House Passes Military Spouses Residency Relief Act

Press Release

The U.S. House of Representatives this week passed and sent to the President the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act (S. 475). The bill, cosponsored by Rep. John Spratt (D-SC), gives military spouses the ability to keep or change residency when they move from station to station, as is done for service members.

"This bill eliminates the need to change vehicle and voter registrations and to file tax returns for multiple states with each move," said Spratt, a senior member on the Armed Services Committee. "It's a priority for military families, and I was pleased to cosponsor it."

Voting: The measure provides that, for purposes of voting in federal, state, or local elections, if a spouse of a servicemember leaves a state in order to accompany a husband or wife who is on military or naval orders, the spouse would not be deemed to have lost residence or domicile in the "home" state, or to be deemed to have acquired residence or domicile in the "new" state. These changes would apply with respect to absences from states after the date of enactment, regardless of the date of the relevant military or naval orders.

Taxes: The bill provides that, for purposes of income taxes and personal property taxes, spouses of servicemembers would not be deemed to have lost or acquired domicile or residence in a tax jurisdiction solely because they moved with a service member who is in compliance with military orders. The measure also provides that income for services performed by spouses of servicemembers would not be deemed to be income in a tax jurisdiction where the spouse is located solely based on the fact that the move was due to complying with military orders.

Land Rights: Under current law, a servicemember is entitled to have certain residency requirements suspended for purposes of exercising land rights, such as mining claims or homesteading, on public lands. This protection applies with respect to requirements related to the establishment of residency within a limited time. Those requirements are suspended for a servicemember seeking entry onto public lands until 180 days after termination of or release from military service. The bill extends these same rights to spouses of servicemembers who move on military orders.

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