# Emergency Relief for Servicemembers Act

This bill helps military members get out of phone, cable, and internet contracts when their plans suddenly change due to military emergencies. Here's the situation it addresses: A servicemember receives orders to move to a new base and signs up for cable or internet service at their new location. But then an emergency happens—maybe a pandemic, natural disaster, or other crisis—and the military issues a "stop movement order" that freezes the servicemember in place and prevents them from actually moving. Now they're stuck paying for services they can't use at a location they're not going to.

Under current law, servicemembers can already cancel these contracts if they receive orders to relocate to a place where the service isn't available. This bill expands that protection to cover the specific scenario where someone signs a contract after getting relocation orders, but then gets stopped from moving due to an emergency. If a stop movement order lasts at least 30 days or is indefinite, the servicemember can now terminate their contract without penalty, just like they could under the existing relocation rule.

The bill applies retroactively to stop movement orders issued starting March 1, 2020, which means servicemembers who were caught in this situation during the COVID-19 pandemic could potentially use this protection. It's a practical fix that recognizes military families shouldn't be financially penalized when emergency circumstances prevent them from using services they signed up for based on military orders.

Emergency Relief for Servicemembers Act

Levin, Mike

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.