WE'VE HARDLY BEGUN TO CASH IN THE PEACE DIVIDEND:

Over the objections of the Pentagon, the Senate passed a military budget in mid-June that changes the housing allowances given to soldiers, denying them a widespread source of supplemental income.

Service members who don't live in barracks receive a monthly stipend called Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH). Right now, it's a simple, flat-rate (and tax-free) cash payment that's handed out according to soldiers' rank, the cost of housing where they live, and whether or not they have dependents. Under current rules, service members are free to rent cheap apartments and pocket the leftover cash, or they can share housing while each getting a full allowance--a popular way for single soldiers and "dual military" couples to offset low military pay. The stipends range from a little over $600 a month for an unmarried private to more than $5,000 a month for a high-ranking officer with dependents.

The measure in the Senate bill, which passed with approval from the Armed Services Committee, would make the housing stipend cover only soldiers' actual bills. (The committee did not respond to requests for comment about which members specifically backed the housing changes.) Soldiers would provide copies of their rents or mortgages and get reimbursed only for what they spent, up to a maximum payable limit. Soldiers sharing housing would have their allowances divided by the number of service members sharing the space. The changes would cost many soldiers hundreds of dollars of a month. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the move would save $2 billion over the next five years.

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