State lawmakers could give soldiers financial boost with tax breaks

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana soldiers, veterans and their families are getting a boost from state lawmakers, who’ve set aside partisan wrangling over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to help those serving the nation.\nBills have advanced that would give new tax breaks to active-duty soldiers, members of the Indiana National Guard and reservists; provide money to help military families struggling because a member has been mobilized; and allow parents, spouses and siblings of Guard members and reservists who are being deployed to take some unpaid leave from their jobs to be with their families.\n“Of all the stuff we are doing right now, I’d rather see us pass something to help the kids who are busting their butts for us over there,” said Republican Sen. Thomas Wyss of Fort Wayne, chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security, Transportation and Veterans Affairs.\nIt is not yet clear how many bills to benefit soldiers will pass, or in what form, but Gov. Mitch Daniels recently expressed optimism that several would reach his desk with bipartisan support.\n“I’m looking forward to signing them,” said Daniels, who proposed a package of benefits for soldiers and veterans before the session. Many are in a bill that passed the Senate and House, although differences in the versions must be reconciled in a House-Senate conference committee.\nOne bill already bears his signature.\nThat new law, which takes effect July 1, will give National Guard members returning from active duty priority for placement in employment and training programs provided by the state. Spouses of Guard members also are eligible.\n“We want to make sure that the transition back into our work force is as easy as possible,” said Sen. Sue Errington, D-Muncie, the bill’s author.\nNearly 12,000 people are members of the Indiana Army National Guard and more than 1,900 serve with the Indiana Air National Guard, said Staff Sgt. Les Newport of the Indiana Army National Guard. Of those, about 9,800 have served on active duty since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks – many of them in Iraq or Afghanistan. Thousands of reservists from Indiana also have served in those countries.\nThe Guard’s 76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, based in Indianapolis, has been ordered to prepare for possible deployment late this year or in 2008. Since November 2002, various elements of the 3,400-member unit have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.\nThe lengthy deployments can pose both emotional and financial hardships for the soldiers and their families.\nTraining typically lasts six to eight weeks and deployments to the Mideast one year, although some units have served longer, Newport said. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced last week that the Army was adding three months to the standard yearlong tour for all active-duty soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, a step aimed at maintaining the troop buildup in Baghdad.\nLawmakers created a new state-run Military Family Relief Fund last year that will be used to help such families during a spouse’s deployment. Money for the fund is coming from donations and sales of a new Support Our Troops license plate and an existing veterans plate.\nThe fund allows grants of up to $2,000 to pay for such things as food, housing, utilities, medical services, transportation costs or other essentials.\nSen. Mike Delph, R-Carmel, a reservist, said lawmakers’ efforts send a message to those serving that “we know you are fighting for our freedom, we support you and we will do everything in our power to help you.”