New food insecurity stipend should help as many troops as possible, lawmakers argue

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New food insecurity stipend should help as many troops as possible, lawmakers argue
By Leo Shane III
Mar 30, 03:47 PM
A new Basic Needs Allowance to help low-income troops is expected to be implemented by the military over the next year. (Mark Lennihan/AP)

House leaders are pushing military leaders to make eligibility and enrollment in the Defense Department’s new financial assistance program as generous as possible, saying that is needed to “address food and financial insecurity among servicemembers.”

In a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, 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.

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel Lt Col Charlie Brown SSG Michael Noll Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Cpl Vic Burk MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. SGT Charlie Lee PO2 Marco Monsalve SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth ] SSG William Jones Sgt (Join to see) 1SG Dan Capri CDR Andrew McMenamin, PhD SrA John Monette SPC Nancy Greene SGT Mark Anderson LTC (Join to see) SGT James Murphy SGT Damaso V Santana