|
Columns and News
Press Photos
Road Journal
Audio Files
Video Files
Biography
Contact Us
Get Updates
Request an
Appearance
Brief History
Former Lt. Governors
Interesting Facts
KS Energy Council
Kansas Mentors
KS NBAF Task Force
KS Wind Working Group
Kansas Military Bill
Of Rights
Veterans Benefits
Military Family
Support
Current News
Govwire
Governor's E-News
Cabinet Members
Kansas
Legislature
State Employees
Homeland
Security
Tourism
NLGA
Kansas Web site
|
|
Kansas Military Bill of Rights
and other services provided by the State
The following is a list of services
and benefits provided by the State of Kansas.
- Activation payment: There is a one time payment of $1,500
made to state employees upon activation for 180 days or more. These payments
will be made retroactively to all National Guard members and reservists
who have been activated since September 11, 2001.
< top
- Annual Hunting License: Active duty military
personnel stationed in Kansas can purchase all annual state resident licenses,
permits and stamps.
- Active duty military who were Kansas residents at the time of entering
the military and immediate family members domiciled with them may purchase
resident licenses, permits and stamps, except lifetime licenses.
< top
- Armory Renovations: Bonds to finance the renovation,
reconstruction and repair of the 54 statewide armories.
< top
- Tax Credits: Tax credits for businesses which employ
a member of the Kansas Army or Air National Guard or United States Reserves
who was unemployed when they were deployed and returns home.
< top
- Complimentary Tuition: The state will provide up to 10
semesters of free college tuition to soldiers who have served at least 90
days on active duty in Iraq or Afghanistan, can be redeemed at any Kansas
public college or university.
< top
- Death Benefit: The State of Kansas has provided a $250,000
death benefit for the beneficiaries of any member of the Kansas National
Guard who is killed on active Federal duty
< top
- Deployment Refund: The Department of Wildlife and Parks
can reissue big game or turkey limited draw permits to military personnel
forced to forfeit their limited draw permit due to deployment.
< top
- Elk Draw: Fort Riley soldiers are given special consideration
in drawing permits.
< top
- Emergency Relief: Available to members of the Kansas
National Guard and Reserves and their families that are Kansas residents
to make ends meet during emergency situations in which other avenues of
support have been exhausted.
< top
- The
First Time Homebuyers Program (FTHB) provides down payment
assistance to qualified Kansas buyers for the purchase of their first
home. The program is for persons who have incomes at or below 80 percent
of the median income for their area. The loan may be from 15 to 20 percent
of the purchase price of the home, awarded on a sliding scale, depending
on the applicant’s income level. Buyers are expected to make a
minimum investment of $500 or two percent of the sale price, whichever
is greater. Private lenders process the second mortgages in conjunction
with the first mortgage financing. This program is provided through
the Kansas
Housing Resources Corporation.
< top
- Free Hunting and Fishing Licenses: Free Hunting and Fishing
Licenses: Kansas Guard Members can receive annual hunting and fishing licenses
without charge.
< top
- Free Vital Statistics Records: Requests
for vital statistic records by all members of the Kansas National Guard
who have received an alert notice of pending active duty or have already
been placed on Federal active duty for mobilization and their dependents
shall be fulfilled without charge.
- Veterans may receive a free copy of their vital statistics
records if they apply through the Kansas Commission on Veterans Affairs.
< top
- Funeral Picketing: requires protesters to
stay at least 150 feet from any entrance to a cemetery, church, mortuary
or other location where a funeral is held or conducted. The bill also
prevents demonstrations from occurring within one hour prior to, during
and two hours following the commencement of a funeral service. It
is also unlawful for any person to knowingly obstruct funeral services or
a funeral procession.
It will also be unlawful to block a public street or sidewalk. Violators
will be subject to fines and six months in jail.
< top
< top
- Governor's Military Council: An executive order was signed
in early 2006 to revamp this council following the decommissioning of the
Governor's Strategic Military Planning Commission. The new council has the
primary duties of supporting members of the military stationed in Kansas,
promoting the important role of the military in the state, protecting and
growing our military presence in Kansas and advocating for improved quality
of life for the military in Kansas.
