Help for Utah veterans?
Democrats and a Republican proposing financial assistance
Using Veterans Day as a backdrop, Democratic senators and Republican Rep. Greg Hughes, R-Draper, announced plans to run bills that aim to financially assist Utah soldiers and their families, especially survivors of those killed in war zones.
Both bills would grant tuition waivers to immediate survivors of those killed while on any active duty, including reserve or National Guard soldiers. Each bill also would offer other assistance for the families of deployed, disabled or fallen soldiers.
Potentially the most costly proposal would come from Hughes, who wants the state to pay $500,000 to the families of fallen Guard soldiers. The death benefit would be on top of the $100,000 the federal government gives to the family of a service member whose death is a result of hostile actions in a designated combat operation or combat zone or during training for combat. In addition, the federal government recently increased the maximum payout in the service members' group life insurance program from $250,000 to $400,000.
Instead of responding to local disasters, he said, those Utahns are fighting against insurgents and securing election sites in Iraq. They are gone for months at a time, and families are left behind to fend for themselves.
"Our National Guard is deployed more than ever before. It's just an extremely different role for the National Guard now," he said. "We have to step up and help them, appreciate their sacrifice and help these families that are being impacted more than ever."
Hughes also plans to include a provision giving a utility credit to families of deployed service members, as well as a tuition waiver for dependents of fallen Utah National Guard members at any of the state's public universities. Democrats also plan a tuition-waiver bill.
Along with the full tuition waiver for the immediate family of those killed in action, Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake, wants to give a 50 percent reduction to the dependents of disabled veterans, which would complement a Hughes-sponsored bill passed during the past general session, which gave tuition waivers to Purple Heart recipients. McCoy intends to seek an appropriation to cover the costs of the waiver, which he hopes will get the support of higher education officials who already struggle with funding 15 other waivers.
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