Emergency Relief for Servicemembers Act

Emergency Relief for Servicemembers Act

This bill authorizes a servicemember to terminate specified contracts (e.g., contracts for commercial mobile service or internet service) that are entered into in relation to military orders for a permanent change of station if the member then receives a stop movement order in response to a local, national, or global emergency which prevents the member from using the services provided under the contract.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5752 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5752

     To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to authorize the 
termination of a telephone, multichannel video programming, or internet 
    access service contract by a servicemember who enters into such 
   contract after receiving military orders for permanent change of 
  station but then receives a stop movement order due to an emergency 
                               situation.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 27, 2021

  Mr. Levin of California (for himself and Mr. Garcia of California) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to authorize the 
termination of a telephone, multichannel video programming, or internet 
    access service contract by a servicemember who enters into such 
   contract after receiving military orders for permanent change of 
  station but then receives a stop movement order due to an emergency 
                               situation.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Emergency Relief for Servicemembers 
Act''.

SEC. 2. TERMINATION OF TELEPHONE, MULTICHANNEL VIDEO PROGRAMMING, AND 
              INTERNET ACCESS SERVICE CONTRACTS BY SERVICEMEMBERS WHO 
              ENTER INTO CONTRACTS AFTER RECEIVING MILITARY ORDERS FOR 
              PERMANENT CHANGE OF STATION BUT THEN RECEIVE STOP 
              MOVEMENT ORDERS DUE TO AN EMERGENCY SITUATION.

    (a) In General.--Section 305A(a)(1) of the Servicemembers Civil 
Relief Act (50 U.S.C. 3956) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``after the date the servicemember receives 
        military orders to relocate for a period of not less than 90 
        days to a location that does not support the contract.'' and 
        inserting ``after--''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraphs:
                    ``(A) the date the servicemember receives military 
                orders to relocate for a period of not less than 90 
                days to a location that does not support the contract; 
                or
                    ``(B) the date the servicemember, while in military 
                service, receives military orders for a permanent 
                change of station, thereafter enters into the contract, 
                and then after entering into the contract receives a 
                stop movement order issued by the Secretary of Defense 
                in response to a local, national, or global emergency, 
                effective for an indefinite period or for a period of 
                not less than 30 days, which prevents the servicemember 
                from using the services provided under the contract.''.
    (b) Retroactive Application.--The amendments made by this section 
shall apply to stop movement orders issued on or after March 1, 2020.
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