Military Spouse Residency Relief Act Clears Another Hurdle
Jul 23 2009
This is too important to get wrong, so here are two press releases speaking to the status of the Military Spouse Residency Relief Act – this first one is from Senator Richard Burr’s office:
“Today, U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R-North Carolina) offered the Military Spouse Residency Relief Act as an amendment to the Department of Defense Authorization bill currently under consideration in the Senate. The amendment, which was approved by voice vote on the Senate floor, would allow military spouses to maintain residency in their home state regardless of military placement of their families.”
The press release from Representative John Carter’s office:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 23, 2009
Senate Attaches Military Spouse Residency Relief Act to Defense Authorization
Move Puts Carter Bill on Fast Track for 2009 Passage
(WASHINGTON, DC) – The U.S. Senate today approved the Military Spouse Residency Relief Act as an amendment to the 2009 Defense Authorization Act (S. 1390) at the request of Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), putting the legislation on a fast track for passage into law this year.
The bill authored by U.S. Rep. John Carter (R-TX), currently has over 140 bipartisan co-sponsors. The high level of support Carter has built in the House makes it likely the final version of the Defense Authorization Act will include the Military Spouse Residency Relief Act when it is signed into law by the President.
“This is fantastic news for our service families worldwide,” says Carter, who has been pushing the legislation for the last four years. “We should have done this long ago, but at least we are now on track to have a new law in 2009.”
The bill allows a military spouse who moves out of a state with their service member under military orders to have the option to claim the same state of domicile as their active duty spouse, regardless of where they are stationed. Service members themselves have had that option for decades, while spouse did not, leaving many families with split residencies.
Contact Senator Burr and Congressman Carter to let them know that you appreciate their efforts on our behalf. Thanks to Rebecca Poynter and Joanna Williamson for their leadership on this issue!
This is NO GOOD. I am a military spouse. Spouse can already vote in their “home of record” state. I guess, since my husband and I were both from Florida, we had it a bit different. BUT, I was hit by a car in Fayetteville, NC and it was a nightmare, not only for me and my husband, but I can only guess for the State Trooper.
I had a North Carolina driver’s license, my tags were from Florida, the car that hit me had Illinois plates, the woman diving had a different drivers license, it wasn’t her Vehicle, and the person that owned the car was a PFC, low grade no money, so he stopped paying on his car insurance, something nobody in North Carolina could check up on, because he had “out of state” plates.
So, the car wasn’t registered in his state ANYMORE, and he didn’t have car insurance.
I call that a nightmare for the City Police, the County Sheriff, and the State Highway Patrol Officers.
Also, I found out that my husband could “renew” his driver’s license “through the mail” with no photo. In this day and age, what person in their right mind would want someone driving around without a photo on their driver’s license.
Sen. Burr wasn’t thinking, neither was U.S. Rep. John Carter (R-TX). Wait, someday they too will be hit by an uninsured low paying PFC, or maybe someone in their family…it’s a nightmare.
Connie, sorry about what happend to you, but this legislation will have a positive impact on military spouses. What happend to you was the result of someone choosing to disregard existing laws regarding mandatory insurance. Again I am sorry for your situation. It has motivated me to pick up uninsured and under insured insurance as well as collision deductible waiver insurance so I and my family will be covered should this happen to us. I found that adding these only cost a few dollars more a month. Hope things turn out ok for you and please rethink your take on this important benefit for military families.
Nice blog as for me. I’d like to read something more concerning that topic.
You can read more about the Military Spouse Residency Relief Act by subscribing to our Legislative Updates by calling (800)234-6622, checking the MOAA Legislative pages on our homepage, http://www.moaa.org or by following MSRRA on their Facebook page.
Good article. I will visit later to check out more news about military spouses. Thanks!
Thank you for the information. One topic I would like to hear more about is MyCAA. This is a great benefit available to any spouse in the military looking to go back to school.