Unemployment pay now for military spouses Published March 19, 2009 By Jackie Harriman Western Region State Liaison F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. -- "Home is where the Air Force sends you." This is a common expression among many military families who do not identify with just one state as being their home. After a move, military family members will find work in the communities surrounding the installation. It is where they build their new lives and soon call home, even though they know it is most likely temporary. This has been a lifestyle for generations of service members and their families. However, this normality sometimes includes the loss of careers for spouses, potential loss of a needed second income and disruption of children's education. Spouses may have to re-certify in their career specialty because the next state has different requirements. Likewise, children may be faced with a new state history requirement for high school graduation, lose opportunities to take advanced courses and miss out on extra-curricular activities. To battle this cycle, Wyoming offers a new option: Senate File 90, expansion of unemployment compensation for trailing military spouses. In 2005, the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Military Community and Family Policy established the Defense State Liaison Office. Within this office, ten state regional liaisons are tasked to build local and state relationships, educate and provide assistance to state and local policymakers on ten key issues that impact the quality of life of service members and families. These same issues are areas where military family members are inadvertently impacted by state and local policy due to their mobile lifestyle. The idea is that state governments will change some policies to remove obstacles and barriers so military members can become more productive in the communities where they reside. Recently, many people came together in the Cheyenne community to assist Senator Tony Ross in offering Senate File 90 to Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal. They built a common understanding of the benefit Senate File 90 would have upon the quality of life of military families. "Senate File 90 will provide unemployment insurance for our military spouses, directly improving the quality of life for our military families," said Jody Clark, community readiness consultant of Warren's Airman and Family Readiness Center. This provision will make eligible for unemployment benefits, she said, those military spouses previously excluded because existing unemployment legislation viewed the relocation of a military spouse as a choice to leave a job, simply due to residency requirements or a family move that was directed by the military service. "I am very proud the 90th Missile Wing, Wyoming National Guard and the Wyoming state government are visualizing the importance of working together to support the needs of our service members and their families," said Jim Headstream, A&FRC director. "The unemployment insurance bill is one of many DoD quality of life initiatives we will work on together to make F. E. Warren the base of choice for our Air Force members." Senate File 90 also helps the Wyoming National Guard. Becki Hunter, Wyoming National Guard employment coordinator, is aware of the impact the long deployments have had upon guard families across the state. Like many active-duty families, many Guard families rely upon a second income and teamwork in order to make ends meet and ensure their children are cared for, Ms. Hunter said. During a deployment, the stay-at-home spouse is left to deal with the everyday demands including work, taking children to school and childcare. If that spouse has been working shifts, family demands may make unemployment the only option so that children can be cared for until the other half of the team returns. Families make sacrifices because of the needs of the military, she said. There is no choice whether to relocate or whether to deploy with a unit; it is a duty and a commitment. As a result of this dedication, military spouses should not be denied eligibility to receive unemployment insurance in the event their families need this support.