A military spouse has won a key battle in her court fight to force Texas education officials to accept her out-of-state school counseling license. U.S. District Court Judge Robert Pitman granted Air Force wife Hannah Ma-gee Portee's request for a preliminary injunction on July 21, after Texas refused to recognize her Missouri and Ohio licenses, despite a new federal law that provides professional licensing portability for service members and their spouses. She also has some extra firepower in her fight, as the Justice Department filed a statement of interest supporting her, calling Texas's actions a violation of a new provision of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, or SCRA, that took effect Jan. 5. The seven-month-old law broke new ground in the effort to help military spouses who face onerous and often expensive processes each time they move to get certified to continue their chosen career. Defense officials calculate that there are more than 132,000 active-duty spouses in occupations like nursing and realty that require licensing, representing about 39% of military spouses in the workforce.
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