Keith Hall, director of the Congressional Budget Office, has said the enactment of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s defense policy bill for fiscal year 2017 would result in an increase in net direct spending by approximately $10.9 billion over the next 10 years.He told Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Arizona) in a letter published Thursday that the FY 2017 National Defense Authorization Act contains provisions that would affect net direct spending.
These include the proposed changes to the national defense stockpile and military health care and retirement benefits, requirement for women to register with the Selective Service as well as the potential reauthorization of share-in-savings contracts, according to Hall.
He also mentioned that the proposed legislation would allocate $602.4 billion in total budget for defense programs, approximately $3.3 billion more than the FY 2016 appropriated funds.
Hall noted that implementing the 2017 NDAA would lead to on-budget deficit growth “by more than $5 billion in each of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027.â€
CBO also forecasts the enactment of certain provisions related to the military justice system in the proposed bill would “increase the amount of fines and forfeitures of pay that are imposed at military courts-martial by less than $500,000 over the next 10 years†through 2026, Hall wrote.
