posted May 8, 2008
Sen. Bob Corker today recognized Military Spouse Day, which falls on Friday, May 9, by urging Congress to pass his bipartisan bill that will expand benefits for military spouses. In 1984 President Reagan signed a proclamation establishing Military Spouse Day to pay tribute to the contributions of military spouses in the defense of the nation.
“Military spouses make tremendous sacrifices everyday to support their loved ones who are bravely serving our country,” Sen. Corker said. “I join all Tennesseans and all Americans in thanking America’s military spouses for their extraordinary commitment to our armed forces and our nation.”
The growing burdens on military families associated with combating terror globally and the implications of a changing and increasingly educated demographic of military spouses has received greater attention in recent months and has led to many calls for greater support of military spouses, he said.
Sen. Corker and Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) introduced bipartisan legislation "to improve educational and employment opportunities for America’s military spouses who are often unable to find and maintain meaningful employment because of the frequent relocations required by the military."
“Our military families should be commended for their dedication to our country, and they certainly shouldn’t be punished because their military service may require regular relocation,” said Sen. Corker.
“This bill helps provide our military spouses with the support they need to remain in the service and helps ensure that the U.S. continues to have the greatest all voluntary military force in the world. We spend a lot of time talking about our military families, but this is a bill that actually does something to improve the lives and livelihoods of these families who make tremendous sacrifices in service to our country.”
According to a 2004 RAND Corporation study, over half of today’s military members are married and of the 660,000 military spouses living in the United States, 66 percent are in the workforce. On average, the military spouse population is younger, more diverse and more educated compared with civilian spouses. Despite being employable, these spouses are often discriminated against in the hiring process because of frequent relocations. The study also shows that military spouses traditionally earn less and are unemployed and underemployed at higher rates than civilians, it was stated.
Sen. Corker said the Military Spouse Education and Employment Act of 2008 addresses these challenges through six key provisions:
Work Opportunity Tax Credit – Amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make employers of spouses of active duty military personnel (and Guard and Reserve with activation orders in excess of 90 days) eligible for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, which provides an additional monetary incentive for employers to hire military spouses.
Special Work Opportunity Tax Credit for Military Spouses in Professional Employment – Doubles the value of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit to employers who (1) employ a military spouse in a professional career, (2) pay the spouse a salary of 150 percent of the median annual earnings rate, and (3) allow the spouse to work primarily from home. Military spouses seeking professional careers often push their active duty spouse to leave service in order to enable achievement of a professional career. This provision will create a monetary incentive for employers to make more professional career opportunities available to military spouses via telecommuting.
Federal Employment Preferences – Extends the federal government hiring preferences given to veterans to the active duty military spouse population. In cases where hiring requires a test, it would provide for a five-point addition to passing examination scores.
Fully Transferable Montgomery GI Bill – Allows a service member to transfer any unused portion of his or her GI Bill benefit to a spouse or child on the condition of re-enlistment to a third term. This would provide additional incentive for a third term re-enlistment, while also encouraging spouses and children to advance their education and employment opportunities. Military family organizations and veterans groups have long called for such transferability and President Bush recently supported providing transferability of GI Bill benefits to spouses in his State of the Union Address.
Study on Health Care and Early Childhood Development Education Grants – Requires a study and report to Congress on recommendations for developing an education grant program that would train military spouses in the health care and early childhood development career fields, which are portable and prevalent on and around military bases.
Study on Creating Work Opportunities for Military Spouses – Requires a study and report to Congress on the challenges that face undergraduate and graduate level educated military spouses of active duty military personnel in securing and maintaining employment during the term of their active duty spouse’s service. The study seeks to more thoroughly review obstacles to spouses seeking professional careers and would help identify innovative solutions.
Sen. Corker is also supporting funding in the 2009 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill to build a community chapel and child development center at Fort Campbell military base, which is located on the Tennessee/Kentucky border.
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