Relief fund to provide aid to military families

A new state fund that distributes money to families of Louisiana National Guardsmen and reservists activated for service in the war in Iraq was established in part by two public officials with ties to the Houma area.

The program, called the Military Family Assistance Fund, began dispersing money in late October.

The money is intended to help the families of activated Guard and reserve members pay for smaller expenses like minor medical bills and car repairs.

The fund, which had a balance of $246,689 on Oct. 24, contains no tax money. It is maintained entirely by private contributions.

Since the fund is a payer of last resort, families have to first seek assistance from other sources such as the Veterans Emergency Assistance.

State Sen. Reggie Dupre authored the bill creating the program. State Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Hunt Downer, who formerly represented Terrebonne Parish in the Louisiana House, chairs the Military Family Assistance Board, which oversees the fund.

Dupre called the fund “a need-based program when no other alternative’s available.”

“The fund is for financial needs that slip through the crack,” he said.

“The U.S. is having to rely on the National Guard and reserve to defend our country,” Dupre said. “When they’re activated, there’s something called the ‘Patriot Penalty.’ It’s the difference in pay between their regular job and the military.”

“Some suffer considerable loss of income,” he said. “They still have house notes and rent.”

Dupre listed electric bills, children’s braces and car tires as items that would be covered by the program typically.

He said most states have created similar assistance funds.

The impetus behind the one in Louisiana came about after several soldiers from the Houma area were killed in 2005 on a single day in Iraq, he said.

Dupre was contacted by Catherine Childers, executive director of the Mothers Against Drunk Driving chapter in Louisiana, about starting the fund. Dupre had worked with Childers previously on DWI legislation.

Illinois Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn traveled to Louisiana to speak on behalf of Dupre’s bill. Quinn had drafted Illinois’ Military Family Relief Fund bill, which was passed by the Illinois General Assembly and signed into law in 2003.

The Louisiana Legislature established the Military Family Assistance Board on Aug. 15, 2005, but the process of distributing money to qualifying military families in the state was halted when Hurricane Katrina struck two weeks later.

“There’s been little awareness” about the fund’s existence ” because the whole world changed with Katrina and Rita,” he said.

Dupre’s legislation originally placed the program under the state Department of Social Services. However, he “detected no enthusiasm from them for moving it forward,” the state lawmaker said.

Eventually, the state attorney general’s office became the administrator of the fund.

The state Legislature’s Joint Committee on the Budget authorized the spending of money on Oct. 25.

“My biggest disappointment is it took so long,” Dupre said. “It’s taken over two years.”

“We’ve received two applications” so far to receive money from the program, said Childers, who is currently director of consumer outreach for the Attorney General’s office. “It’s critical that citizens and businesses donate. The fund receives no tax money.”

Most of the money has come from a checkoff on state income tax return forms. Childers is attempting to have a similar checkoff placed on federal income tax return forms.

She expects that much of the money contributed to the fund will continue to derive from state income tax return forms.

Dupre said he is hoping Governor-elect Jindal will promote the checkoff during the tax return season this spring.

Downer said, “It’s a fantastic show of support for our men and women in uniform and their families.”

“I can speak from personal experience because, in 1990 to ’91, I was activated for the Gulf War,” he said.

Many Guardsmen and reservists “make more money in civilian jobs than in the military, especially in the early stages of a military career,” he said. “When they’re activated, they lose the major source of income, but the obligations are still there.”

“There are times when the military will fly a family out to see (a family member) serving,” Downer explained. “Who will pay for the baby-sitter?”

Because of the fund, “A person in harm’s way won’t have to worry about who’s looking after the family,” he said. “We want them to come home unscathed.”