[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 475 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 475

To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to guarantee the equity of 
spouses of military personnel with regard to matters of residency, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 25, 2009

  Mr. Burr (for himself and Mrs. Feinstein) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to guarantee the equity of 
spouses of military personnel with regard to matters of residency, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Military Spouses Residency Relief 
Act''.

SEC. 2. GUARANTEE OF RESIDENCY FOR SPOUSES OF MILITARY PERSONNEL FOR 
              VOTING PURPOSES.

    (a) In General.--Section 705 of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act 
(50 U.S.C. App. 595) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``For'' and inserting the following:
    ``(a) In General.--For'';
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(b) Spouses.--For the purposes of voting for any Federal office 
(as defined in section 301 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 
(2 U.S.C. 431)) or a State or local office, a person who is absent from 
a State because the person is accompanying the person's spouse who is 
absent from that same State in compliance with military or naval orders 
shall not, solely by reason of that absence--
            ``(1) be deemed to have lost a residence or domicile in 
        that State, without regard to whether or not the person intends 
        to return to that State;
            ``(2) be deemed to have acquired a residence or domicile in 
        any other State; or
            ``(3) be deemed to have become a resident in or a resident 
        of any other State.''; and
            (3) in the section heading, by inserting ``and spouses of 
        military personnel'' before the period at the end.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of 
such Act (50 U.S.C. App. 501) is amended by striking the item relating 
to section 705 and inserting the following new item:

``Sec. 705. Guarantee of residency for military personnel and spouses 
                            of military personnel.''.
    (c) Application.--Subsection (b) of section 705 of such Act (50 
U.S.C. App. 595), as added by subsection (a) of this section, shall 
apply with respect to absences from States described in such subsection 
(b) on or after the date of the enactment of this Act, regardless of 
the date of the military or naval order concerned.

SEC. 3. DETERMINATION FOR TAX PURPOSES OF RESIDENCE OF SPOUSES OF 
              MILITARY PERSONNEL.

    (a) In General.--Section 511 of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act 
(50 U.S.C. App. 571) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by striking ``A servicemember'' and inserting 
                the following:
            ``(1) In general.--A servicemember''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Spouses.--A spouse of a servicemember shall neither 
        lose nor acquire a residence or domicile for purposes of 
        taxation with respect to the person, personal property, or 
        income of the spouse by reason of being absent or present in 
        any tax jurisdiction of the United States solely to be with the 
        servicemember in compliance with the servicemember's military 
        orders if the residence or domicile, as the case may be, is the 
        same for the servicemember and the spouse.'';
            (2) by redesignating subsections (c), (d), (e), and (f) as 
        subsections (d), (e), (f), and (g), respectively;
            (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the following new 
        subsection:
    ``(c) Income of a Military Spouse.--Income for services performed 
by the spouse of a servicemember shall not be deemed to be income for 
services performed or from sources within a tax jurisdiction of the 
United States if the spouse is not a resident or domiciliary of the 
jurisdiction in which the income is earned because the spouse is in the 
jurisdiction solely to be with the servicemember serving in compliance 
with military orders.''; and
            (4) in subsection (d), as redesignated by paragraph (2)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``or the spouse 
                of a servicemember'' after ``The personal property of a 
                servicemember''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``or the 
                spouse's'' after ``servicemember's''.
    (b) Application.--Subsections (a)(2) and (c) of section 511 of such 
Act (50 U.S.C. App. 571), as added by subsection (a) of this section, 
and the amendments made to such section 511 by subsection (a)(4) of 
this section, shall apply with respect to any return of State or local 
income tax filed for any taxable year beginning with the taxable year 
that includes the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. SUSPENSION OF LAND RIGHTS RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT FOR SPOUSES OF 
              MILITARY PERSONNEL.

    (a) In General.--Section 508 of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act 
(50 U.S.C. App. 568) is amended in subsection (b) by inserting ``or the 
spouse of such servicemember'' after ``a servicemember in military 
service''.
    (b) Application.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply 
with respect to servicemembers in military service (as defined in 
section 101 of such Act (50 U.S.C. App. 511)) on or after the date of 
the enactment of this Act.
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