< top
-
Home Property Tax: A full-time military service member
who has been, or will be, deployed outside the United States to defer
all or part of the real property tax owed for the person’s principal
place of residence in Kansas for up to two years while serving on active
duty.
< top
- In State Tuition: residents can return to Kansas within
60 months of departing the state and qualify for instate tuition.
< top
- In-state Tuition for Military Family Members: Any dependent
of a member of the United States Armed Forces stationed in Kansas will be
allowed to qualify for in-state tuition; their tuition status will not change
to out of state as long as they are consecutively enrolled at a regent institution
even if their sponsor's status changes due to a new assignment.
< top
- Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children:
This Compact is intended to remove barriers to educational success imposed
on children of military families caused by frequent moves and deployment
of their parents. The Compact provides seamless transitions for students
to new schools by providing instant records transfer and facilitation of
the student placement process, including qualification and eligibility for
enrollment, student participation in extracurricular activities, scheduling,
grading, and assessments. Applies to children of active members of the military,
including those members severely injured and medically discharged and those
retired for a period of up to one year after retirement.
< top
- Kansas Family Programs Office is in the Adjutant General’s
Dept. It provides a place for the military to go for help to get their questions
answered. They put together the reintegration training, pre-deployment training,
and also are responsible for coordinating Family Readiness Groups around
the state to support families while their soldiers are deployed. The Family
Readiness Groups are typically lead by a spouse of a deployed soldier and
that call each other spouses in a certain region to offer support, get together
for activities, etc. The Family Programs Office also has Family Assistance
Centers throughout the state which provide help to the military member and
their family and help connect them with resources.
< top
- Kansas Lottery: Launched two instant games,
$2 Sunflower Salute and $1 Veterans Cash. All net profits were used for:
- Fifty percent to Kansas National Guard Education Assistance
Act scholarships.
- Fifty percent for the Kansas Soldiers’ Home, the Kansas Veterans’ Home,
and the state veteran’s cemetery system.
< top
- Service Credit: Additional service credit
increases the amount of a member’s monthly retirement benefit and
possibly allows them to retire earlier.
- Granted Military Service Credit: Kansas
Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS) can grant active military service
at no cost to members if their military service interrupts their public
service. They must be employed in a covered position immediately before
and immediately after the active military service.
- Purchased Military Service Credit: Members
can purchase year for year of active military service and one quarter of
service credit for each year of military reserve service.
- Basic Life Insurance: Active KPERS members
receive basic life insurance equal to 150 percent of their annual gross
income. Employers pay for the cost of this benefit. If a member goes on
military leave, their basic life insurance coverage continues for the duration
of the military leave at no cost to the employee.
- Optional Life Insurance: Optional life insurance coverage
is provided in addition to the basic life insurance. Employees pay their
own premiums for this coverage at group rates, depending on the amount of
coverage.
< top
-
Military Family Child Custody: In 2008, state law was
updated regarding divorce, child custody, and parenting time when a parent
receives military deployment, mobilization, temporary duty orders, or
unaccompanied tour. Kansas law requires permanent parenting plans pursuant
to divorce proceedings which must now include provisions for custody and
parenting time upon deployment, mobilization, temporary duty, or unaccompanied
tour. Failure to comply with that parenting plan due to mobilization,
etc. shall not, by itself, constitute a material change in circumstances.
It will be presumed that such an agreement is in the best interest of
the child(ren), to be determined by the court. State law also allows for
expedited hearings for good cause shown, when military duties have a material
effect on the parent’s ability to appear in person at a regularly
scheduled hearing. Any order modifying previously ordered custodial or
parenting time rights shall state that the deployment, etc. is the basis
for the modification, and the order shall be temporary in nature. Any
motion to modify a temporary custody or parenting time order based on
the deployment will take precedence on the court’s calendar. The
court may delegate the deploying parent’s parenting time to another
family member with close ties to the child(ren). The non-deploying parent
shall try to accommodate the leave time of the deployed parent to enhance
parenting time of the deployed parent.
