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Better Military Housing Act of 2018

S. 2913 · 115th Congress · May 22, 2018 · Lineage

A BILL

To require the Secretary of Defense to improve the monitoring and oversight of and reporting regarding projects carried out under the Military Housing Privatization Initiative under subchapter IV of chapter 169 of title 10, United States Code.

Section 1 Short title

This Act may be cited as the “Better Military Housing Act of 2018”.

Sec. 2 Findings

Congress finds the following:
(1)
In 1996, Congress sought to address the poor quality of military housing by providing the Department of Defense authority to obtain private sector financing and management to repair, renovate, construct, and operate military housing.
(2)
Since 1996, the Department has privatized 99 percent of military housing in the United States.
(3)
Although the Department has regularly assessed the financial condition of its privatized housing program, the Department has not used consistent measures of financial condition, consistently assessed future sustainment, or issued required reports to Congress in a timely manner.

Sec. 3 Improvement of monitoring and oversight of and reporting regarding Military Housing Privatization Initiative

(a)
In general— The Secretary of Defense, in carrying out subchapter IV of chapter 169 of title 10, United States Code (known as the Military Housing Privatization Initiative), shall—
(1)
use consistent measures for the assessment of the financial condition of projects conducted under such subchapter;
(2)
consistently incorporate measures of future sustainment in assessments of such projects;
(3)
submit reports regarding such projects to Congress in a timely manner;
(4)
fully assess the effects of any reduction in the basic allowance for housing on the financial condition of such projects; and
(5)
define, for each military department, the tolerance for risk regarding the future sustainability of such projects relative to the goal of providing members of the Armed Forces with quality housing.
(b)
Report or briefing— Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit a report or provide a briefing to the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives on—
(1)
the status of the implementation of subsection (a), including specific dates by which the Secretary expects to complete the implementation of such subsection; and
(2)
the steps being taken by the Secretary to improve the financial condition of any project conducted under subchapter IV of chapter 169 of title 10, United States Code, that is—
(A)
considered to be in financial distress; or
(B)
rated as unacceptable, marginal, below expectations, well below expectations, or on a watch list.