COLUMBUS, Ga. (WTVM) - The US Senate recently passed a bipartisan bill supporting military careers, especially spouses. The bill introduced by Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff and Senator Eric Schmitt of Missouri focuses on helping military spouses have more job flexibility between relocating to new assignments.
Ossoff and Schmitt introduced this piece of legislation in hopes of improving the retention rates across the US Armed Forces. The Department of Defense only covers the expense of relocating active-duty military families. This act aims to add another group of military families under that umbrella.
“Although a person is on reserve, that does not mean that they are not active at times because they could still do active-reserve, so this means a lot,” said a US Navy veteran Lakesha Stringer. She is referring to the passing of the Military Spouse Career Act of 2023.
The legislation will provide reimbursements for military families’ business expenses when moving between active reserve assignments.
“The DoD helps those spouses who are moving from an active duty, but doesn’t help those houses when the service members moving from active to reserve duty. This leaves military, high and dry.”
According to the Department of Defense, 39 percent of military spouses require a professional license for their jobs, leaving them to face unemployment on the move. Ossoff and Schmitt want to provide an avenue for all service members.
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