< top
< top
-
Military Service Scholarship Program: To help Kansas
soldiers who have returned from military service pursue their educational
goals, the Military Service Scholarship Program has been created to honor
the sacrifices that soldiers have made while protecting our country. This
program will ensure that our service men and women have the resources
to succeed in college. This is an important investment in their future,
and a great way for us to thank them for their service. The Military Service
Scholarship Program allows ROTC institutions to award scholarships to
Kansas soldiers who have returned from military service and are enrolled
at community colleges. Under this program, the State Board of Regents
will approve a memorandum of understanding between the board of trustees
of the community college and the chief executive officer of the ROTC institution
prior to the awarding of any scholarships.
< top
- National Guard Foundation: Established to help families/soldiers
with needs which the Guard is not authorized to pay or doesn’t have
other programs to cover.
< top
- Open Records: Kansas Open Records Act exempts military
discharge papers to openness requirements.
< top
- Pay Differential: For state employees, the
state will make up any difference between the pay and allowances Kansas
National Guard members and reservists receive from the military and their
state salary at the time they were called to active duty. The maximum amount
paid is $1,000 per month.
< top
- Permit Refund: Big game permit fees may be refunded to
any United States Armed Forces personnel experiencing a change of duty prior
to the first day of season, preventing the use of the permit.
< top
- Professional License: Shall continue to be valid while
an individual is in military service and for six months following their
release. No licensee shall be required to pay a renewal fee, submit a renewal
application, obtain continuing education or meet other conditions while
on active duty. Also, no license shall expire, lapse or be canceled, revoked
or suspended while an individual is on military service. Within six months
after their release from active duty or within two weeks of engaging in
activities that require a license, the licensee must file the completed
application and renewal fee to maintain licensure. They have one year to
complete required continuing education requirements.
< top
- Refund or Credit for Tuition: The Board of Regents has
enacted a system-wide policy stating that when a member of the United States
Armed Forces who is a student in a Kansas regent institution is activated
and must leave school, that person will be given a refund or credit for
the tuition paid.
< top
- Registration Grace Period: Returning deployed military
personnel with an expired registration have a seven day grace period to
properly register their vehicles in their home county.
< top
- Spouse Employment: Kansas statute considers military
spouses who are forced to leave their position due to their spouse's military
orders as an involuntary separation from work and therefore eligible for
unemployment insurance.
< top
- State Agency Review: The Governor and Lt. Governor have
called on all state agencies to review their policies and procedures to
identify additional assistance that can be given to any members of the military.
< top
- State Hiring: Any veteran who is eligible for veteran’s
preference and who meets the minimum requirements for a posted vacant state
position is offered an interview.
< top
- State Income Tax Filings: The Secretary of Revenue shall
continue reviewing to ensure full compliance with federal law extending
tax return filing dates and other required payments and reports for military
personnel serving in a combat zone and their families.
< top
- Tuition Assistance: The tuition to attend
state universities, community colleges, or vocational technical colleges
will be covered for dependents of Kansas residents who are killed in the
line of duty while in the United States Armed Forces or the Kansas National
Guard. Tuition assistance is also provided for former Prisoners of War.
< top
- Vehicle Registration: If a solider is stationed
in the state and claims Kansas as their permanent residence then they can
have up to two motor vehicles registered and not pay property taxes. Or
if a solider is a Kansas resident and they are deployed to another state
and their motor vehicle is in another state then they do not have to pay
property tax on up to two motor vehicles. Or if a solider does not claim
Kansas as their permanent residence while they are in the state then they
are not subject to personal property tax under the Federal Soldier's and
Sailor's Civil Relief Act.
< top
- Veteran's Reunion: Held at El Dorado State
Park receives a special event permit and an average 25 percent discount
on camping fees.
< top
|
|
Last Updated
June 20, 2008
|
|
