Every Memorial Day, we honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice defending our country. But it should also inspire us to ensure that those currently serving, and their families, aren’t needlessly suffering. Right now, when active service members are transferred to a new base, we don’t just ask their families to move too — we often force their spouses to sacrifice working.

We ask a lot of our active-duty service members. Of course, we ask them to be willing to lay down their lives. But there are a lot of other smaller sacrifices they must endure during their service, such as stable living conditions. Every time a service member is given a new assignment, they are forced to move somewhere new.

Their families are also forced to uproot their lives. Moving is expensive and a hassle. You have to leave your friends and family and start all over again. And when military spouses work in a licensed profession, moving often means they are legally prevented from working.

When someone works in a licensed profession, which can range from physicians to nurses to cosmetologists, after moving to a new state, they have to reapply for licensure. The process is not as simple as transferring a driver’s license. It takes a lot of time and money to do. Any time there are slight differences in education or training requirements between states, licensed professionals have to redo education or training. Starting from scratch adds time and money, which can be prohibitive to finding work after a move.

Military spouses face a unique problem from licensing laws. First, they are almost twice as likely to work in a licensed profession as civilians. Second, they move every two years on average, far more often than civilians. Since they often have just two years to live in a location, the cost and delay of getting a new license often mean that it's not worth it to work. By the time they redo their education and hear back from the state board, they are ready to move on to the next military base.

There is nothing wrong with a spouse choosing not to work. But it is a problem when we force that choice upon people. Indeed, many military families must resort to food stamps when a spouse is unable to work.

This is not a new problem. During former President Barack Obama's administration, the Department of Defense and first lady Michelle Obama worked together to encourage states to reduce barriers to relicensure for military spouses. Every state passed some version of the reforms. Unfortunately, in practice, these reforms were not enough.

And even though Congress recently passed a law to cut through the red tape, months later, nothing has changed. It’s time for the states to step up.

What should states do? They have a few options, but they should be done in combination to be the most successful. A recent piece that we wrote for the Archbridge Institute provides some best practices for policymakers:

These reforms won’t put consumers at risk. To be eligible, military spouses must have obtained a license and practiced without being disciplined. We already ensure their competency through licensing. These reforms will just allow them to use their competency after they move.

We’ve recognized the harm that licensing laws have done to military spouses for more than a decade. Even a bitterly divided Congress can agree on this. Now, it’s up to state legislatures across the country to do something about it — and thankfully, several already have.

This Memorial Day, while we remember our service members who sacrificed their lives for us, let’s also remember the sacrifices we force upon military spouses.

Conor Norris is the assistant director and Edward Timmons is director at the Knee Center for the Study of Occupational Regulation at West Virginia University. Timmons is also a senior research fellow with the Archbridge Institute .