Bipartisan Bill Would Support Active Duty Military Families Experiencing Food Insecurity
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, announced that she joined Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) in introducing the bipartisan Military Family Nutrition Access Act. This legislation would support active duty military families experiencing food insecurity by excluding Basic Allowance for Housing, a subset of military compensation intended to cover the costs of off-base housing, from income calculations used to determine Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) eligibility.
“No American who is serving and sacrificing to protect our nation should ever struggle to put food on the table for themselves or their families,” said Senator Rosen. “With as many as 20 percent of those in our Armed Forces experiencing food insecurity, I’ve joined Senator Duckworth and my other Senate colleagues in introducing legislation to immediately address this urgent issue and make nutritional assistance programs more accessible for servicemembers and their families.”
“Far too many of our military families are going hungry because of unintended barriers that make them unable to access essential nutrition assistance programs that they should be eligible for,” said Senator Duckworth. “As someone whose family relied on these nutrition programs after my father lost his job, and who served in the uniform for most of my adult life, I’m proud to be introducing this bipartisan legislation that builds on the progress we made in last year’s defense bill on helping make sure our servicemembers and their families have enough to eat.”
This legislation is endorsed by a number of advocacy organizations, including MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, the National Military Family Association (NMFA), and the Military Family Advisory Network (MFAN).
Senator Rosen has been actively working to address the issue of food insecurity in the U.S. military. She has also helped introduce the Military Hunger Prevention Act, bipartisan legislation to support active duty military families experiencing food insecurity by creating a basic needs allowance to help put food on the table.
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