II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1154 

To amend title 37, United States Code, to provide for the housing treatment 

of members of the Armed Forces and their spouses and dependents 

undergoing a permanent change of station in the United States, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 17, 2017 

Mr. BLUNT (for himself and Mrs. GILLIBRAND) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend title 37, United States Code, to provide for the 

housing treatment of members of the Armed Forces and 

their spouses and dependents undergoing a permanent 

change of station in the United States, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Military Family Sta5 bility Act’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. HOUSING TREATMENT FOR CERTAIN MEMBERS OF 

2 THE ARMED FORCES, AND THEIR SPOUSES 

3 AND OTHER DEPENDENTS, UNDERGOING A 

4 PERMANENT CHANGE OF STATION WITHIN 

5 THE UNITED STATES. 

6 (a) HOUSING TREATMENT.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 7 of title 37, United 

8 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 

9 403 the following new section: 

10 ‘‘§ 403a. Housing treatment for certain members of 

11 the Armed Forces, and their spouses and 

12 other dependents, undergoing a perma13 nent change of station within the United 

14 States 

15 ‘‘(a) HOUSING TREATMENT FOR CERTAIN MEMBERS

16 WHO HAVE A SPOUSE OR OTHER DEPENDENTS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) HOUSING TREATMENT REGULATIONS.— 

18 The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations 

19 that permit a member of the armed forces described 

20 in paragraph (2) who is undergoing a permanent 

21 change of station within the United States to re22 quest the housing treatment described in subsection 

23 (b) during the covered relocation period of the mem24 ber. 

25 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE MEMBERS.—A member de26 scribed in this paragraph is any member who— 

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1 ‘‘(A) has a spouse who is gainfully em2 ployed or enrolled in a degree, certificate or li3 cense granting program at the beginning of the 

4 covered relocation period; 

5 ‘‘(B) has one or more dependents attend6 ing an elementary or secondary school at the 

7 beginning of the covered relocation period; 

8 ‘‘(C) has one or more dependents enrolled 

9 in the Exceptional Family Member Program; or 

10 ‘‘(D) is caring for an immediate family 

11 member with a chronic or long-term illness at 

12 the beginning of the covered relocation period. 

13 ‘‘(b) HOUSING TREATMENT.— 

14 ‘‘(1) CONTINUATION OF HOUSING FOR THE

15 SPOUSE AND OTHER DEPENDENTS.—If a spouse or 

16 other dependent of a member whose request under 

17 subsection (a) is approved resides in Government18 owned or Government-leased housing at the begin19 ning of the covered relocation period, the spouse or 

20 other dependent may continue to reside in such 

21 housing during a period determined in accordance 

22 with the regulations prescribed pursuant to this sec23 tion. 

24 ‘‘(2) EARLY HOUSING ELIGIBILITY.—If a 

25 spouse or other dependent of a member whose remstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

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1 quest under subsection (a) is approved is eligible to 

2 reside in Government-owned or Government-leased 

3 housing following the member’s permanent change 

4 of station within the United States, the spouse or 

5 other dependent may commence residing in such 

6 housing at any time during the covered relocation 

7 period. 

8 ‘‘(3) TEMPORARY USE OF GOVERNMENT-OWNED

9 OR GOVERNMENT-LEASED HOUSING INTENDED FOR

10 MEMBERS WITHOUT A SPOUSE OR DEPENDENT.—If 

11 a spouse or other dependent of a member relocates 

12 at a time different from the member in accordance 

13 with a request approved under subsection (a), the 

14 member may be assigned to Government-owned or 

15 Government-leased housing intended for the perma16 nent housing of members without a spouse or de17 pendent until the member’s detachment date or the 

18 spouse or other dependent’s arrival date, but only if 

19 such Government-owned or Government-leased hous20 ing is available without displacing a member without 

21 a spouse or dependent at such housing. 

22 ‘‘(4) EQUITABLE BASIC ALLOWANCE FOR HOUS23 ING.—If a spouse or other dependent of a member 

24 relocates at a time different from the member in ac25 cordance with a request approved under subsection 

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1 (a), the amount of basic allowance for housing pay2 able may be based on whichever of the following 

3 areas the Secretary concerned determines to be the 

4 most equitable: 

5 ‘‘(A) The area of the duty station to which 

6 the member is reassigned. 

