Any proposed changes to the military are always important to San Diego because of the significant role service members play in the local economy.
But federal leaders may be at odds with the defense budget proposed Monday and the recommendations proposed by a presidential commission last week.
President Barack Obama proposed a base defense budget of $534 billion, which is $35 billion higher than the limit mandated by sequestration. It also called for lowering pay raises.
Related Link: How Obama Would Spend Your Money In 2016, Agency By Agency
But last week, the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission said the pay raises didn't need to be changed. Instead, it proposed dropping retirement pay from 50 percent to 40 percent of one's salary. It also recommended eliminating the military's health care system known as TRICARE and replacing it with a program that would allow service members, veterans and their families to enroll in private plans.
The changes would save the government $20 billion over the next four years, according to the president-mandated commission.
But quality of life recommendations stood out most to Tony Teravainen, CEO and president of the nonprofit Support The Enlisted Project, which offers financial assistance to service members.
"There are 15 recommendations and a number of them came out to be quality of life (recommendations)," Teravainen told KPBS Midday Edition on Tuesday. "I was very happy to read the financial literacy piece."
The commission recommended that service members receive financial literacy training and support in child care.
For service members who live in San Diego where the cost of living is high — those services are helpful, Teravainen said.
"The military and their spouses have some stress or a great deal of stress over their finances," he said. "They kind of get in in a bind."
