Equal Pay for Servicewomen Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2502 To direct the Secretaries concerned to take certain actions to reduce gender- related inequities in costs of uniforms to members of the Armed Forces. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 14, 2021 Ms. BROWNLEY (for herself, Ms. SPEIER, and Ms. STEFANIK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To direct the Secretaries concerned to take certain actions to reduce gender-related inequities in costs of uniforms to 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 ‘‘Equal Pay for Service- 4 women Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. REDUCTION OF GENDER-RELATED INEQUITIES IN 6 COSTS OF UNIFORMS TO MEMBERS OF THE 7 ARMED FORCES. 8 (a) IMPLEMENTATION OF GAO RECOMMENDA- 9 TIONS.—Not later than September 30, 2022, the Sec- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Jun 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2502.IH H2502 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2502 IH retary of Defense shall implement the four recommenda- 1 tions of the Government Accountability Office in the re- 2 port titled ‘‘Military Service Uniforms DOD Could Better 3 Identify and Address Out-of-Pocket Cost Inequities’’ 4 (GAO–21–120). 5 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than September 30, 6 2022, each Secretary concerned (as that term is defined 7 in section 101 of title 10, United States Code) shall pre- 8 scribe regulations that ensure the following: 9 (1) The out-of-pocket cost to an officer or en- 10 listed member of an Armed Force for a uniform (or 11 part of such uniform) may not exceed such cost to 12 another officer or enlisted member of that Armed 13 Force for such uniform (or part, or equivalent part, 14 of such uniform) solely based on gender. 15 (2) If a change to a uniform of an Armed Force 16 affects only officers or enlisted members of one gen- 17 der, an officer or enlisted member of such gender in 18 such Armed Force shall be entitled to an allowance 19 equal to the out-of-pocket cost to the officer or en- 20 listed member relating to such change. 21 (c) ONE-TIME ALLOWANCE.—Not later than Sep- 22 tember 30, 2022, each Secretary concerned shall provide 23 a one-time allowance to each female officer and female en- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Jun 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2502.IH H2502 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2502 IH listed member under the jurisdiction of the Secretary con- 1 cerned. The amount of such an allowance shall be— 2 (1) based on gender disparities in out-of-pocket 3 costs relating to uniforms (including the costs of 4 changes to uniforms that affected only one gender) 5 during the 10 years preceding the date of the enact- 6 ment of this Act; and 7 (2) proportional to the length of service of the 8 officer or enlisted member in the Armed Forces. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Jun 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2502.IH H2502 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS