Sponsors (7)
The bill lowers out-of-pocket travel costs and clarifies reimbursement for service members, at the cost of modestly higher DoD travel spending and short-term administrative work to update regulations.
Service members who travel more than 150 miles for training will have car rental costs covered for the full duty period and the adjacent travel day, reducing out-of-pocket travel expenses.
Military personnel and affected federal employees gain clearer, statutory reimbursement rules and faster implementation because the bill requires the Department of Defense to update the Joint Travel Regulations within 180 days, improving predictability of travel pay.
Taxpayers and the Department of Defense may face modestly higher travel costs because broader reimbursement for rental cars increases DoD travel spending.
Implementation could create short-term administrative burden and processing delays for the Department of Defense and affected personnel as regulations and pay systems are updated to meet the 180-day requirement.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires DoD to reimburse rental-car costs for qualifying uniformed service travel over 150 miles for the full duty period and adjacent travel day.
Official title: To amend title 37, United States Code, to reimburse a member of the uniformed services for costs incurred to rent a motor vehicle for travel relating to a period of reserve component inactive-duty training, or of Ready Reserve muster duty, performed more than 150 miles from the member's permanent residence.
Introduced February 17, 2026 by Tony Gonzales · Last progress February 17, 2026
Requires full reimbursement of motor vehicle rental costs for uniformed service members who travel more than 150 miles for covered training or duty when rental cars are part of reimbursable expenses. The Department of Defense must update the Joint Travel Regulations to implement the change within 180 days of enactment.