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SALT LAKE CITY — Junior enlisted service members may get a significant pay raise after the U.S. House of Representatives voted Wednesday to pass the National Defense Authorization Act.
Also included in the bill are several controversial provisions to restrict gender-related medical treatments to children of military service members and a ban on endorsements of critical race theory in Pentagon-run academic institutions and military training. Many Democrats took issue with those provisions and even some Republicans said the annual defense spending bill could have garnered more support without them.
Utah's Republican representatives all voted in favor of the package, and Rep. Blake Moore — a leader of the House GOP conference — said the act "takes meaningful steps to support (Hill Air Force Base's) mission, improve the lives of our military personnel and their families, and strengthen deterrence against adversaries like China, Russia and Iran."
Rep. Burgess Owens celebrated the diversity, equity and inclusion provision, saying they "(put) an end to this painful and disruptive woke chapter" in military history, while Rep. John Curtis celebrated an amendment he sponsored that prohibits the defense secretary from knowingly allowing companies that boycott U.S. ally Israel to sell in commissary stores or military exchanges.
"This bill reflects Utah's priorities by bolstering our defense capabilities, strengthening our alliances, and ensuring our military is well-prepared to meet evolving threats," Curtis said. "These amendments reaffirm our unwavering commitment to Israel and ensure we remain vigilant in addressing threats from Iran. I'm pleased to see this bipartisan legislation move forward."
The bill in its current version, sitting at almost 1,500 pages, covers everything from blocking plastic shopping bag bans in commissaries to preventing the spread of coconut rhinoceros beetles in Hawaii.
Utah was allocated $258 million in funding for property acquisition and military construction projects. And $28 million of that is designated for infrastructure related to their F-35 program at Hill Air Force Base, with $50 million going toward a Utah National Guard vehicle maintenance shop in Nephi.
The House voted 281-140 to approve the act, sending it to the Senate. Two hundred Republicans voted for the bill, along with 81 Democrats, while 124 Democrats and 16 Republicans voted against it. Six Democrats and four Republicans did not vote.
Quality of life
Under the current version of the bill, troops ranking E-1 to E-4 would see a 14.5% raise in 2025, with a 4.5% increase across the board for all other service members.
Eligibility for a basic needs allowance is expanded in the act. Currently, the gross household income of a service member cannot exceed 150% of the federal poverty guidelines for their location. The income cap would be raised to 200% in the new amendment. Another amendment excluded the basic housing allowance from the household income calculation.
Child care is another area that saw increased funding, with $204 million allocated to building new child care centers and provisions to help keep the pay rates of child care workers competitive with the market.
Across the board, $1.2 billion was appropriated for basic allowance for housing, and a report required to determine if rates should include factors like the number of dependents a service member has, whether they have access to healthy food, and how much it costs locally, remoteness, hardship and more.
Each military department would be required under the acts to "establish a digital system" for those living in unaccompanied housing located on a military installation to be able to make maintenance requests. Those waitlisted for on-base housing for over 10 days after the arrival at a new location would be eligible for temporary accommodation pay.
Gender care and DEI
Members of both political parties have been negotiating this year's defense spending bill for months, with wide-ranging impacts on the military's Tricare health system coverage.
Assisted reproductive technology, including in-vitro fertilization, could receive coverage, and a pilot program was introduced to reimburse members who freeze eggs or sperm for preservation. Contraceptives would see more complete coverage, as well.
Taking center stage, however, are the act's provisions covering gender-related treatments "that could result in sterilization" for children of service members.
Dozens of LGBTQ+ advocacy groups — including the Utah Pride Center — penned a letter Monday urging representatives to vote against the spending bill.
"Preventing thousands of family members from obtaining medically necessary care is a betrayal of the promise of our military families and an unnecessary threat to our national security," the letter states. "This care for the treatment of gender dysphoria ... isn't 'special' or 'experimental' health care — it is ordinary health care supported by medical science and managed by physicians."
House Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Alabama, told reporters President-elect Donald Trump could undo the gender-related care provision currently in policy when he takes office and said the inclusion in the defense bill was unnecessary.
"We would have 375 (to) 380 votes but for that one provision, which is irrelevant after Jan. 20," he told Politico before the vote.
The bill's requirements that the Pentagon not add new diversity, equity and inclusion-related positions was celebrated by many Republicans who have said so-called DEI measures have been a distraction for the military.
"I proudly voted today to bring merit back to our military, strengthen our national defense and reject the far-left agenda that has no place in our armed forces," Owens said.
