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Professional Development Opportunities Recruiting for the US Military Services SSLA Board of Directors Duties
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News That You Can Use: 1) Military Pensions Tax-Free in Ohio
Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland has signed legislation
that exempts military pensions from state income tax. Veterans who receive
military pensions no longer will have state income taxes taken from their
monthly retirement checks. The new law also prevents discrimination against
veterans.
View the Full Bill as introduced to the Ohio General Assembly. To learn more about military taxes, visit the Military.com Tax Center. 2) The following at a brief prepared by the Naval Legal Services Office, Washington, Navy Yard: WHAT IS THE SCRA? Congress passed the Service-members’ Civil Relief Act to provide protections for servicemembers in several key areas: ¨ It can help you stop a civil legal action (not a criminal action) or avoid default judgments in such an action IF you cannot attend court due to military obligations; ¨ It protects your state citizenship and can protect you from certain state taxes; ¨ It can help you lower the interest rate that you pay on certain pre-service debts under limited conditions; and ¨ It can help you terminate a lease IF certain conditions are met. 6% INTEREST RATE PROTECTION The SCRA allows you to request that the interest rate you pay on a debt incurred before you joined the military be reduced to 6% per annum, this includes debt co-signed with spouse. To be eligible for the 6% cap, you must have incurred the debt before joining the service and your ability to pay must have been materially affected by military service. “Material effect” is a vague term that is often interpreted to involve mobilization for war or an extended deployment overseas. However, since the burden is on the creditor to prove a lack of “material effect”, many creditors will grant the cap as a courtesy if properly requested. It is up to the servicemember to request the 6% cap; there is a sample letter to use in writing your creditor on the back of this pamphlet. You should include a copy of your military orders and may be asked to include financial information in your request. If a creditor refuses to lower the interest rate on a qualified pre-service debt, you should see a NLSO Legal Assistance Attorney. This protection does not apply to government-backed college loans or to any debt acquired after joining the military. LEASE PROTECTION The SCRA extends the right to terminate real property leases to active duty servicemembers moving pursuant to permanent change of station (PCS) orders or deployment orders of at least 90 days. This eliminates the need to request a military termination clause in leases. One of the new and more substantive additions found in the SCRA is the provision that allows the termination of automobile leases for use by service-members and their dependents. Pre-service automobile leases may be cancelled if the servicemember received orders to active duty for a period of 180 days or more. Additionally, automobile leases entered into while the servicemember is on active duty may be terminated if the servicemember receives PCS orders to a location outside the continental United States or deployment orders for a period of 180 days or more. RESIDENCY AND TAXES If you are on active duty, the SCRA guarantees that your state residency will not change just because of your military orders – even if you buy a house in the state of your new duty station, register your car there, or obtain a new state driver’s license. This means that you will continue to pay state taxes ONLY to your home state, UNLESS you change state residency voluntarily. The primary means of changing state residency voluntarily are by voting in a new state or changing tax withholding to a new state. You may need to file an affidavit in your new state to avoid state tax or yearly personal property tax. The SCRA does not protect you against paying local real estate taxes or state income taxes on non-military income. So if you work a second job, you must pay local state tax on that income. It also does not protect your spouse – your spouse will be subject to all the normal state residency and tax rules. STAYS AND DEFAULT JUDGMENTS The SCRA allows an active duty servicemember to request a “stay of proceedings” (temporary delay of court proceeding) in a CIVIL action under certain conditions. A Legal Assistance Attorney can help you determine if you are eligible for a stay. Courts are reluctant to grant a stay unless strict criteria are met. A default judgment (judgment in your absence) cannot be issued until the Court has determined whether you are eligible for a stay. These protections do not apply to criminal or administrative proceedings. MORE HELP The information contained in this pamphlet is general in nature, and may or may not apply to your particular case. If you have any questions, call the Naval Legal Service Office North Central, 202-685-5580 to make an appointment with a Legal Assistance Attorney. 2) IN-STATE COLLEGE TUITION FOR FAMILY MEMBERS IN VIRGINIA - was signed into law by Governor Kaine last week and will be effective 1 July 2006. The bill, introduced by Delegate Terrie Suit from Norfolk, passed unanimously in the General Assembly. A synopsis of the new law follows: In-state tuition for dependents of active duty military personnel. Provides that all dependents of active duty military personnel assigned to a permanent duty station in Virginia who reside in Virginia shall be deemed to be domiciled in the Commonwealth for purposes of eligibility for in-state tuition and shall be eligible to receive in-state tuition in Virginia. All dependents of such military personnel receiving in-state tuition shall be afforded the same educational benefits as any other individual receiving in-state tuition so long as they are continuously enrolled in an institution of higher education in Virginia or are transferring between Virginia institutions of higher education. By extending in-state tuition to family members of military personnel who are living in Virginia pursuant to military orders of the sponsor, Virginia joins over 40 other "military friendly" states that recognize the hardships that constant PCS moves have for many of our college aged and college bound kids. Heretofore, military personnel faced the tough choice of keeping kids local and paying out-of-state tuition rates, changing tax residency to Virginia, putting spouses to work (needed to earn $10,800/year) or sending kids out of state. The Governor also signed into law another of Delegate Suit's bills that will allow military children to remain in the same school IF the military member is ordered to move into on-post quarters from off post and a different school district. Before this legislative change, the child might have been allowed to remain in the same school, but the family would have been required to pay "tuition" to the public high school, middle school or elementary school (usually several thousand dollars a year per child). Bill synopsis: Education; no tuition charges for certain children of relocated military personnel. Provides that tuition shall not be charged to children of active members of the military who are ordered to locate to military housing located in a different school division than the one the child is attending at the time of the order to relocate. Such children shall be allowed to continue attending school in the school division they attended immediately prior to the relocation and shall not be charged tuition for attending such school. The school division in which such children are enrolled subsequent to their relocation to base housing are not responsible for providing for their transportation to and from school. For full text of the bill go to: http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?061+ful+HB695
3)
Massachusetts
Provides "Welcome Home" Bonuses for Active Duty and Veterans 4) VA Broadens Benefits for Women
Veterans; Women Screened for "Silent Killer" Disease |