Military HOMES Act Passes the House in the NDAA

Press Release

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed annual defense authorization legislation including the Military HOMES Act, Congresswoman Horn's bill to provide stronger protections for military families in on-base housing. Congresswoman Horn included her Military HOMES Act in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) when it passed the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), and last night the NDAA passed the full House in a bipartisan vote (295-125). The Military HOMES Act builds on progress made under the Tenant's Bill of Rights which Congresswoman Horn successfully fought to pass last year.

"Our military families deserve safe, quality homes that honor their service to our country," said Congresswoman Horn. "Last year, I was proud to pass the Tenants Bill of Rights as a part of the National Defense Authorization Act. The Military HOMES Act takes the next step by providing our service members and their families with protections to make them whole again. This bill will reimburse families for lost property due to substandard military housing, increase transparency, and protect families from unsafe housing, all while holding housing companies accountable. We still have more work to do, but this week's vote to pass the NDAA and the Military HOMES Act brings us closer to securing critical safeguards for our military families."

The Military Homes Act would:

Reimburse military families for lost personal property due to substandard military housing;
Increase transparency in performance fee contracts;
Create a Mold Mitigation Guidance Working Group in the Department of Defense;
Expand basic housing standards to cover government-owned and government-controlled military family housing overseas;
Provide a dedicated housing liaison to assist military families;
And, report on DoD oversight and management of privatized military housing.
Late last year the House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote, including Horn's Tenants Bill of Rights legislation to address unsafe housing conditions on military bases.

The NDAA which passed the House of Representatives on Tuesday evening also included a three percent pay raise for uniformed personnel as well as targeted provisions to address the COVID-19 pandemic. The NDAA passed the House Armed Services Committee with unanimous support from both parties and passed the House last night with a majority of Democrats and majority of Republicans voting in favor.

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