Military personnel, including Kitsap’s over 14,000 active duty service members, could expect a pay raise of at least 4.5% and an increase of their basic allowance for housing by 5.4% in the new year.
Specifically, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2025 authorizes a 14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted service members (ranked E-1 to E-4) and supports a 4.5% pay raise for all other service members. About 14,798 active duty service members work at Naval Base Kitsap, among a total workforce of more than 38,000, according to Kitsap Economic Development Alliance’s 2023 Kitsap Top Employers Report.
The US Capitol. Christmas Tree is lighted on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on December 3, 2024.
Although the raise in 2025 is slightly lower than the 5.2% in 2024 and 4.6% in 2023, that increase is higher than any other year since 2007. For example, the pay raise was 2.7% in 2022 and 3% in 2021.
The $895 billion defense bill passed at the U.S. Senate on Wednesday. It’s now waiting for President Biden to sign it into law.
Some Democrats voted against the defense bill, which usually gains bipartisan support, after Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) added language in the bill that would restrict the use of funds from TRICARE for gender-affirming care, according to The Hill. The bill bans DoD from providing minors with gender dysphoria medical treatments that could result in sterilization.
The act passed in the U.S. House on Dec. 11. Democrat Derek Kilmer, the outgoing Sixth District representative from Washington, voted no on the spending bill, expressing frustration at the process that cut what he called bipartisan measures, while including some controversial partisan measures.
“There were elements that I was very supportive of,” including the military pay increases, Kilmer said Wednesday.
Kilmer said he ultimately voted against the final version after ideas were left out that addressed military health care. That included funding which would have expanded health benefits for military members in Kitsap, including one known as the Midwives Act, which would have helped address the region’s shortage of OBGYN services, Kilmer said.
The legislation would have increased access to maternity care for servicemembers by extending TRICARE coverage to additional types of certified midwives, he said.
Housing allowance increase by 5.4%, same as 2024
Another change about the benefits of the military in the new year is a rise in its housing allowance. Service members will get an average of 5.4% increase in their basic allowance for housing (BAH) rates in 2025, the Department of Defense announced on December 13. The new rates will go into effect on January 1.
The Pentagon said the new rates reflect the recent rental housing market trends across the 299 military housing areas used to calculate BAH annually.
The 5.4% increase in BAH is the same as that in 2024.
This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Military pay, housing allowances will increase in 2025