U.S. Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) have introduced the Military Housing Performance Insight (MHPI) Act, which aims to improve housing conditions for servicemembers by requiring the Department of Defense (DOD) to publicly release existing reports on privatized family housing on military installations.
“Texas is proud to host 15 military installations and over 100,000 active-duty servicemembers, many of whom reside in private military housing. Recently, the Department of Defense’s private military housing has not met acceptable standards, resulting in substandard living conditions for many servicemembers and their families,” said Cruz. “I’m proud to partner with Senator Warnock in introducing the MHPI Act, which will enhance transparency about the quality of private military housing. Our servicemembers deserve better, and public accountability is the first step in addressing these issues.”
Senator Warnock added, “Our servicemembers and their families deserve safe, quality housing. That is why I am proud to join Senator Cruz in this bipartisan effort to ensure the transparency and accountability needed to maintain high standards in military housing. By making these reports publicly accessible, we can better empower military families and communities to effectively advocate for their needs.”
The Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI) was introduced in the 1990s, granting the DOD the authority to privatize military family housing on installations. Despite efforts to improve conditions following Congressional hearings in 2019 that revealed severe deficiencies in on-post housing, issues persist at installations across the country.
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Numerous initiatives and improvements have been implemented over the past five years due to focused Congressional and DOD oversight. However, continuous vigilance is necessary to sustain these gains. The frequent movement of local military installation leaders, mandated by the Permanent Change of Station (PCS) process, often disrupts institutional knowledge and can reduce attention to housing problems.
The MHPI Act aims to democratize oversight through transparency. By making current quality information of military housing publicly available, military families, advocacy groups, and communities can hold local commands and housing management companies accountable.
Current Congressional reporting requirements on MHPI quality are limited to the Senate Armed Service Committee and are often one-time reports. The new bipartisan legislation mandates annual, publicly accessible reports to sustain improvements and democratize oversight.
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