A lot of retirees on a fixed income count on the benefit they have earned.
Despite earlier promises that no commissaries would be closed as a result of proposed pay and benefits cuts, a Pentagon official told lawmakers Wednesday that some closures might happen.
To slow the growth in personnel costs, which have increased 83 percent since 2001, the Defense Department proposed cutting commissary subsidies when it submitted its fiscal 2015 budget request earlier this month. Over a three-year period, the subsidies would decrease from $1.4 billion annually to $400 million, although overseas commissaries and those in remote locations will continue receiving direct subsidies to ease the burden on servicemembers and their families. The commissary cut will be accomplished not by closing any commissaries, but by reducing the savings relative to civilian markets that patrons enjoy. Under DOD’s plan, those savings will go from about 30 percent to 10 percent.
“We are not shutting down any commissaries. We recommend gradually phasing out some subsidies but only for domestic commissaries that are not in remote locations,” Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel told senators after the budget proposal was unveiled.
Because stateside stores will continue to operate tax-and-rent free, they will still be able to provide people with a very good deal, Hagel said.
But during congressional testimony Wednesday, a top DOD official said that some stateside commissaries might in fact have to shut down due to a loss of business that would likely result from the price hikes.