[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 11431-11432]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     MILITARY RESIDENCY CHOICE ACT

  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 282) to amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act 
to authorize spouses of servicemembers to elect to use the same 
residences as the servicemembers.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 282

       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 Residency Choice 
     Act''.

     SEC. 2. RESIDENCE OF SPOUSES OF SERVICEMEMBERS FOR TAX 
                   PURPOSES.

       (a) Residence for Tax Purposes.--Section 511(a)(2) of the 
     Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. 4001(a)(2)) is 
     amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: 
     ``The spouse of a servicemember may elect to use the same 
     residence for purposes of taxation as the servicemember 
     regardless of the date on which the marriage of the spouse 
     and the servicemember occurred.''.
       (b) Applicability.--The amendment made by subsection (a) 
     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. 3. RESIDENCE OF SPOUSES OF SERVICEMEMBERS FOR VOTING.

       (a) In General.--Section 705(b) of such Act is amended--
       (1) by striking ``State or local office'' and all that 
     follows through the period at the end of paragraph (3) and 
     inserting ``State or local office--''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:
       ``(1) 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--
       ``(A) 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;
       ``(B) be deemed to have acquired a residence or domicile in 
     any other State; or
       ``(C) be deemed to have become a resident in or a resident 
     of any other State; and
       ``(2) the spouse of a servicemember may elect to use the 
     same residence as the servicemember regardless of the date on 
     which the marriage of the spouse and the servicemember 
     occurred.''.
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) 
     shall take effect on the date that is 90 days after the 
     enactment of this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from

[[Page 11432]]

Tennessee (Mr. Roe) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Walz) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Tennessee?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  I rise today in support of H.R. 282, the Military Residency Choice 
Act. The Military Residency Choice Act would change the way military 
spouses claim State residency by allowing a spouse to claim the same 
State of residence as their servicemember spouse, even if they have 
never physically lived in that State.
  I want to commend Representatives Stefanik and Wittman for their work 
on this bill, and I will allow them to describe it in greater detail in 
a moment.
  Madam Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting 
H.R. 282, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 282. This is a commonsense 
bill. It has received bipartisan support as it moved through the 
committee. It simplifies the process for a spouse of a servicemember to 
choose and change their State of residency for tax and voting purposes.
  The bill is about removing additional headaches from servicemembers' 
lives and doing right by them. There are enough issues being a member 
of the military and for spouses and family. We don't need to add more 
to it.
  This is a smart piece of legislation. It does exactly what it says it 
is going to do, and I support and encourage all Members to join me in 
support.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Stefanik), coauthor of the bill and my 
colleague on the Education and the Workforce Committee.
  Ms. STEFANIK. Mr. Speaker, my legislation gives military spouses the 
choice to establish the same State of residency as the servicemember, 
giving them the benefit of retaining the same State of residency for 
voting and tax purposes.
  As the proud Representative of Fort Drum and the Navy site at 
Kesselring, which I visited just this past Friday, I have heard 
firsthand about the challenges that military families face, and I have 
the highest respect for the sacrifices these families make to help 
protect our Nation and safeguard our freedom.
  Military families must relocate every few years due to their spouse's 
responsibility to meet the requirements within the military. They 
sacrifice a great deal during these relocations, uprooting their lives 
and disrupting their families, all while serving as the critical 
support system for their loved ones. This is often a difficult and 
challenging time, with the heaviest burden falling upon military 
spouses.
  Current law allows Active-Duty servicemembers to maintain one State 
of legal residence for tax and voting purposes, even when 
servicemembers receive military orders requiring them to relocate, but 
this does not apply to the servicemember's spouse. Essentially, this 
loophole requires spouses to establish residency every time the 
servicemember receives a new assignment, adding undue stress and 
anxiety to military families already under the pressure of managing 
their relocation. This legislation fixes this inconsistency.
  Military spouses serve, too, and this bill eliminates the daunting 
task of documenting multiple tax jurisdictions and helps reduce 
instances of military spousal unemployment.
  Traveling across the north country in New York, I have listened to 
the sacrifices our military families make to keep our Nation safe. We 
have a duty to reduce these burdens they face.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill on a 
bipartisan basis.
  Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I again urge Members to support this smart 
piece of legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1530

  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, once again, I encourage all 
Members to support this commonsense legislation, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Walker). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Roe) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 282.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a 
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not 
present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

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