(BOSTON 12/20/2021) Last week the Joint Committee on Veterans & Federal Affairs reported out S2542, An Act to support military families. The legislation, filed by Governor Baker, would permit Massachusetts to participate in several interstate licensure compacts, ultimately allowing qualified practitioners to more easily transition to practicing their profession in the Commonwealth. Senator John C. Velis, Chairman of the Committee, stated that this will be an enormous benefit for military families and Massachusetts military installations.
“Earlier this fall, the Senate passed the SPEED Act, a bill I filed to support military children and expedite our Commonwealth’s licensure process for military spouses in general. This legislation continues that work by allowing military spouses in these specific professions to seamlessly obtain their licenses upon arrival in Massachusetts,” stated Chairman Velis. “Both of these bills will help ensure that military members and spouses are able to easily continue working in Massachusetts, but they will also ensure a secure future for our Commonwealth’s military installations.”
“The Department of Defense and the respective military services have all made it explicitly clear that they are now ranking states on how they treat military families when considering mission assignments and military investments. If we don’t act to meet those standards, there is a very real risk that we will lose out on federal investments to other states and that our military installations will close,” stated Chairman Velis. “Bringing the F-35s to Barnes Air National Guard Base, bringing the new Space Force to Hanscom Air Force base, bringing new investments to Westover Air Reserve Base: these are major investments that will keep our military installations relevant and benefit our entire Commonwealth’s economy. But we can only secure these investments if we meet these standards for military families that the Department of Defense is looking for.”
In September of 2019, the Secretary of Defense defined a fourth line of effort to the National Defense Strategy to support the wellbeing of military families. Military spouse licensure was designated as a key initiative in this effort. Section 2883 of the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act further emphasizes the role these measures play in the DOD’s strategic basing evaluation. This section requires the department to produce annual basing decision scorecards at the state and installation level considering military family readiness issues, with one of the top criteria being interstate portability of licensure credentials.
Massachusetts is home to six military installations with more than $13.2 billion in total economic activity and support for more than 57,600 jobs, including Barnes Air National Guard Base, Westover Air Reserve Base, Fort Devens, Hanscom Air Force Base, Joint Base Cape Cod, the U.S. Army’s Natick Soldier Systems Center. The value of defense spending in the Commonwealth is 2.6% of the entire state’s GDP.
S2542 was reported out to the House of Representatives, where it could be referred to another committee before being brought to the floor for a vote. The SPEED Act, S2559, passed the Senate on October 21st, and is now in the House Committee on Ways and Means.
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