons in the household of the covered member 11 for such year; and 12 ‘‘(C) who does not elect under subsection 13 (d) not to receive the allowance for such year. 14 ‘‘(2) The term ‘gross household income’ of a 15 covered member for a year for purposes of para- 16 graph (1)(B) does not include any basic allowance 17 for housing received by the covered member (and 18 any dependents of the covered member in the house- 19 hold of the covered member) during such year under 20 section 403 of this title. 21 ‘‘(f) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Defense shall 22 prescribe regulations for the administration of this section. 23 Subject to subsection (e)(2), such regulations shall specify 24 the income to be included in, and excluded from, the gross 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2339.IH H2339 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2339 IH household income of individuals for purposes of this sec- 1 tion.’’. 2 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 3 at the beginning of chapter 7 of such title is amended by 4 inserting after the item relating to section 402a the fol- 5 lowing new item: 6 ‘‘402b. Basic needs allowance for low-income regular members of the armed forces.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2339.IH H2339 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS