August 2022

NDAA

The Senate Armed Services Committee advanced S.4543, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, on June 16, 2022, after the subcommittees and full committee considered 433 amendments and adopted 223 amendments during closed markup sessions. This legislation was filed in the Senate on July 18, 2022, where it awaits consideration on the Senate Floor.

The House has passed H.R.7900 FY23 National Defense Authorization Act on July 14, 2022 after the House Armed Services Committee completed full committee mark-up on June 23, 2022. This legislation awaits conference with the companion Senate bill.

 

Appropriations

 

H.R. 4432, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act 2022, was approved by the House Appropriations Committee on June 22, 2022 and was reported to the House on July 15, 2022. The Senate Appropriations Committee released the Chairmans mark of the defense appropriations legislation on July 28, 2022.

Both houses are expected to work under a $1.6 trillion discretionary budget ceiling as negotiations continue in determining top-lines for defense and non-defense budgets. A continuing resolution to fund the government at the start of FY2023 is likely.

 

President’s Budget

 

President Biden released the FY23 President’s Budget on March 28, 2022. The President’s budget requests $773.0 billion in spending for the Department of Defense. This is an increase of 5.75%, or $44.5 billion, above FY22 enacted levels. The late release of the President’s Budget was due, in-part, to the extremely late FY22 appropriations legislation in which the federal government operated under a continuing resolution for the first six months of FY22. This has caused a cascading effect on the rest of the cycle, delaying normal FY23 NDAA and appropriations processes.

 

Zero-Cost TRICARE

 

H.R.3512, Healthcare for our Troops Act, would provide zero-cost TRICARE Reserve Select and dental coverage for all members of the Reserve Component and authorizes TRS eligibility for servicemembers who are federal employees in their civilian capacity. Initial CBO scores estimate this bill to cost $718 million a year. The cost savings of this bill due to streamlining medical spending has yet to be calculated. This remains a top priority for NGAUS. There is no Senate companion bill.

 

Other Legislation

 

H.R.1836/S.2644 Guard and Reserve GI Bill Parity Act provides GI Bill education benefits parity between the Active and Reserve Components.

H.R.7837/S.4272 National Guard Promotion Improvement Act requires service secretaries to backdate date of rank and provides backpay and provides Congressional oversight and reviews FEDREC process to decrease delays.

H.R.5112/S.4179 Space National Guard Establishment Act creates a Space National Guard and establishes it as the primary combat reserve of the U.S. Space Force.

H.R.1854/S.1178 RECRUIT Act authorizes small business an additional tax credit for employing members of the Guard and Reserve.

H.R.7041/S.1297 – Record of Military Service for Members of the Armed Forces Act of 2021 provides a definitive record of service (DD-214) for members of the RC for titles 14 and 32.

S.3215 USACE Military Personnel Augmentation Act of 2021 expands USACE eligibility to members of the Guard and Reserve, Warrant Officers, and non-commissioned officers.