Schumer, Gillibrand secure more than 30 imperative provisions in national defense bill to vastly improve privatized military housing on bases like West Point; bill, set to pass next week, contains first of its kind provisions, the first step in ensuring our nation's heroes & their families have the safe, hazard-free homes they deserve

Statement

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today announced, following their major push, that more than thirty provisions to improve the military's privatized housing at installations like West Point and Fort Drum have been included in the final National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2020, which is expected to pass Congress and be signed into law early next week. This September, following Schumer's June visit to West Point to call on military housing improvements, the Army released its Inspector General Report on the shortcomings of privatized military housing and included a list of 20 recommendations to improve it. The NDAA codifies many of these critical recommendations, including the development of a "Tenant Bill of Rights", the establishment of a dispute resolution process for tenants, and boosted Department of Defense (DOD) oversight policies. The complete set of privatized military housing provisions in the bill can be found in Title XXX, here. Schumer previously visited West Point this June to initiate a multi-tiered plan to increase the quality of privatized military housing. In February, Gillibrand led a joint Armed Services Personnel and Readiness and Management Support Subcommittee hearing uncovering the conditions of privatized housing for military families, and was able to work in committee to include many provisions to improve these conditions in the Senate NDAA.

"At West Point, Fort Drum and other military installations across the nation, privatized housing for our service members and their families is very clearly not up to snuff. These heroes and their families deserve the best standard of living possible, but are left to deal with hazards like black mold and other health threats and nuisances," said Senator Schumer. "That's why I fought tooth and nail to include numerous military housing provisions and oversight policies in the final NDAA, from a tenants' bill of rights to funding for Department of Defense housing staff, which is set to pass Congress next week. This bill is a major step forward in ensuring our nation's finest have access to the finest housing available."

"The companies that provide housing for our service members didn't land another real estate deal -- they have assumed responsibility for the safety, health, and wellbeing of military families who make incredible sacrifices each and every day in support of our national defense," said Senator Gillibrand, Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee. "Disgracefully, we have learned that there are far too many housing units that do not pass basic standards of living for these families. This is unacceptable, which is why I worked to include provisions in the Senate NDAA that set clear guidelines for the conditions of families living in privatized housing, and I'm pleased they have been included in the final NDAA."

Earlier this July, the U.S. Air Force announced it would be withholding incentive payments to one of its most prominent privatized housing partners, Balfour Beatty Communities -- the very same operator that manages housing at West Point. News reports indicate that Balfour Beatty Communities employees falsified maintenance records, to show that the expeditiously responded to and addressed maintenance requests at a base in Oklahoma. These documents allowed the company to meet certain maintenance goals and earn a greater financial windfall from the DOD, when in reality, employees were ignoring many of these requests and taking long periods of time to respond to the others.

To address these types of issues, Schumer and Gillibrand said, the bill authorizes additional funding for DoD housing personnel. This funding would be used to hire more staff that would then conduct thorough inspections, oversight and planning of the military's privatized housing stock. Additionally, the NDAA includes a privatized military housing tenant bill of rights. The tenant bill of rights would mandate a sorely-needed formal dispute resolution process for families to receive help in addressing hazards they may have in their homes. The NDAA would also establish measures that implement new quality assurance and quality control measures, including additional mandatory health and hazard inspections. One such oversight policy, is that the NDAA requires DOD to withhold incentive fees for any landlord that fails to improve health or environmental shortcomings in military housing, ensuring that contractors are held accountable for their neglect.

Schumer has long fought to clean up and improve privatized military housing at installations like West Point. This June, Schumer launched a push to include numerous provisions to improve military housing in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (NDAA), including a tenant bill of rights, a formal dispute resolution process for tenants and boosted DoD oversight policies. The next month, Schumer announced his efforts had been successful, with the final Senate NDAA including all of the military housing provisions he was pushing for. Then, this August, Schumer launched a new three-pronged plan to address insufficient military housing, including calling on the Army to publicly back the Senate version of the NDAA, urging the expedited release of an Army Inspector General Report on privatized military housing conditions and requesting the Army brief Congress as quickly as possible on its plan to address the allegations of fraudulent business practices in the military's privatized military housing. This September, Schumer announced that the Army had heeded his request and expedited the release of its Inspector General Report.

Senator Gillibrand fought to include provisions that improved conditions in privatized housing for military families in her letter to leadership on the Senate Committee on Armed Services.

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