Kaine: Fiscal Year 2025 Defense Bill has $806 million for Virginia projects
A 4.5% pay raise for military personnel and a 2% pay raise for Department of Defense civilians is part of the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Bill recently endorsed by the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The measure now heads to the Senate.
The bill also includes a 1% pay raise for junior enlisted service members, according to a release from U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“From Hampton Roads to Arlington to Radford to Danville, Virginia plays a significant role in advancing and protecting our national security,” he said in a statement June 14.
The bill makes critical investments in support the country’s defense industrial base workforce and shipbuilding programs, including the Virginia-class submarine program, according to Kaine.
The measure also authorizes more than $806 million funding military construction projects across Virginia as well as an additional $900 million for a second Virginia-class submarine.
Other Virginia military construction projects in the bill are $225 million for the Defense Health Headquarters at Fort Belvoir; $180 million for barracks at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall; $81 million for a dormitory at Joint Base Langley-Eustis; $52.6 million for long weapons storage at Naval Weapons Station Yorktown; $36.8 million for the Metro Entrance Pedestrian Access Control Point at the Pentagon; and $4.08 million for a Child Development Center at Naval Air Station Oceana, according to the release.
Addressing physical and mental health care, the defense bill directs military department secretaries to provide data on service member suicides to the Senate and House Armed Services Committees on a monthly basis. It also authorizes TRICARE for tele-mental health care services to military personnel and their dependents regardless of the location of the provider or patient.
The bill further authorizes $4 million to provide clinical care to prevent, diagnose, treat and rehabilitate service members with post-traumatic stress disorder, symptoms from blast overpressure or blast exposure and other mental health conditions, according to the release.
It also directs the Secretary of Defense to report on efforts to diagnose, treat and measure traumatic brain injuries throughout a member’s service time as well as review and research on DOD efforts to address traumatic brain injuries related to blast overpressure and exposure. The bill, in addition, increases the Health Professions Scholarship Program from $20,000 to $100,000 to recruit more medical and dental providers, according to the release.
Regarding military housing, the bill would increase assistance for service members without dependents living in military unaccompanied housing; increase funding to repair and improve enlisted barracks across the services; and pay a basic housing allowance to service members who are below the grade of E-6, do not have dependents and are assigned to sea duty.
The defense bill would authorize $8 million for the Troops to Teachers program, to help transitioning service members and veterans become educators.