II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2137 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide a period for the relocation 

of spouses and dependents of certain members of the Armed Forces 

undergoing a permanent change of station in order to ease and facilitate 

the relocation of military families. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 6, 2015 

Mr. BLUNT (for himself, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. BURR, and Ms. HIRONO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide a period 

for the relocation of spouses and dependents of certain 

members of the Armed Forces undergoing a permanent 

change of station in order to ease and facilitate the 

relocation of military families. 

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 of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PERIOD FOR RELOCATION OF SPOUSES AND DE2 PENDENTS OF CERTAIN MEMBERS OF THE 

3 ARMED FORCES UNDERGOING A PERMANENT 

4 CHANGE OF STATION. 

5 (a) PERIOD OF RELOCATION.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 88 

7 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by in8 serting after section 1784a the following new sec9 tion: 

10 ‘‘§ 1784b. Relocation of spouses and dependents in 

11 connection with the permanent change of 

12 station of certain members 

13 ‘‘(a) ELECTION OF TIMING OF RELOCATION OF

14 SPOUSES IN CONNECTION WITH PCS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a 

16 member of the armed forces undergoing a perma17 nent change of station and the member’s spouse 

18 may jointly elect that the spouse may relocate to the 

19 location to which the member will relocate in connec20 tion with the permanent change of station at such 

21 time during the covered relocation period as the 

22 member and spouse jointly select. 

23 ‘‘(2) MEMBERS AND SPOUSES ELIGIBLE TO

24 MAKE ELECTIONS.—A member and spouse may 

25 make an election pursuant to paragraph (1) as fol26 lows: 


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1 ‘‘(A) If the spouse either— 

2 ‘‘(i) is gainfully employed at the be3 ginning of the covered relocation period 

4 concerned; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) is enrolled in a degree, certifi6 cate, or license granting program at the 

7 beginning of the covered relocation period. 

8 ‘‘(B) If the member and spouse have one 

9 or more dependents at the beginning of the cov10 ered relocation period concerned, either— 

11 ‘‘(i) at least one dependent is a child 

12 in elementary or secondary school at the 

13 beginning of the covered relocation period; 

14 ‘‘(ii) the spouse or at least one such 

15 dependent are covered by the Exceptional 

16 Family Member Program at the beginning 

17 of the covered relocation period; or 

18 ‘‘(iii) the member and spouse are car19 ing at the beginning of the covered reloca20 tion period for an immediate family mem21 ber with a chronic or long-term illness, as 

22 determined pursuant to the regulations ap23 plicable to the members’ armed force pur24 suant to subsection (g). 


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1 ‘‘(C) If the member is undergoing a per2 manent change of station as an individual 

3 augmentee or other deployment arrangement 

4 specified in the regulations applicable to the 

5 member’s armed force pursuant to subsection 

6 (g). 

7 ‘‘(D) If the member, spouse, or both, meet 

8 such other qualification or qualifications as are 

9 specified in the regulations applicable to the 

10 member’s armed force pursuant to subsection 

11 (g). 

12 ‘‘(E) In the case of a member and spouse 

13 who do not otherwise meet any qualification in 

14 subparagraphs (A) through (D), if the com15 mander of the member at the beginning of the 

16 covered relocation period determines that eligi17 bility to make the election is in the interests of 

18 the member and spouse for family stability dur19 ing the covered relocation period and in the in20 terests of the armed force concerned. Any such 

21 determination shall be made on a case-by-case 

22 basis. 

23 ‘‘(b) ELECTION OF TIMING OF RELOCATION OF CER24 TAIN DEPENDENTS OF UNMARRIED MEMBERS IN CON25 NECTION WITH PCS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A member of the armed 

2 forces undergoing a permanent change of station 

3 who has one or more dependents described in para4 graph (2) and is no longer married to the individual 

5 who is or was the parent (including parent by adop6 tion) of such dependents at the beginning of the cov7 ered period of relocation may elect that such depend8 ents may relocate to the location to which the mem9 ber will relocate in connection with the permanent 

10 change of station at such time during the covered 

11 relocation period as elected as follows: 

12 ‘‘(A) By the member alone if such indi13 vidual is dead or has no custodial rights in such 

14 dependents at the beginning of such period. 

15 ‘‘(B) By the member and such individual 

16 jointly in all other circumstances. 

17 ‘‘(2) DEPENDENTS.—The dependents described 

18 in this paragraph are as follows: 

19 ‘‘(A) Dependents over the age of 19 years 

20 for whom the member has power of attorney re21 garding residence. 

22 ‘‘(B) Dependents under the age of 20 

23 years who will reside with a caregiver according 

24 to the Family Care Plan of the member during 


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1 the covered period of relocation until relocated 

2 pursuant to an election under this subsection. 

3 ‘‘(c) HOUSING.—(1) If the spouse of a member relo4 cates before the member in accordance with an election 

5 pursuant to subsection (a), the member shall be assigned 

6 to quarters or other housing facilities of the United States 

7 as a bachelor, if such quarters are available, until the date 

8 of the member’s permanent change of station. 

9 ‘‘(2) If a spouse and any dependents of a member 

10 covered by an election under this section reside in housing 

11 of the United States at the beginning of the covered period 

12 of relocation, the spouse and dependents may continue to 

13 reside in such housing throughout the covered period of 

14 relocation, regardless of the date of the member’s perma15 nent change of station. 

