Today, Representative Mike Garcia introduced a new bill, the Prioritizing Troops Over Tax Collectors Act, to the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill will reallocate the $80 billion appropriated to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the Inflation Reduction Act to instead go towards a military servicemember pay raise. The bill will now guarantee that every servicemember makes at least $15 an hour ($31,200 annually).
 
Representative Garcia issued the following statement after introducing the bill:
 
“23,000 servicemembers rely on food stamps. That is 23,000 too many. Providing our military personnel with an adequate base pay raise should be commonsense. My bill will do just that by ensuring that each of our heroes in uniform is paid a minimum of $31,200 annually. These servicemembers put their lives on the line for our country, they should be paid adequately for their service. Our servicemembers are our nation’s secret weapon and it’s time we treat them as such,” said Garcia. “As we see record-low military retention rates and growing recruiting shortfalls, this is an urgent issue that impacts not just the well-being of our brave heroes, but also our national security.”