States shore up support for troops

Officials expect Rhode Island residents to contribute even more money to the assistance fund come Tax Day. "There's almost not a week that goes by that we don't have some deployment or return," says Lt. Gov. Charles Fogarty. "We have a state responsibility to do this."

Other state lawmakers feel the same way, according to the NCSL:

• Missouri is one of many states trying match Rhode Island's tax-form donation technique.

• Delaware grants veterans with 90 or more consecutive days on active duty one year of free access to state parks.

• Alabama exempts active-duty troops from hunter-safety education requirements.

State support is, of course, good public policy: States look to the National Guard to help with everything from riots to natural disasters. Now, as residents see neighbors and co-workers being deployed, there is a heightened awareness of the Guard's sacrifices in Iraq. "The National Guard is more integrated into the civilian community, in a way that activite-duty personnel are not, says Mady Wechsler Segal, a military sociologist at the University of Maryland.

In some ways, the state efforts are an extension of federal moves to boost compensation. The Pentagon recently announced plans to increase the tax-free federal death gratuity from $12,420 to $100,000 for survivors of military members killed in the line of duty.

Still, the federal government can play a larger role for National Guard and Reserve troops, says US Sen. Evan Bayh (D) of Indiana. In his state, he says, some of them have had to file for bankruptcy. That's why he's proposed a measure to eliminate the "patriot penalty" - the difference between civilian and combat pay.

The measure would provide a tax credit of up to $15,000 a year to companies that pay the salary difference, and would directly pay those service members whose companies do not make up the difference, up to $50,000 a year. "States have stepped forward with insurance policies" and other programs, he says. "But many states are really strapped financially."

It's a dilemma felt across the country. John Goheen, spokesman for the National Guard Association of the United States, notes the difficulty of setting state financial priorities. "Money is not endless; hard choices need to be made," he says. "How do you balance buying hardware with the supporting of service members and their families?"

The type of support that's needed - and increasingly expected - has shifted since 9/11, just as the nation's demands on its troops have changed. And with longer, more frequent deployments, many of those affected are pushing for a greater acknowledgment of how critical families - both their support of the troops and the military's support of them - really are.

"The whole family concept is something that, during the last few years, they realize there is a need for," says Behm.

But there is still much to do, says Amy Palmer, an Air Force veteran and the eastern region director for Operation Homefront, which provides day-to-day assistance to military families. "Because [the military] is more terrorist-oriented, it means a lot of frequent deployment," she says. "They are not looking at the transforming of the family to meet those needs.... And it gets harder every time."

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