16 ‘‘(3) If a spouse and any dependents of a member 

17 covered by an election under this section are eligible to 

18 reside in housing of the United States following the mem19 ber’s permanent change of station, the spouse and depend20 ents may commence residing in such housing at any time 

21 during the covered relocation period, regardless of the date 

22 of the member’s permanent change of station. 

23 ‘‘(d) BASIC ALLOWANCE FOR HOUSING; STIPEND.— 

24 (1)(A) In the case of a member undergoing a permanent 

25 change of station who is paid basic allowance for housing 


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1 at the with dependents’ rate at the beginning of the cov2 ered relocation period, the member shall be paid basic al3 lowance for housing at the with dependents’ rate for 

4 months beginning during the covered relocation period re5 gardless of the date on which the member’s spouse and 

6 any dependents relocate pursuant to an election under this 

7 section or the assignment of the member to quarters or 

8 facilities on a bachelor basis pursuant to subsection (c)(1). 

9 ‘‘(B) In determining the portion of basic allowance 

10 for housing payable to a member under this paragraph 

11 that is payable with respect to the member’s dependents, 

12 the geographic location of the dependents shall govern 

13 rather than the geographic location of the member. 

14 ‘‘(2) If quarters are not available for the assignment 

15 of a member as described in subsection (c)(1), the member 

16 shall be paid an amount (determined in accordance with 

17 the regulations applicable to the member’s armed force 

18 pursuant to subsection (g)) appropriate to compensate the 

19 member for cost of the housing in which the member re20 sides in lieu of such quarters until the date on which the 

21 member and the member’s spouse reside in the same geo22 graphic area after the member’s permanent change of sta23 tion. Any amount payable to a member pursuant to this 

24 paragraph is in addition to amounts payable to the mem25 ber under paragraph (1). 


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1 ‘‘(e) TRANSPORTATION OF PERSONAL PROPERTY.— 

2 (1) Any transportation allowances authorized for the 

3 transportation of the personal property of a member and 

4 spouse making an election under subsection (a) may be 

5 allocated among the personal property of the member and 

6 spouse in such manner as the member and spouse shall 

7 select. 

8 ‘‘(2) In this subsection, the terms ‘transportation al9 lowances’ and ‘personal property’ have the meaning given 

10 such terms in section 451(b) of title 37. 

11 ‘‘(f) APPROVAL.—(1) The Secretary of Defense shall 

12 establish a single approval process for applications for cov13 erage under this section. The process shall apply uniformly 

14 among the armed forces. 

15 ‘‘(2) Applications for approval for coverage under this 

16 section shall consist of such elements (including documen17 tary evidence) as the Secretary shall prescribe for pur18 poses of the approval process required by this subsection. 

19 ‘‘(3) The approval process required by this subsection 

20 shall ensure that the processing of applications for cov21 erage under this section is completed in a timely manner 

22 that permits a spouse and any dependents to relocate 

23 whenever during the covered relocation period selected in 

24 the election concerned. In meeting that requirement, the 

25 approval process shall provide for the processing of appliVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Oct 08, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2137.IS S2137

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1 cations at the lowest level in the chain of command of 

2 members as it appropriate to ensure proper administration 

3 of this section. 

4 ‘‘(g) REGULATIONS.—Each Secretary concerned shall 

5 prescribe regulations for the administration of this section 

6 with respect to the armed force or forces under the juris7 diction of such Secretary. 

8 ‘‘(h) COVERED RELOCATION PERIOD DEFINED.—In 

9 this section, the term ‘covered relocation period’, in con10 nection with the permanent change of station of a mem11 ber, means the period that— 

12 ‘‘(1) begins 180 days before the date of the per13 manent change of station; and 

14 ‘‘(2) ends 180 days after the date of the perma15 nent change of station.’’. 

16 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec17 tions at the beginning of subchapter I of chapter 88 

18 of such title is amended by inserting after the item 

19 relating to section 1784a the following new item: 

‘‘1784b. Relocation of spouses and dependents in connection with the permanent 

change of station of certain members.’’. 

20 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

21 by this subsection shall take effect on the date of the 

22 enactment of this Act and shall apply with respect 

23 to permanent changes of station of members of the 


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1 Armed Forces that occur on or after the date that 

2 is 180 days after such effective date. 

3 (b) COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED

4 STATES REPORT.— 

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

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

7 Comptroller General of the United States shall sub8 mit to Congress a report on potential actions of the 

9 Department of Defense to enhance the stability of 

10 military families undergoing a permanent change of 

11 station. 

12 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report required by para13 graph (1) shall include the following: 

14 (A) A comparison of the current percent15 age of spouses in military families who work 

16 with the percentage of spouses in military fami17 lies who worked in the recent past, and an as18 sessment of the impact of the change in such 

19 percentage on military families. 

20 (B) An assessment of the effects of reloca21 tion of military families undergoing a perma22 nent change of station on the employment, edu23 cation, and licensure of spouses of military fam24 ilies. 


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1 (C) An assessment of the effects of reloca2 tion of military families undergoing a perma3 nent change of station on military children, in4 cluding effect on their mental health. 

5 (D) An identification of potential actions 

6 of the Department to enhance the stability of 

7 military families undergoing a permanent 

8 change of station and to generate cost savings 

9 in connection with such changes of station. 

10 (E) Such other matters as the Comptroller 

11 General considers appropriate. 

Æ 


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