WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, introduced the Military Housing Oversight and Service Member Protection Act, a comprehensive bill to address a series of disturbing reports revealing unsafe and unsanitary conditions in privatized, on-base housing for military personnel and their families.

“Our servicemembers and their families bravely stepped up to answer the call to serve, and it is our responsibility that they have access to safe homes. This comprehensive legislation will ensure privatized military housing meets the living standards that our servicemembers deserve, while providing protections for those who were harmed by hazardous conditions in the past,” said Brown.

In 1996, Congress established the Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI), which allowed the Department of Defense (DOD) to partner with private sector developers who would own, operate, and maintain military family housing and, in return, have access to federal direct loans, loan guarantees, and other incentives.

series of recent investigative reports by Reuters revealed that servicemembers and their families who live in on-base housing owned by MHPI developers have been exposed to lead paint, vermin infestations, fecal and urine trails, bursting pipes, flooding, mold growth, collapsed ceilings, electric and fire hazards, and other substandard living conditions as a result of inadequate maintenance by housing companies.

The Military Housing Oversight and Service Member Protection Act would take several steps to fix these problems by: (1) granting the Secretary of Defense clear authority to ensure that privatized military housing providers are meeting the terms of their contracts; (2) giving military family tenants greater rights to ensure their homes are safe, clean and meet all appropriate standards of habitability and providing them with tools to learn about problems with housing providers before they sign a lease; (3) ensuring that military families who developed medical conditions as a result of unsafe housing receive appropriate compensation and medical care; and (4) providing greater transparency and accountability for the 50-year housing contracts each company signs with the Department of Defense.

The legislation would:

  • Increase Oversight by requiring the Secretary of Defense to establish formal written guidance for all housing contracts, and requiring the Secretary to withhold funds, and ultimately rescind the contract, if the housing provider breaches contract terms.
  • Establish Tenant Protections by allowing tenants to withhold their Basic Allowance for Housing and approve all maintenance repairs performed on their residence.
  • Provide Transparency by requiring the Secretary of Defense to establish a public complaint database accessible by all tenants, requiring the Secretary to include a provision in contracts with housing providers that they address all such complaints, and requiring improved transparency in the contracts that housing developers sign with DOD to provide on-base housing.
  • Ensure Medical Care for Affected Military Families by directing DOD to establish a health registry for all servicemembers and families and establishing a presumption of service-connected disability for servicemembers and lifetime medical care for dependents.
  • Strengthen Ethics by prohibiting all senior DOD officials from owning any investments in an entity owned or controlled by a privatized housing provider (mutual funds excluded).

The Military Housing Oversight and Service Member Protection Act is led by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and in addition to Brown, is cosponsored by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM). The bill is also endorsed by the Military Officers Association of America, the National Military Family Association, and the Military Housing Advocacy Network. 

 

 

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