The U.S. Capitol building, Washington, D.C. (Source: Shutterstock)
The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee has introduced a "skinny" version of the annual defense authorization bill; that measure does not include a contentious plan to provide banks with the same rent benefits that credit unions now receive on military bases.
In introducing the bill this week, Sen. James Inhofe (R-Ok.) said he wants to guarantee that Congress enacts the annual defense bill, as it has for the past 58 years.
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He said he introduced the "skinny" bill that strips away contentious policy issues in case House and Senate conferees cannot reach agreement on the larger bill.
The new bill is just 68 pages long; the annual defense measure the Senate passed is almost 2,000 pages.
"This bill is simple," he said, as he introduced the measure. "It extends necessary authorities for military operations, takes care of service members and their families and authorizes essential military construction and acquisition programs. That's it – because at the end of the day, that's what we have to do by the end of the year."
The House version of the massive defense bill does not include a provision that would provide banks with the same free rent benefit that credit unions now receive, but the Senate bill does.
The Association of Military Banks of America has been pushing for the benefit, saying that providing banks with free rent would simply level the playing field.
Credit union trade groups have been fighting it.
Last year, the two sides thought they had hammered out compromise language, but credit union trade groups said a drafting error could have resulted in credit unions losing their access to military bases.
As a result, any compromise fell apart.
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