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A Reward for Sacrifice; Wisconsin is Close to Offering New Tuition, Tax Breaks to Veterans and to Families Who Lost Loved Ones in War

Posted on: Sunday, 17 July 2005, 15:00 CDT

Deb Kiser became a single parent on June 24, 2004, when a suicide bomber driving an explosives-packed truck in Mosul, Iraq, killed her husband of 14 years and the father of their two children.

Now, Kiser continues life without her mate, paying bills, raising her 11-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter and planning for their future, which will most likely include college.

The financial burden she faces would be eased considerably by a broad package of veterans benefits expected to be signed into law by Gov. Jim Doyle.

Under the measures, Kiser and other spouses of Wisconsin military members killed in the line of duty won't have to worry about college costs and property tax bills on their homes.

"That would be huge for me," she said.

Some of the new benefits also would apply to disabled veterans and their surviving spouses.

The package also contains a provision under which the state would pay half of the tuition at Wisconsin public universities and colleges for all of the state's 497,000 military veterans a change state Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary John Scocos likened to a "second GI Bill."

That bill paid for the college educations of generations of veterans from World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars.

To help pay for the new benefits, Wisconsin residents will also be able to designate part of their income taxes to go to veterans, under another change.

Improved benefits advocated

Gov. Jim Doyle said he plans to sign the new benefits into law, as part of the 2005-'07 state budget he will act on within a few weeks.

"It's a very major step forward," Doyle said. "It's been a deep value of ours that we honor our veterans."

He said that the deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan of more than 40 Wisconsin residents since 2003 have been a sobering reminder of the need to help veterans and their families.

"This is a very good group of people we want to make sure get an education," he said.

That's a relief to Kiser, who faces college costs for her son Mark and daughter Ali. The two-bedroom home she and her husband, Chuck, bought nine years ago in the Village of Cleveland in Manitowoc County has a $1,700 annual property tax bill.

Under the changes, Kiser would receive an income tax credit equal to her property taxes. The benefit also would apply to veterans 65 or older who have a 100% service-connected disability or for their surviving spouse who has not remarried.

One measure would have the state pay 100% of tuition at any UW System and state vocational-technical college for children and spouses of Wisconsin residents killed in the line of duty or veterans who incurred at least a 30% service-connected disability. Children must be between 18 and 26. Spouses who have not remarried must use the tuition break within 10 years of the soldier's death.

All veterans, regardless of when they served, would get a 50% tuition waiver at UW System campuses and state technical colleges.

"I was really impressed and surprised when I heard about it," Kiser said of the new benefits. "I thought that was pretty generous for the state of Wisconsin."

The estimated two-year cost of the property tax break is $5.4 million, while the tuition breaks for veterans would cost $15.2 million over that period, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

Because no one knows how many more Wisconsin residents on active duty will be killed, the future tuition costs for spouses and children cannot be determined.

Joe Campbell, 58, who served in Vietnam in 1967 and '68, said the 50% break on tuition could prompt some Vietnam veterans, now in their 50s and 60s, to return to school.

"It's a wonderful gesture, and it would encourage vets to take any class they want," said Campbell. "Especially if they're disabled and just sitting at home, they can go out and learn something, computers, anything at all."

Scocos said the debate over how to help Wisconsin veterans has changed dramatically in recent years because of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

"It has increased the awareness that we have to provide for a new generation of veterans, spouses and children because their father might be severely injured (and) he cannot go to school," Scocos said.

Assistance welcome

Peggy Gabrielson, whose husband, Dan, was killed in Iraq in 2003, has two daughters in college and a 15-year-old son.

The tuition benefit wouldn't help her daughter Audra, who just finished her freshman year at Ripon College. But it could help pay for her daughter, Vanessa, to finish her final year at UW-Green Bay and get a degree in elementary education.

The new property tax break on her home on 80 acres near Frederic that she and her husband bought 17 years ago would help her family's finances. But the property tax benefit to older disabled veterans is just as significant, Gabrielson said.

"It's important to recognize everyone, but the disabled vets even more so because they're feeling it every day physically and emotionally," said Gabrielson.

The package was passed by a Legislature in which one out every five members served in the military, according to the Legislative Reference Bureau. About 9% of all Wisconsin residents are veterans.

Rep. Terry Musser (R-Black River Falls), a Vietnam War veteran, has pushed the Legislature for 20 years to improve benefits for veterans. He said the changes will make Wisconsin the national leader in taking care of its veterans.

"The sad commentary is: It took a war" for the expanded benefits to become law, added Musser, whose son has been serving in Iraq since Dec. 24.

The new benefits are needed now more than ever, as most Wisconsin members of the Reserves and National Guard are likely to be activated at some point during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom and may be sent to that part of the world, Musser said.

The property tax break will allow older, disabled veterans and their wives or widows to stay in their homes, said Mike "Gunner" Furgal, Wisconsin VFW state adjutant quartermaster.

Gus Sorenson, government relations director for the Wisconsin chapter of Paralyzed Veterans of America, said, "When you compare it to the sacrifice, it's a bargain."

LIKELY CHANGES FOR VETERANS

-- 50% tuition waiver for all veterans who enroll in UW System campuses or technical colleges.

-- 100% UW and vocational college tuition waiver for the children of veterans killed on duty and their spouses who haven't remarried. The waiver also applies to veterans who are 30% or more disabled and their children.

-- Income tax credit for property taxes paid by veterans 65 or older with 100% military-related disability, for spouses of veterans killed on duty who have not remarried and for surviving spouses of veterans at least 65 years old who were 100% disabled. (Those claiming the credit may not receive the Homestead, Farmland Preservation or School Property Tax credits.)

-- New state income tax check-off and sale of new specialized license plates to help pay for veterans benefits.

Sources: Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs, Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

Copyright 2005, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved. (Note: This notice does not apply to those news items already copyrighted and received through wire services or other media.)

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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