“I am pleased Director of Veteran’s Affairs, Eric Hesse, has finally acknowledged the need for licensing application reform. It is past time we make this happen. Current New York State law requires military spouses relocated to New York to relicense in order to practice certain occupations. It is absurd that we treat the families of our military with such disrespect. While the spouses of military personnel are forced to hurdle several roadblocks in order to resume work, illegal citizens are being granted licenses to practice the same occupations without a problem.

“I have supported this reform legislation (A.4394) and other legislation affecting our military’s families for a long time and it’s nice to see action finally being taken by our state’s Division of Veterans’ Affairs. Our military and their families make so many sacrifices for the citizens of our nation. We must stop making their lives more difficult than they are already.”