U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA) is pushing for more transparency in military housing and on Sept. 17 introduced a bipartisan bill that would make congressional reports on the Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI) publicly available, giving service members and families clearer insight into how housing reforms are working.
“Military families are the backbone of our national defense, and they deserve the very best when it comes to their housing and quality of life,” Rep. Kiggans said. “This bipartisan bill strengthens transparency and ensures families have confidence in the homes they live in.”
The congresswoman cosponsored the Military Housing Performance Insight Act, H.R. 5422, alongside bill sponsor U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, Jr. (D-GA) to amend the U.S. Code to modify the semi-annual report on privatized military housing, according to the bill’s text.
“Our military families deserve safe, good-quality housing. When deplorable conditions are brought to our attention, Congress must hold those who provide this housing accountable,” said Rep. Bishop. “I introduced this bill so that reports that track the conditions of military family housing are public. Transparency builds public trust in our efforts to address shortcomings and ensures we do our best for those who sacrifice and serve our country.”
Congressional reports on the MHPI provide metrics such as assessments of: the conditions of all on-post family housing projects, including the age of housing units, any backlogs of maintenance, and housing modernization timelines; customer satisfaction at each project location; and utility costs for housing units compared to utility costs in the surrounding areas.
Such reports also include a summary of data related to the presence of lead-based paint in housing units, and information regarding the financial health of each MHPI project, according to a bill summary provided by the lawmakers.
If enacted, H.R. 5422 also would add new reporting requirements, including an overview of data used and collected by the services about the quality of their MHPI projects, an assessment of how the services are using that data to inform housing decisions, and any limitations of existing data, says the summary.
Reps. Kiggans and Bishop, co-chairs of the bipartisan Congressional Military Family Caucus, on Aug. 27 hosted the 2025 Military Family Summit, which highlighted the challenges facing military families and recommended policy solutions, as well as legislation that could help improve their quality of life, such as H.R. 5422.