Almost ten percent of Virginia residents are active duty military or veterans giving our commonwealth one of the highest concentrations of military residents in the nation. Heather would like to propose legislation of across-the-board credentialing of military spouses or their family members in their chosen profession. Other states have adopted this type of legislation and it is beneficial not only to the family members of our military, but also to our businesses and schools who gain skilled, experienced employees.

Because military families are frequently moving state to state, it’s in many cases practically impossible for a family member to get credentialed or licensed to move their business with them from state to state. By the time they receive their credential or license to do business, they are off moving to another state. As a result, many military family members give up on their businesses entirely. Heather’s legislation would permit military family members from being able to bring their credentials or licenses to Virginia. The Commonwealth of Virginia would recognize these out-of-state credentials as valid within the Commonwealth. Heather would also like to work on efforts to incentivize our retirees to stay here and reduce the financial burden on them.