ARIZONA
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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HB 2191: military families; assistance; subaccounts |
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PRIME SPONSOR: Representative Carter, LD 15 BILL STATUS: Appropriations |
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Relating to the Military Family Relief
Fund.
Provisions
1. Continues MFRF for eight years, until December 31, 2026. (Sec. 1)
2. Creates Pre-9/11 and Post-9/11 veteran subaccounts within the MFRF. (Sec. 1)
3. Creates the Pre-9/11 MFRFAC consisting of the Director or the Director's designee and 12 additional members including:
a. Widows and widowers of military personnel who died in the line of duty;
b. Military retirees;
c. Veterans who have a service-connected disability and their family members; and
d. Arizona Army and Air National Guard unit commanders and active and retired senior enlisted military personnel, except for the Director. (Sec. 1)
4. Mandates the Governor to appoint members to MFRFAC based on recommendations by the Director, the Adjutant General and commanders of Arizona military bases. (Sec. 1)
5. Requires the MFRFAC to elect a chairperson from among the appointed members. (Sec. 1)
6. Requires the Pre-9/11 MFRFAC to do the following:
a. Establish criteria for the use of monies in the Pre-9/11 veterans' subaccount;
b. Establish and revise as necessary the application process for financial assistance;
c. Review and evaluate applications; and
d. Make other recommendations as necessary. (Sec. 1)
7. Requires the money in the Pre-9/11 veterans' subaccount to be used to provide financial assistance based on need to eligible families of up to $20,000 including:
a. Widows, widowers or dependent children of service members who died in the line of duty.
i. May apply for up to six months of residential mortgage, rent and utilities and other basic living expenses.
b. Immediate family members.
i. May apply for payment of costs for temporary residences near a medical facility where the service member is being treated including living, travel and housing expenses paid in monthly installments.
c. Immediate family members, service members or former service members.
i. May apply for living expenses and other appropriate expenses as determined by the Pre-9/11 MFRFAC. (Sec. 1)
8. Allows a donor to designate which subaccount the donation will be deposited. (Sec. 1)
9. Allows the Director to split the donation equally between both accounts if the donor does not designate a subaccount for deposit. (Sec. 1)
10. Continues the MFRF tax credit for eight years, until December 31, 2026. (Sec. 2)
11. Creates a tax credit for the Pre-9/11 veterans' subaccount. (Sec. 2)
12. Makes technical and conforming changes. (Sec. 1, 2)
Current Law
The MFRF is established through December 31, 2018 and consists of private donations, grants, bequests and any other money received for that purpose. Currently, ADVS administers MFRF and the state Treasurer invests and divests monies in MFRF. The MFRF provides financial assistance to the families of currently deployed service members and post-9/11 military and veteran families. The MFRFAC determines appropriate uses of the money in the fund by establishing the criteria for the use of monies in the fund and review and evaluate the applications for financial assistance (A.R.S. § 41-608.04).
Until January 1, 2019, a credit is allowed against the taxes imposed for cash contributions made by a taxpayer to the MFRF. The amount of the credit is the lowest of the total amount of contributions to MFRF by the taxpayer during the taxable year, $200 of contributions during the taxable year by a single individual, $400 of contributions during the year by a married couple filing a joint return and by a taxpayer's tax liability for the taxable year (A.R.S. § 43-1086).
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Fifty-third Legislature HB 2191
Second Regular Session Version 2: Appropriations
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