YORK COUNTY, Va. - — A bill re-introduced in Congress would incentivize employers to hire military spouses.
The Military Spouse Hiring Act would expand an existing program and give employers a tax credit if they hire military spouses.
"The frequency of moves often means the employers will look at them and say, 'Wow, you're they type of person I want, but you're likely to move soon, so I'll hire someone else,'" said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia), one of the bill's sponsors.
Erica McMannes, a local Army spouse, believes the bill would help. "It's bipartisan. There's no reason an employee would say no to a tax incentive, especially with all of the economic uncertainty happening right now," she said.
McMannes says she's moved 12 times over the course of her husband's 21-year career. "Military spouses are nomadic, so that constant moving and that uprooting and that disruption of network and resources really possess a challenge," she said.
To bring some stability into her own life, McMannes co-founded a company in 2016 called Instant Teams. The company helps link military spouses with employers for remote and hybrid jobs.
It has 500 employees and allows her to also work remotely.
"Building a business for the military spouse community if a part of my calling. It's the experiences I've had and the things I've been able to see," she said.
Others may face underemployment, where they move to a location without opportunities in their career field.
Kaine says the issue is a military readiness issue. "If you have real barriers for the spouses, then you're going to see people exiting when we usually want to retain them," he said.
The bill is now making its way through Congress.
