Proposals aim to ease burden of Guardsmen

Kirsten Searer

Monday, April 18, 2005 | 11:15 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Under normal circumstances, Kyle Geller would have had to pay about $2,000 per semester to study criminal justice at UNLV.

But Geller, who returned from a stint in Iraq a little more than a year ago, said he is now paying just a few hundred dollars.

He's taking advantage of a temporary program that pays fees for people who are coming off active duty in the National Guard.

"I'm paying a quarter of the costs. That's not so bad," said Geller, who hopes to become an officer in the National Guard.

This year some legislators are looking to make the program permanent, hoping that it will spur additional education for thousands of Nevadans returning from active duty in the Middle East. It's one of myriad programs proposed to help Nevada's National Guard, which has one of the highest deployment rates in the country since 9/11.

Various bills would give Guardsmen anything from a monthly bonus to a break on sales taxes or help with their mortgage and life insurance payments.

"I've never seen such an outpouring for the National Guard," said Maj. Gen. Giles Vanderhoof, who is Nevada's adjutant general and homeland security administrator.

The bills could cost millions of dollars, but legislative leaders said there is public support for such measures.

A Guardsman who is deployed could easily go from a salary of $65,000 a year to $18,000 a year, while still having to pay mortgages, bills and other expenses, Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, said.

While the federal government has programs to help enlisted military members, "I just feel very strongly that the Guard is the state's responsibility," Perkins said.

In a hearing Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, asked Vanderhoof what his priorities are, pointing to the many bills before the Legislature.

While there is a limited amount of money the state can allot to new programs, "we want to do everything we can to help these folks," Raggio said.

The Legislature will likely take up most of the bills toward the end of the session, when lawmakers know how much money they will have to spend.

Of the state's approximately 3,000 Guardsmen, about 2,000 have been mobilized since Sept. 11, 2001, though that includes some people who have been mobilized twice, Vanderhoof said.

Vanderhoof said he wants to help Guardsmen who are struggling, but "at the same time, we're trying not to exploit the situation and go to the moon."

The temporary program to give waivers on registration and laboratory fees would be made permanent under Senate Bill 78. Vanderhoof said the tuition waivers are his top priority this legislative session.

A two-year pilot program has been in place, and at least 350 Guardsmen use the waivers in any given semester, Vanderhoof said.

Guardsmen used to pay their fees up front and then be reimbursed for a portion of their fees, depending on how much the state allocated, Vanderhoof said.

This program means they don't have to front the money, allowing returning Guard members to immediately enroll in class, he said.

Geller said the program is especially important in current times, when Guardsmen return from duty fully knowing that they could be deployed again soon.

"It makes the push for them to go to school when they're not deployed," he said. "You want them to get whatever education they can and not spend too much money out of pocket when they're at home."

Geller said he thinks returning Guardsmen should be rewarded for their efforts.

"These are all combat veterans we're talking about," he said.

The other legislation that is being proposed to help the Guardsmen includes:

Voters would also decide in 2006 whether to forgive sales taxes for people who have family members serving active duty. Perkins said the family members could carry a card or letter so retailers would not charge them sales taxes.

All families have dealt with uncertainties after 9/11, but it has been especially hard on National Guard families, Perkins said.

"For no other group have these times been so uncertain," Perkins said.

Perkins said he also plans to talk with business groups about providing some sort of incentive to employers to retain their Guard employees. It could be included in Assembly Bill 376, he said.

Sen. John Lee, D-North Las Vegas, said Guard members now pay $16.25 a month for life insurance policies. His bill would simply allow the state to cover those costs.

"Everybody I talk to says, 'Yeah, that's important,' " Lee said.

The bill, which passed out of the Assembly Transportation Committee, would allow any Guardsman mobilized outside of the state to get a waiver on vehicle taxes.

"We've seen active military individuals disrupted by this war, really falling on hard times," Parks said.

A similar bill in the Senate would allow members to purchase up to three years of service based on the time they served on active military duty.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, would cost an estimated $21.6 million in the next fiscal year.

Coffin pointed to a resolution passed in the 2003 Legislature that voiced lawmakers' support for all troops, regardless of their feelings about the war in Iraq.

"We can support them with love and we can support them with good words," Cofffin said. "There comes a time when we have to give them more than that."

Raggio asked Vanderhoof Wednesday whether this bill was his top priority, and Vanderhoof reiterated that the tuition waivers are his biggest wish.

But Coffin said he, as a former member of the military, said he thinks Guardsmen have been asked to deploy and, sometimes, redeploy -- more than they thought they would when they signed up.

"I think we have pushed them beyond what would be reasonably expected of them," Coffin said.

Assemblywoman Valerie Weber, R-Las Vegas, said it would basically serve as a workers' Bill of Rights for people serving in the Guard.