Congresswoman Escobar Votes to Bolster Quality of Life for our Servicemembers, Pass FY 25 NDAA

Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16) member of the House Armed Services Committee, voted for the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 (NDAA). This bipartisan legislation significantly increases quality of life improvements for our servicemembers and their families in El Paso and beyond, invests historic amounts in Fort Bliss, strengthens our national security, and advances our leadership in the world.

While the FY25 NDAA is not a perfect piece of legislation and reflects the realities of a divided government, it was heavily guided by the final report of the Quality of Life panel. Congresswoman Escobar was privileged to be one of only eight members of Congress to serve on the bipartisan Quality of Life panel, which focused on pay and compensation, housing, health care, childcare, and spousal support, in an effort to ensure the United States continues to recruit and retain the most talented military and civilian workforce in the world. All the recommendations in her report were adopted in the FY25 NDAA.

Throughout 2023, the Congresswoman held listening sessions on Fort Bliss to inform her work on the panel and ensure servicemembers and their families had their voices heard in the NDAA process. The result is a 14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted servicemembers and a 4.5% pay raise for all other servicemembers. Moreover, it authorizes over $17.5 billion in military construction projects, to include $44 million to complete the Rail Yard at Fort Bliss (which Fort Bliss leadership and Congresswoman Escobar have been working toward for years), and an additional $2.5 million for Minority Serving Institutions like UTEP to partner with the military services. This comes after Congresswoman Escobar and Under Secretary of the Army, Gabe Camarillo, announced a new initiative to create an expanded talent Pipeline with UTEP, a commitment of over $6.5 million to link El Paso students with Army opportunities in 2022.

"Having had the privilege to serve as one of only eight members on the Quality of Life panel, I'm proud to share that the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 is a truly bipartisan culmination of the nearly two-year long effort spearheaded by our panel for the men and women of our military and their families," said Congresswoman Escobar. "The provisions we included invest in our military's most critical asset - its people. From compensation, military spouse support, and childcare to housing and healthcare, we're ensuring our military can recruit and retain the best our country has to offer.

"I'm also excited to announce that we've built on our work of securing $74 million for the Fort Bliss rail yard last year by bringing an additional $44 million to fully fund that project in this year's budget."

Below is an overview of some key FY25 NDAA provisions authored and championed by Congresswoman Escobar:

Invests in Fort Bliss and El Paso

• Authorizes allocation of $44M to Complete the Rail Yard at Fort Bliss in addition to the $74 million the Congresswoman secured last NDAA.
• Authorizes $10 million over the President's Budget request for Low-Cost Missile Systems Development in collaboration with El Paso Makes
• Allows the Secretary of the Army to convey land to El Paso Water for the purposes of stormwater flood control for Fort Bliss and the surrounding areas.

Invests in People

Pay and Compensation

• 14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted service members (E-4 and below) and 4.5% basic pay increase for all other service members.
• Requires the evaluation of the current calculation methods for Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS) to ensure that it offsets the costs of service members' meals.
• Raises the threshold for the Basic Needs Allowance (BNA) to 200% of federal poverty guidelines.
• Reevaluates how cost-of-living allowances are calculated so they include the appropriate costs of location-specific items such as food, tolls, and other fees that may be charged in the continental United States or outside the continental U.S.
• Allows service members and families to ship and store up to two privately owned vehicles during a permanent change of station move to certain overseas locations.
• Allows civilian employees to stay in their positions overseas longer than the previous limitation of 5 years.
• Expands the Junior Reserves Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) program.

Health Care

• Eliminates co-pays for TRICARE beneficiaries for for contraceptives acquired through retail pharmacies and the national mail-order pharmacy.
• Directs the Joint Service Committee on Military Justice to conduct a review and make recommendations to enhance patient privacy protections as it relates to diagnoses and treatment information, especially important for victims of sexual assault and violence.
• Continues the expansion and oversight of DoD's Defense Warfighter Brain Health Initiative.
• Expands efforts to mitigate and treat blast overpressure-related injuries.
• Expands license portabilty for health care providers who provide medical services to reservists.
• Establishes a program to prevent and manage perinatal mental health conditions.
• Improves medical recruiting through an increase in the Health Professions Scholarship bonus.

Housing

• Requires toe DoD's annual budget to identify the cost to fully fund the Facility Sustainment, Restoration, and Modernization (FSRM) accounts - which provide the funds to keep DoD facilities in working order - and reduce the backlog of required maintenance.
• Sets a statutory minimum level of investment for each military department to ensure adequate investment in facilities maintenance, sustainment, restoration, and modernizations.
• Adds $177 million in military construction design funds to accelerate replacement of poor and failing vacant housing and barracks.

Childcare

• Fully funds childcare fee assistance programs to eliminate fee assistance wait lists for eligible families.
• Authorizes $50 million for local educational agencies with military dependent students and $20 million for local educational agencies eligible to receive payment for children with severe disabilities.
• To recruit and retain DoD childcare personnel the FY25 NDAA:
  • Ensures pay for childcare staff at DoD childcare centers is competitive with private industry.
  • Implements additional benefits for childcare providers, including requiring all military services to provide free childcare to the first child of a childcare provider in a DoD Child Development Program and authorize the services to cover up to 100% of childcare fees for any additional children.
• Requires local educational agencies to provide military recruiters with the same access provided to any prospective employer, institution of higher education, or other recruiters.

Spousal Support

• Extends the Military Spouse Career Accelerator Pilot which provides employment support to military spouses through a paid fellowship with employers across various industries.
• Permanently grants authority to DoD to make transferring professional licenses between states easier for military spouses.
• Expands eligibility for DoD Child Development Programs - both on and off installation - for unemployed military spouses actively seeking employment.

More information about the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 can be found here.

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