Other Papers Say: Ease military housing burden

The following editorial originally appeared in The Seattle Times:

For military families stationed in the Pacific Northwest, an assigned base doesn’t often double as home. Most service members — roughly 3 in 4 at Joint-Base Lewis-McChord, the region’s largest installation — bring their families to live in surrounding communities. They face the same sticker shock as anyone living here — but Congress has failed to appropriately cover housing costs in Western Washington, as it has elsewhere for men and women in uniform.

U.S. Rep. Marilyn Strickland, D-Tacoma, has been steadfast in shining a spotlight on the housing burdens facing those in the military. Nearly 60 percent of military families reported in 2023 paying $251 or more above an allowance provided by the Defense Department to cover housing and utilities each month.

Until 2014, Congress funded the Base Allowance for Housing at 100 percent of local average costs. Members of Congress approved a reduction to 95 percent the next year, where it has remained. Strickland’s proposal for the 2025 Defense budget is to return it to full 100 percent funding, estimated to cost $1.2 billion. That’s enough to “put a couple hundred dollars in the pockets of military families each month,” she told The Seattle Times Editorial Board.

Mounting living costs don’t just eat away at paychecks. They force service members to live farther from places like JBLM, Naval Base Kitsap and other installations. These costs are a drag on morale, recruitment and the decision to join the armed forces in the first place — at a time when the United States can ill-afford to discourage military service.

Worryingly, the numbers of service members likely to recommend joining the military to others is dropping precipitously. In 2016, more than half of those in the military told Blue Star Families’ lifestyle survey they would recommend joining the armed forces; by 2022 that same number had dropped to under one-third.

From a perch on the Pacific Rim, current and future members of the armed services based here will confront an escalating number of global conflicts. The Bremerton-based USS Nimitz will soon deploy from the Northwest into any number of potential hot spots — possibly including an actual shooting war between navies and the Iranian-backed Houthis off Yemen’s coast. Members of an all-volunteer force willing to fight and defend the U.S. abroad do not need the additional stress due to housing.

On the Fourth of July weekend, a time when many Americans reflect on the sacrifices made by those who have served their country, members of Congress should also look forward: How can service members soldier on if they can’t afford to live in places where duty calls? Building more housing on bases is needed as well.

But in the near term, restoring military members’ housing allowances to 100 percent is a critical funding priority Congress must include in defense spending for 2025.