As part of last summer’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” reconciliation legislation, Congress authorized $2.9 billion in supplemental funding for the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH), a win for the millions of servicemembers living off base and a long-time MOAA priority to restore the housing allowance to 100%.

Although questions remained about how those funds would be spent and how they would be appropriated in future years, MOAA welcomed the attention to persisting housing challenges for the all-volunteer force, including $57 billion for facility sustainment, restoration and modernization, which includes remediation or elimination for all substandard unaccompanied housing.

Late in the year, in an address to the nation, the President announced that nearly 1.5 million servicemembers would receive a tax-free $1,776 bonus before the Christmas holiday, drawing on the funds allotted for restoring the housing allowance.

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Now, retiring Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), former chair of the House Armed Services Committee Quality of Life Panel and a retired Air Force brigadier general, is pushing for funding to be restored to the budget. Bacon released a statement in advance of the April 29 House budget hearing on the FY 2027 defense budget request claiming the housing allowance adjustment was targeted to support those living off post and that the 2026 BAH tables still reflect the 5% gap in the housing allowance.

The FY 2027 budget request includes a 6.2% BAH increase over the previous year’s request, less the supplemental funding request passed in the reconciliation bill. However, the 2027 BAH request comes in at a 2.5% decrease in funding when including the supplemental funding in the 2026 BAH figures, suggesting that the new request does not reflect the full 5% BAH restoration.

However, at the budget hearing, Secretary Pete Hegseth agreed with Bacon’s concerns about the housing costs faced by servicemembers and their families living off base and pledged to work with Congress to close that gap. Hegseth cited a graduated pay increase for 2027 as part of the Pentagon’s plan to ensure servicemember pay keeps pace with living costs in all the communities in which families are asked to serve. That pay increase would include a 7% boost for junior enlisted ranked E-1 to E-5, 6% for those ranked E-6 to O-3, and 5% for those ranked O-4 and up.

MOAA looks forward to working with Congress and the Pentagon to permanently close the gap in BAH funding, ensuring that servicemembers and their families receive a full and fair housing allowance that helps to protect them from being disproportionately impacted by shifts in the market.