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Virginia Senators introduce bill to protect military families in private housing

The bill introduced by Sen. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner addresses health, safety and environmental hazards in private military housing.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) along with other U.S. Senators introduced a bill to address health, safety and environmental hazards in private military housing.

The bill, Ensuring Safe Housing for our Military Act, is in response to the recent Reuters investigation that found hazardous living conditions in privatized military housing throughout the United States. The investigation revealed homes had mold, water leaks, and rodent and insect infestations.

RELATED: Mold, lead paint, rats: Deteriorating conditions in private military housing, survey shows

“Military families deserve first-rate housing, but I have heard from many servicemembers stationed in Virginia that companies providing private housing consistently fail to resolve health and safety problems in a timely fashion,” said Sen. Warner. “That’s unacceptable. Our legislation will give military officials and families more power to hold these companies accountable and make sure that they don’t get paid if they fail to fulfill their basic obligations.”

The proposed legislation would create stronger oversight mechanisms, which will allow the military to withhold payments to contractors until the issues are resolved. 

It would also require the military to withhold incentive fees to poorly performing contractors.

“The military must act quickly to address these dangerous housing conditions, and Congress should pass legislation to protect military families from ever having to go through this again,” Sen. Kaine said. “Our bill would help improve military oversight and increase accountability. This is about making sure service members can feel safe in their own homes, and I’ll be pushing for legislation like this to be included in this year’s national defense bill.”

Provisions of the bill include:

  • Basic allowance for housing: The installation commander shall withhold payment of a service member’s housing allowance until a military housing official has inspected an environmental, safety or health hazard, verified that appropriate remediation has taken place, and the service member concurs that the remediation is satisfactory. In the case that the hazard requires the service member to leave the housing unit, the housing company will pay all relocation costs. 
  • Housing costs: Ensures service members don’t have to pay a deposit, and any fee or penalty related to ending a lease early, except for normal wear and tear. The bill also requires contractors to reimburse service members for damage to their private property caused by a hazard.
  • Withholding incentive fees: Requires the Secretary of Defense to withhold incentive fees to any contractor who persistently fails to remedy hazards.
  • Common credentials: Creates standard credentials for health, safety and environmental inspectors across services, and including contractors, to ensure consistent inspection practices. 
  • Additional transparency for service members: Requires the Defense Department to establish an electronic system so that service members can track and oversee their work orders.

On Thursday during the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Senator Kaine called on military leaders to take immediate action to address the awful conditions. On Monday, March 11, Sen. Warner plans to meet with Virginia military families in Newport News to hear firsthand about the hazardous living conditions they have experienced living in privatized military housing.

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RELATED: Governor Northam signs legislation to reduce eviction rates in Virginia

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