# 119-hr-5208: To amend title 37, United States Code, to exclude the basic allowance for housing from the calculation of gross household income for purposes of the basic needs allowance for eligible members of the Armed Forces.

119-hr-5208, To amend title 37, United States Code, to exclude the basic allowance for housing from the calculation of gross household income for purposes of the basic needs allowance for eligible members of the Armed Forces., is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Panetta, Jimmy [D-CA-19] (D-CA); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5208
- As of: 2026-09-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-5208
- Congress: 119
- Title: To amend title 37, United States Code, to exclude the basic allowance for housing from the calculation of gross household income for purposes of the basic needs allowance for eligible members of the Armed Forces.
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-09-08
- Sponsor: Rep. Panetta, Jimmy [D-CA-19] (D-CA)
- Cosponsors: 8
- Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-21

## Summary

**Excludes Basic Allowance for Housing from income used to calculate the Basic Needs Allowance.** This bill would make the Basic Allowance for Housing paid to an eligible service member not count as gross household income when determining Basic Needs Allowance eligibility or benefit amounts. - Service members and families: Could qualify for larger Basic Needs Allowance payments or become newly eligible because BAH would be excluded from the income test. - Military benefit rules: Changes the income calculation used across the BNA framework in Title 37 of the U.S. Code so administrators use a lower gross household income when determining BNA.

## Cosponsors (8)

- Rep. Moore, Blake D. [R-UT-1] (R-UT), 2025-09-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Kiggans, Jennifer A. [R-VA-2] (R-VA), 2025-09-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Strickland, Marilyn [D-WA-10] (D-WA), 2025-09-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Riley, Josh [D-NY-19] (D-NY), 2025-09-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Goodlander, Maggie [D-NH-2] (D-NH), 2025-09-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Jacobs, Sara [D-CA-51] (D-CA), 2025-09-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1] (R-PA), 2025-09-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Vasquez, Gabe [D-NM-2] (D-NM), 2026-04-14T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Exclude housing allowance from basic needs test: benefit, high. This bill would stop counting your Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) as income when checking the Basic Needs Allowance (BNA). If enacted, this could lower your counted income and help you qualify for BNA or get a larger payment. The exclusion would apply only to the BAH paid to the service member.…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act
- 119-hr-2048: Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act
- 119-hr-4382: America’s Olympic and Paralympic Games Commemorative Coins Act
- 119-hr-1993: 25th Anniversary of 9/11 Commemorative Coin Act
- 119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025
- 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-hr-5208 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/5208)

## Related
- [119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1262)
- [119-hr-2048: Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2048)
- [119-hr-4382: America’s Olympic and Paralympic Games Commemorative Coins Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4382)
- [119-hr-1993: 25th Anniversary of 9/11 Commemorative Coin Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1993)
- [119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4206)
- [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5208 (as of 2026-09-21).