[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 120 (Tuesday, August 4, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S8778]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 MILITARY SPOUSES RESIDENCY RELIEF ACT

  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 108, S. 475.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (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.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be 
read the third time and passed; that the motion to reconsider be laid 
upon the table, with no intervening action or debate; and that any 
statements related thereto be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (S. 475) was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, 
was read the third time and passed, as follows:

                                 S. 475

       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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