Howdy y’all and buckle up for this weeks news 6 update!
Italy Spouses are Going to Work
Good news for dependents stationed in the sunny nation of Italy.
They can now be hired and work for US employers, a door that has been closed to them until now.
A series of letters between the US and Italy confirms that American Citizens with a missione visa are allowed to telework with the US. However, telework with nations that are not the United States is still prohibited.
The letters State that US employees fall under US and not Italian employment laws. These laws include US social security, unemployment, and worker’s compensation laws.
The Status of Forces (SOFA) privileges will not be impacted in anyway.
Beth Conlin,who chairs the board of the Military Spouse Chamber of Commerce, hope that Italy is just the start.
“If Italy can do this, then we need to take this model and demand it for every other country where we have military families assigned,”
Conlin said.
“Now is not the time to sit back and think this is done. We have dozens of other countries that we need to approach demanding the same kind of clarity.”
Glad to see worlds of opportunity open up for spouses around the world!
Find out more at starsandstripes.com
Gold Star Widows May Soon Find Love and Keep Benefits
There is a currently a bill being tossed around the senate that would allow widows of service members to remarry without losing their benefits.
As it stands, spouses under the age of 55 lose the the Department of Veterans Affairs‘ Dependency and Indemnity Compensationand the Defense Department’s Survivor Benefit Plan if they remarry.
A bill being led by Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga, would eliminate the age requirement of keeping benefits and would also reinstate benefits to widows who already remarried before the passing of the bill.
“What I’m trying to do with this bipartisan legislation is correct a wrong,” Warnock said.
“People who have lost their loved ones defending our freedom shouldn’t have to struggle with deciding whether or not at a time of their choosing they should be able to move on with their lives, all the while honoring the love of their spouse who was killed.”
Ashlynne Haycock-Lohmann, TAPS’ deputy director for government and legislative affairs also weighed in at aid at last week’s Veterans Affairs Committee hearing.
“Given that many post-9/11 surviving spouses are widowed in their 20s or 30s, we are asking them to wait over 20 years to remarry and retain their benefits, Many surviving spouses have to put their lives on hold to raise grieving children. They rely on survivor benefits to help offset the loss of pay for their late spouse and their own lost income as a result of the demands of military life.”
Taps says that less than 5 percent of widows choose to remarry, largely in part due to the so called remarriage penalty.
65,000 spouses who receive these benefits are under the age of 55.
The bill has been dubbed the “Love Lives on Act”
This bill would also reinstate commissary and exchange access to remarried widows and also allow surviving spouses to re enroll in Tricare if the remarriage ends, either in death or divorce.
The measure has three other cosponsors: Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark.; Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.; and Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii.
We love our government coming together in bipartisan action to help our spouses, especially our most deserving gold star survivors.
Find out more at military.com
Hotels Wave Goodbye to Affordable BAH Rates
Beginning October 1st, Army hotels will no longer be charging service members their monthly BAH rate and will instead be offering their pricier nightly fee.
The average of this is an extra 35 dollars a night.
Since Covid and the housing crisis that came with it, army hotels have offered to families waiting for housing a flat BAH monthly rate after they use up their ten days of TLE.
These BAH rates have been used the most at Joint Base Lewis McChord, Washington; Fort Cavazos, Fort Bliss and Fort Sam Houston, Texas; and Fort Stewart, Georgia.
It became too much to stay afloat, especially in these locations. An IHG official at Fort. Lewis said that they released a memorandum warning of the change.
“Some people appreciated it, because it’s good to know,” the official said. A handful of others “jumped on it and said, ‘you corporate evil privatization people,’ not knowing that for nearly four years this was voluntary” for IHG Army Hotels to offer the reduced rate to help families,” he said. “As a guy who worked to talk [IHG] into it each year, I get emotional about it, because it hurts to read people saying that about the program.”
IHG hotels hope that the October cutoff will be enough time for all families from this crazy summer PCS cycle to find adequate housing or make other plans.
While we all appreciate all IHG did in the midst of a global crisis, as someone who just went through the pcs housing waiting game at one of the five locations listed above, it’s tough out there.
Here’s hoping everyone gets a roof over their head and dollars back in their pocket in a timely manner. Find out more at militarytimes.com
On this day in News 6 History:
On September 18, 1793, George Washington laid the nations Capitol cornerstone. The building, however, would take almost a century to complete.
They could not find a steady architect, the British set it on fire during the war of 1812, and it was called into service as a hospital during the civil war.
The Capitol, which is visited by 3 million to 5 million people each year, has 540 rooms and covers a ground area of about four acres.
One of the most interesting facts I dug up about this exciting day in the chapter of our country is that George Washington hosted a barbecue after the ceremony.
All I can picture is the father of our nation flipping burgers with a kiss me I’m the chef apron and a tall chefs hat.
Probably not how it went down but I don’t see any proof to contradict my thesis.
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