7 ‘‘(B) The area in which the spouse or 

8 other dependent resides, but only if the spouse 

9 or other dependent resides in that area when 

10 the member departs for the duty station to 

11 which the member is reassigned, and only for 

12 the period during which the spouse or other de13 pendent resides in that area. 

14 ‘‘(C) The area of the former duty station 

15 of the member, but only if that area is different 

16 from the area in which the spouse or other de17 pendent resides. 

18 ‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION RELATED TO CERTAIN

19 BASIC ALLOWANCE FOR HOUSING PAYMENTS.—Nothing 

20 in this section shall be construed to limit the payment or 

21 the amount of basic allowance for housing payable under 

22 section 403(d)(3)(A) of this title to a member whose re23 quest under subsection (a) is approved. 

24 ‘‘(d) HOUSING TREATMENT EDUCATION.—The regu25 lations prescribed pursuant to this section shall ensure the 

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1 relocation assistance programs under section 1056 of title 

2 10 include, as part of the assistance normally provided 

3 under such section, education about the housing treatment 

4 available under this section. 

5 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 ‘‘(1) COVERED RELOCATION PERIOD.—(A) Sub7 ject to subparagraph (B), the term ‘covered reloca8 tion period’, when used with respect to a permanent 

9 change of station of a member of the armed forces, 

10 means the period that— 

11 ‘‘(i) begins 180 days before the date of the 

12 permanent change of station; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) ends 180 days after the date of the 

14 permanent change of station. 

15 ‘‘(B) The regulations prescribed pursuant to 

16 this section may provide for a lengthening of the 

17 covered relocation period of a member for purposes 

18 of this section. 

19 ‘‘(2) DEPENDENT.—The term ‘dependent’ has 

20 the meaning given that term in section 401 of this 

21 title. 

22 ‘‘(3) PERMANENT CHANGE OF STATION.—The 

23 term ‘permanent change of station’ means a perma24 nent change of station described in section 452(b)(2) 

25 of this title.’’. 

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1 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec2 tions at the beginning of chapter 7 such title is 

3 amended by inserting after the item relating to sec4 tion 403 the following new item: 

‘‘403a. Housing treatment for certain members of the armed forces, and their 

spouses and other dependents, undergoing a permanent change 

of station within the United States.’’. 

5 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

6 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

7 of this Act, and shall apply with respect to permanent 

8 changes of station of members of the Armed Forces that 

9 occur on or after October 1 of the fiscal year that begins 

10 after such date of enactment. 

11 (c) COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED

12 STATES REPORT.— 

13 (1) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than one 

14 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

15 Comptroller General of the United States shall sub16 mit to Congress a report on potential actions of the 

17 Department of Defense to enhance the well-being of 

18 military families undergoing a permanent change of 

19 station. 

20 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report required by para21 graph (1) shall include the following: 

22 (A) A comparison of the current percent23 age of spouses in military families who work 

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1 lies who worked in the recent past, and an as2 sessment of the impact of the change in such 

3 percentage on military families. 

4 (B) An assessment of the effects of reloca5 tion of military families undergoing a perma6 nent change of station on the employment, edu7 cation, and licensure of spouses of military fam8 ilies. 

9 (C) An identification of potential actions of 

10 the Department to enhance the well-being of 

11 military families undergoing a permanent 

12 change of station and to generate cost savings 

13 in connection with such changes of station. 

14 (D) An assessment of the utilization rate 

15 of the housing treatment provided by section 

16 403a of title 37, United States Code (as added 

17 by subsection (a)). 

18 (E) Such other matters as the Comptroller 

19 General considers appropriate. 

20 (3) ADDITIONAL ELEMENT ON FUNDING MILI21 TARY FAMILY SUPPORT PROGRAMS.—In addition to 

22 the elements specified in paragraph (2), the report 

23 required by paragraph (1) shall also include a com24 parison of— 

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1 (A) the average annual amount spent by 

2 each Armed Force over the five-year period 

3 ending on December 31, 2016, on recruitment 

4 and retention bonuses and special pays for 

5 members of such Armed Force; and 

6 (B) the average annual amount spent by 

7 such Armed Force over such period on pro8 grams for military families and support of mili9 tary families. 

Æ 

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