Assembly Republicans hail passage of "Patriot Plan II"

Assembly Republican Leader Charles H. Nesbitt and members of the Assembly Republican Conference hailed the Assembly passage of Patriot Plan II, legislation that will expand benefits for military personnel and their families. The package of tax and other benefits builds on last year's historic Patriot Plan. Both plans were developed by Assembly Republicans. Patriot II passed the Senate June 21 and is supported by Governor George Pataki.

"Last year we enacted the most comprehensive package of benefits for Guardsmen and Reservists since the GI Bill," said Leader Nesbitt (R,C,I-Albion), a highly decorated former helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War. "The benefits put forth in this legislation will go a long way in building on that success by further helping New Yorkers that are defending the nation. This legislation will make it easier for our citizen soldiers to balance the duties of military service with those of civilian life."

The Patriot Plan II enhancements are designed to further ease the financial and other burdens placed on New Yorkers in the National Guard and the Reserves. Included in the package are tax exemptions and deadline extensions, tuition award eligibility expansions and increased pay for New York State military personal.

The original Patriot Plan provided over a dozen benefits for New York military personnel and their families. Among the provisions in that legislation were protections against discrimination in housing and employment, caps on loan obligations, automatic extensions of driver's licenses and vehicle registrations, allowances to terminate auto leases in the event of activation and free hunting and fishing licenses for eligible service members.

Specifically, the Patriot Plan II package includes:

•Exempting Guard and Reserve pay from state taxes when they are engaged in any state activity;

•Increasing pay for New York State military personnel by raising the per diem pay rate for state active duty from $100 to $215;

•Assisting local governments by allowing them to hire retired public employees with no penalties to their pension to fill staffing needs caused by the activation of an employee;

•Making current Persian Gulf and Afghanistan veterans eligible for tuition awards and extending the time period for applying for tuition awards to September 1, 2006;

•Broadening the eligibility for extending certain tax deadlines for filing returns;

•Easing the ability for dependents to qualify for certain benefits by eliminating the requirement that dependents apply to a court to obtain the benefits provided by the "Soldiers and Sailors Relief Act," and

•Automatically revoking all state tax and fee exemptions for an organization whose federal tax exempt status has been revoked for engaging in terrorist activity

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