An Update on the Military Spouse Hiring Act
One of NMFA’s top legislative priorities for the 118th Congress is ensuring that military spouses are added as a Target Group of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC), which would provide a tax benefit to employers who hire military spouses. If this sounds like a familiar priority, it is. This has been a legislative priority for our Association for the past several congressional sessions, and we most recently gave you an update last August.
Now that we are about halfway through the first year of a new Congress, we wanted to let you know where the initiative stands.
What Happened Last Congress
Last Congress, the effort to add military spouses to the WOTC gained tremendous bipartisan and bicameral support through the Military Spouse Hiring Act, with 53 cosponsors in the Senate and 281 cosponsors in the House.
So, why didn’t the bills pass? Because the bill amends the tax code, the congressional committees of jurisdiction are the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee. Sometimes, if a bill is related to military service members or military families, the bill’s committee of jurisdiction will waive that jurisdiction so that the legislation can be included in the National Defense Authorization Act. Last Congress, these committees would not waive jurisdiction, and because there was not a larger tax bill that Congress was considering, the initiative didn’t move any further.
What Is Happening Now – Good News!
The Military Spouse Hiring Act was reintroduced in March in both the House and Senate. Both H.R 1277 and S. 596 are identical bills to the ones from last Congress, and the Military Spouse Hiring Act is again gaining bipartisan and bicameral support, with 35 cosponsors in the Senate and 92 in the House. We are optimistic that this support will continue to grow.
Questions About Cost & Return-On-Investment
As we share details about what this legislation would do for military spouses and families, some of the questions we hear from legislative staff members are about the cost of the bill and how the bill will be paid for. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that the Military Spouse Hiring Act could cost up to $888 million over 10 years, assuming it passes and is implemented this year.
We know that military spouse unemployment not only costs military families their ability to provide for their current needs and future financial security, but it also costs the country. The estimated annual social cost of military spouse unemployment is between $710 million and $1.07 billion.
What is a social cost? The report that studied this particular cost question was conducted by the Sorenson Impact Center, a division of the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah. This report defines social cost as reduced labor force participation, unemployment benefits, lost income tax revenue, health costs, and underemployment. Additionally, this study, conducted in 2016, is now seven years old.
These are important details because we often talk about how military spouse unemployment is a national security issue or a recruitment and retention issue, which it is, but it is also a true economic burden for the country as well. We believe that the benefits of passing the Military Spouse Hiring Act far outweigh the costs.
What Can You Do to Help
If you are interested in helping ensure this bill passes, both NMFA and the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) have tools to help you engage with legislators on this issue.
NMFA offers letter and email templates for you to use to reach out directly to your federal elected officials and/or the elected officials representing the area in which you are currently stationed. You can find their contact information here: https://www.congress.gov/members. You can also submit an automatically prepared email via MOAA’s Congressional outreach campaign for the Military Spouse Hiring Act.
By: Meredith Smith, Government Relations Deputy Director
