2022 will see pay raise for troops, but it may not last

KILLEEN, Texas (KWTX) - What was supposed to be a much-needed raise in the new year for struggling military families is now in danger of not lasting long.

Unfortunately, because the passed $768 billion National Defense Authorization Act is a policy bill and not a spending bill, Congress will have two months to keep the pay raise going.

Service members will see a 2.7% raise, or roughly $97 more each paycheck for January and February, with most of the money coming from what money is leftover from 2021′s federal budget.

The increase was slightly less than it was in 2021, with troops seeing a 3% increase.

While $97 dollars extra doesn’t seem like much, Army Veteran and Local Realtor Jeremy Fay says with many families facing food insecurity and rising housing costs, every penny counts.

“I’ve had clients of mine that’ve had to take out cash advancements against their credit card just to make ends meet,” he said.

“Now, that’s a terrible long-term decision, especially when you’re looking at the interest rates associated with that. However, when you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place, and you have children and you need to make something happen for them, people will make decisions that sound best for them in that moment.”

As the clock ticks and with lawmakers showing no signs of progress on a news bill, Fay says keeping the raise for service members should be a top priority.

“There’s very little time for lawmakers to hammer out some sort of resolution for a new bill,” he said.

“They’re going to have to become aggressive... more than aggressive, they’ll have to have some finesse and compromise on the other side of the isle because not everyone will get what they want out of this.”

Copyright 2021 KWTX. All rights reserved.