{"id":40301,"date":"2022-03-30T19:47:29","date_gmt":"2022-03-30T19:47:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/03\/30\/new-food-insecurity-stipend-should-help-as-many-troops-as-possible-lawmakers-argue\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T07:42:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:42:09","slug":"new-food-insecurity-stipend-should-help-as-many-troops-as-possible-lawmakers-argue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/mil-money\/2022\/03\/30\/new-food-insecurity-stipend-should-help-as-many-troops-as-possible-lawmakers-argue\/","title":{"rendered":"New food insecurity stipend should help as many troops as possible, lawmakers argue"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

House leaders are pushing military leaders to make eligibility and enrollment in the Defense Department\u2019s new financial assistance program<\/a> as generous as possible, saying that is needed to \u201caddress food and financial insecurity among servicemembers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin<\/a>, the group urged military leaders to move quickly on implementing the new Basic Needs Allowance and to automatically grant the financial help to all eligible families unless they specifically opt out of the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also pushed for the department to exclude housing stipends in their calculations for program eligibility in order to benefit \u201cas many service members as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Monday, military leaders unveiled their budget plans for fiscal 2023<\/a>, including the new Basic Needs Allowance authorized by Congress last year. Comptroller Michael McCord hailed the program as a way to help \u201cthe most vulnerable portion of our force to address economic insecurity,\u201d but he offered few specifics on how the new benefit will be distributed.<\/p>\n\n\n\t