• WASHINGTON 

Eileen Huck, director of government relations for the National Military Family Association (NMFA), highlighted the organization’s decades-long advocacy for military families while outlining its current legislative priorities during ALA’s 2026 Congressional Caucus & Public Policy Forum. 

Founded in 1969 by military spouses advocating for a widowed family member, the National Military Family Association has helped secure major policy victories, including the Survivor Benefit Plan, elimination of the “widow’s tax,” the WIC Overseas Program and the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children. 

Huck said the organization’s priorities center on strengthening military family financial stability through military spouse employment, affordable child care, improved privatized housing oversight and protecting the TRICARE benefit. 

Food Insecurity Remains a Critical Issue 

Huck emphasized that food insecurity continues to affect military families despite recent pay increases. 

“Even one military family experiencing food insecurity is too many,” Huck said, noting that research has found up to 25% of military families have experienced food insecurity. 

She said NMFA continues advocating for improvements to the Basic Needs Allowance by removing the Basic Allowance for Housing from eligibility calculations and increasing housing allowances to better reflect actual housing costs. 

Huck also called the commissary benefit an essential part of military compensation. 

“We think that it’s very important to continue to advocate for a robust commissary benefit,” she said, adding that commissaries provide more than savings by offering specialty products and serving as an important part of military communities, particularly at remote and overseas installations. 

Benefit, Not Business 

During the audience Q&A, Huck said the Defense Commissary Agency should be viewed primarily as a military benefit rather than a business expected to generate profits. 

“If you recognize that the commissary is a vital benefit that delivers real value to service members and military families, I think it’s kind of counterproductive to also think of it as a business,” Huck said. “It’s an investment that the department has to make in military family well-being.” 

She also said stronger outreach is needed to increase participation in the Basic Needs Allowance and pointed to persistent military spouse unemployment as a major factor behind continued financial hardship. 

“I think what it comes down to is that in the United States in 2026, most families really need to have two incomes in order to make ends meet,” Huck said. 

Responding to questions about installation access, Huck acknowledged growing concerns about base entry for retirees and newly eligible commissary patrons, saying the challenge is finding “a better way to balance security with access.” 

ALA members can access Eileen Huck’s full video presentation and slides at https://alanational.org/members/2026-ala-congressional-caucus/.