Plan to Pay Bonuses to Ohio Vets Blocked

There will be no bonuses this year for Ohio veterans of service in the Persian Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Although the deadline to submit constitutional-amendment issues isn't until Aug. 6, the $200 million bond issue to pay for veterans bonuses stalled this year in the Ohio House after being passed unanimously by the Senate.

No more legislative sessions are scheduled until the fall. Technically, legislators can be called back at any time, but that appears highly unlikely before the deadline.

Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray, a Democrat who is running for attorney general on Nov. 4, proposed the bonus plan late last year. He said he hasn't given up but was very disappointed that the legislature didn't act.

"We've had no support in the House. We've been telling people to call their representatives," Cordray told The Dispatch. "If it doesn't go this year, we plan to put it on the ballot next year."

House Speaker Jon Husted, R-Kettering, opposes the idea of using bond money for the bonuses and refused to permit a hearing on the amendment.

"We want to help Ohio veterans. The question is, how it is going to be paid for," said Husted spokeswoman Karen Stivers. "The speaker would prefer to use existing resources."

She said legislators almost certainly will not meet again until after the November election.

Cordray complained that legislators "were able to find over a billion dollars in bonded debt for projects in their districts" but were unwilling to approve bonuses for veterans. He referred to the recently approved capital-improvements bill.

His proposal would give veterans $100 for each month served in Iraq or Afghanistan, up to $1,000, and $100 a month for those who served in the Persian Gulf war, up to $700, because that engagement lasted seven months.

Those who served on active duty elsewhere in either period would be eligible for $50 per month served, up to $500. The amendment also would provide a $5,000 death benefit for family members.

Ohio has a long history of providing for veterans, going back to 1862, when the legislature passed a property-tax levy to provide for Civil War veterans and their families. Voters subsequently approved four constitutional amendments covering World Wars I and II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

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