I am Rebecca Noah Poynter, an Army wife, owner of OnPoynt Communications and a co-founder of the Military Spouse Business Association, www.milspousebiz.org. I am a writer and often address military family topics in national publications including The Washington Post and The Military Times.

Under the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Relief Act which became federal law in 1940, military members are allowed to declare a permanent state of residency while on active duty. Under the law, a service member can claim a single permanent state of residency or “home state” for the duration of his or her military service. The spouse who is not covered under this law, must change residency with each move to a new state. On average military families move every two to three years.

As the wife of a U.S. Army soldier, changing residency and not sharing a home state with my husband, has been inconvenient, confusing and expensive burden. The total cost is being paid by nearly one million active duty military spouses in time, money and income. This is not by choice either, as it is our spouses, the service members, who are ordered to move by the military. By constantly moving, military spouses regularly sacrifice personal choices and professional aspirations to achieve the mission assigned. In addition to these sacrifices, military spouses are unfairly and repeatedly penalized by having to comply with state residency and tax requirements.

Each time a military spouse moves to a new state she must obtain a driver’s license at a cost, re-register her car for a couple of hundred dollars; and figure out how, when and for whom to vote in the new state. She is not able to have consistent Congressional representation nor is she likely to share the same representative as her spouse.

Additionally the majority of military spouses, nearly 70%, are employed or seeking employment (because of a move). If their next military assignment is to a high income tax state as compared to the last one, then income can be reduced by as much as 10%.

Through my association with Military Spouse Business Association, a nationwide networking organization established for military spouses who own their own and obviously portable businesses, I met several spouses including Navy spouse, Joanna Williamson, who were also frustrated with administrative and state tax burdens that accompanied every move. Hearing their stories and knowing my own, it was time as military spouses to engage in “a joint mission” for the betterment of our own lives.

We took the issue to Congressman John Carter who represents Fort Hood, the largest military installation in the United States. He said it was up to Congress to look after our military families and it just didn’t sound fair for married couples to have to reside in different states nor did the administrative and financial burdens on military spouses seem necessary.

In May, Congressman Carter introduced the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act, HR 6070.. The bill extends to spouses the option of a permanent state residency as provided to the service member, essentially offering us a home state too.

Military spouses bear the burden of handling the challenges associated with the constant moving of military life. Here are a few examples based on the 92% likelihood that the spouse is a female: while he can register the car in his home state, she can’t. He votes in his home state, she votes in the one where they reside. She has a new congressman at each location; he keeps his familiar representative. He has one driver’s license, which can be renewed by mail. She must stand in a long line at the state department of motor vehicles to obtain a new one and pay the fee. When the service member is deployed, the home front frustration amplifies. “Honey, next time you have a break there in Iraq, please send me a copy of your military orders and your driver’s license. And where is the power of attorney? I have to register the car.” The Military Spouses Residency Relief act can eliminate these hassles.

HR 6070 can also address the “camouflage barrier”, my nickname for the financial strife the majority of us as employed spouses face with every move. A RAND Corporation study confirms the average spouse income shrinks by more than $5500 annually as compared to a civilian counterpart because of moving. My encounter came on the last one; I was happily working for a big company when we got military assignment orders to relocate. I was thrilled to transfer my job at the same pay with the same employer to the new location. Then I discovered the new state has a high income tax and was shocked to find my income was more than $500 a month less. It really hurt our family’s financial stability.

With a single permanent state, employed military spouses may protect their income if they are moved to a high income tax state. For those with portable businesses or professions, a growing and positive trend among military spouses, a singe home state can lessen administrative and tax burdens.

Congressman Carter says of HR 6070,“We’re making the inter-state moves easier on our military families since the reason they’re moving is by order of the U.S. Government.” Through the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act, Congress offers us the very things our nation’s military spouses have truly earned - equality, recognition and common sense treatment.