The Greene County Dailies - Letter to the Editor: Ohio Must Continue to Support Our Military and Veterans

Op-Ed

The Greene County Dailies - Letter to the Editor: Ohio Must Continue to Support Our Military and Veterans

We can never truly repay the debt of gratitude we owe to the brave men and women who have served our state and nation as members of the armed forces. Thousands of Ohio soldiers have willingly put themselves in harm's way and their lives on hold to defend our ideals at home and abroad. Just as those who make the sacrifice to protect our liberty and freedom, we have an obligation to ensure that the men and women of our military and veterans are not just honored with words, but with actions.

I am pleased to report that prior to breaking for summer recess, the Ohio Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 248 - a bill I sponsored that takes small, but helpful steps to improve the quality of life for Ohio veterans, active military personnel and their families. S.B. 248 will better protect our veterans personal information by keeping it confidential and limiting the use of such information like social security numbers, birth dates and personal records. The bill ensures that those who have served in the military are not at a higher risk of becoming victims of identity theft, by limiting their individual information which can be released from their military discharge records which are recorded with the County Recorder's Office. This bill also establishes criminal penalties for those who use a deceased military persons' persona for commercial purposes and ensures that active members of the military stationed in Ohio, as well as, family members can receive lower in-state college tuition rates. My bill also pays statewide tribute by the legislature and the State of Ohio to those brave men and women in Ohio who have paid the ultimate sacrifice by honoring each of them and their families every year with the Distinguished Medal of Honor of Ohio. This bill passed the Ohio Senate and now needs to be seriously considered for passage when the Ohio House returns this fall.

Come August, Ohio's nearly 960,000 veterans will have a new state agency devoted to serving them thanks to the Ohio General Assembly's passage of Senate Bill 289. S.B. 289 created the Ohio Department of Veterans Affairs, which will not only provide veterans one central place where they can access information about services to which they are entitled, but will also increase the state's outreach to them. The Director of this new agency will serve as a member of the Governor's Cabinet, right along with the budget director, the tax commissioner and the heads of other state agencies, thereby elevating veterans' issues to their appropriate place in state government.

I was also pleased to co-sponsor and help manage in the senate, House Bill 372, which ensures retirement pay of members of the military are no longer subject to the Ohio income tax. I also offered an amendment to the state Capital/Corrections Bill earlier this month, which ensured that the surviving spouse of a veteran will continue to receive the same tax exempt benefit. Not only was this tax break helpful for an estimated 35,000 retired members of military living in Ohio, but I believe it will also serve as a strong economic benefit to the Miami Valley Region. The tax break will help encourage retired military families to stay in Ohio and continue to contribute their time and talents to our communities, both through Ohio's strong network of veteran service organizations and to important military enterprises which support Wright Patterson Air Force Base.

We should always remember that the very freedom we will celebrate with fireworks, picnics and fairs this summer, came at a significant price. We owe a great deal of gratitude to Ohio's veterans and I am pleased that in a few small ways, this legislature has found a tangible means of saying thank you.

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