Military Spouses Residency Relief Act

As many of you don't know, I have been working with a wonderful group of military spouses in an attempt to get The Military Spouses Residency Relief Act (MSRRA) signed into law. This Bill would enable military spouses to declare and keep a home state of residence, just like our Active Duty Spouses are allowed to do. Currently, military spouses are required to change their residency with each and every move. This means reregistering to vote, countless hours spent at the DMV, and huge headaches with every tax season. The MSRRA would allow us the opportunity to share the same home state as our spouses. It would enable us to put our names on vehicle titles without having to reregister with every move. It would simplify our tax situations greatly.

The Senate has already passed the MSRRA, and in the House, it is now in the VA Committee. We now have 190 BI-PARTISAN co-sponsors and are optimistic that it will pass. However, our goal is to have 200 co-sponsors in order to strengthen the chances of passage.

My husband is a New York state resident and I have to change my residency with every move. This year alone I have already lived in two different states with plans to move again in October. And now the hassle of attempting to file taxes with my Husband having one State Residency and I have three different states of residencies; Turbo Tax doesn't exactly have an option for multiple filings in different states.

Changing my residency is an ordeal that is added on top of the stress of moving. Each state has different laws when it comes to Driver's License, registering vehicles (which need to be in both of our names because he is overseas every other year), and registering to vote. The hassle of changing my residency could interrupt my constitutional right to vote. I also lose any ongoing connection to a community to become politically involved.

If you believe that military spouses should be spared some of the hassles caused by frequent moves, I encourage you to call your representative and ask to speak to their MLA (Military Legislative Assistant). Share your stories and tell them why this would make your life so much easier.ASK THEM TO COSPONSOR HR 1182, The Military Spouses Residency Relief Act. If you have already called, thank you. Please CALL AGAIN!

Also, please help spread the word to ALL of your military spouse contacts, not just those on Facebook. We need to harness the power of the military spouse network in order to get this passed. For updates on the bill, please join our FB group at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Military-Spouses-Residency-Relief-Act/51457362877