Baldwin Joins New Bipartisan Bill to Tackle Military Hunger

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin joined a bipartisan group of Senators in introducing new legislation to support active duty military families experiencing food insecurity.

The Military Family Nutrition Access Act, led by U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), would address this critical issue by excluding the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH)—a subset of military compensation intended to cover the costs of off-base housing—from income calculations used to determine eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps), allowing more service members to qualify for the food assistance program.

“American military families who have served and sacrificed for our nation should never experience food insecurity. This bipartisan legislation will ensure nutritional assistance programs are accessible to service members and their families,” said Senator Baldwin. “Everyone who qualifies for SNAP should receive those benefits, especially members of our armed forces and their families who make sacrifices for our nation every day.”

“Far too many of our military families are going hungry because of unintended barriers that make them unable to access essential nutrition assistance programs that they should be eligible for,” Senator Duckworth said. “As someone whose family relied on these nutrition programs after my father lost his job, and who served in the uniform for most of my adult life, I’m proud to be introducing this bipartisan legislation that builds on the progress we made in last year’s defense bill on helping make sure our service members and their families have enough to eat.”

U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Patty Murray (D-WA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), and Raphael Warnock (D-GA) also cosponsored the bipartisan legislation.

This legislation is endorsed by a number of advocacy organizations, including: MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, the National Military Family Association (NMFA) and the Military Family Advisory Network (MFAN).