March 24, 2026
Ms. McDonald Rivet (for herself and Mr. Harrigan) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services
To expand credentialed, personalized financial and housing counseling to members of the Armed Forces serving on active duty or transitioning from service, and for other purposes.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Military Financial Literacy Act of 2026
.
Sec. 2. Expansion of personalized financial and housing counseling for members of the Armed Forces
(a) In general
Section 992 of title 10, United States Code, is amended—
(1)
in subsection (a)(1)—
(A)
by redesignating subparagraphs (D) and (E) as subparagraphs (E) and (F), respectively; and
(B)
by inserting after subparagraph (C) the following new subparagraph:
(D)
practices relating to financial management, home buying and selling, renting during changing permanent station, rental planning, home loans available through the programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and other financial services that are routinely offered to private sector home loans;;
(2)
by redesignating subsection (d) through (f) as subsections (e) through (g), respectively; and
(3)
by inserting after subsection (c) the following new subsection:
(d) Individualized financial and housing counseling
(1)
Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Secretary of Defense shall establish a program in accordance with this section and Department of Defense Instruction 1322.34, or any successor guidance, to provide one-on-one counseling tailored to the needs of each member of the armed forces on the following topics:
(A)
Credit management.
(B)
Budgeting.
(C)
Anti-predatory lending practices.
(D)
Changes of permanent station and rental planning.
(E)
Home loans available through the programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
(F)
Protections under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. 3901 et seq.) and section 987 of this title.
(2)
For the purposes of carrying out paragraph (1), the Secretary shall seek to enter an agreement with a counseling service organization that—
(A)
is a HUD-approved counseling agency (as defined in section 106(h) of the House and Urban Development Act of 1968 (12 U.S.C. 1701x(h)));
(B)
is organized as a tax-exempt entity under section 501(c)(19) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, defined by the Internal Revenue Service as a Veteran Service Organization serving the military-connected community;
(C)
has expertise in financial literacy, housing stability, and home loan benefits for veterans; and
(D)
is capable of developing, administering, maintaining, and providing specialized training and certification for HUD-Certified Housing Counselors serving members of the armed forces, veterans, and their families.
(b) Regulations
The Secretary of Defense may prescribe such regulations as are necessary to carry out the amendments made by subsection (a).
(c) Report
Not later than 2 years after the date on which the services required under subsection (d) of section section 992 of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), are established, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives a report on the implementation of such services, including—
(1)
the number of members of the Armed Forces who received counseling for housing stability, home loan benefits for veterans, or rental planning;
(2)
the rate of completion of the counseling services offered under the pilot program; and
(3)
indicators of financial stress and housing instability for members of the Armed Forces participating in the pilot program and any metrics for mitigating risks to the members participating.