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LANSING - Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today announced
she has approved
emergency administrative rules that will allow the Michigan Family Emergency
Relief Fund to provide financial assistance to families of Michigan
servicemen and servicewomen more quickly and in a broader range of
circumstances.
The rule change is a response to situations such as a
house fire, furnace
failure, or a rural water well replacement in which the Department of
Military and Veterans Affairs has been unable to assist.
"Our servicemen
and servicewomen are true heroes who have put themselves in
harms way for the protection and safety of those of us back home," Granholm
said. "While they are away keeping us safe, it is only right that we do all
we can to assure that their families are taken care of in their absence."
Because financial issues often develop on an emergency
basis, the new rule
will improve the process by which the Department of Military and Veterans
Affairs (DMVA) distributes monies from the fund. Under the new rule, a
member of the soldier's family must incur a significant increase in the
necessities of daily living, such as a loss of pay, or a significant
emergency that warrants financial assistance. Previously, the
administrative rules required that a service member's household income be
reduced by 10 percent before the service member or their family could
benefit from the fund.
The Department of Military and Veterans Affairs submitted
updated rules to
the Governor after seeing an immediate need to modify the rules in order to
make the Military Family Relief Fund more accessible to qualified
individuals.
The fund enables the DMVA to provide grants of up to
$2,000 in a calendar
year to qualifying military families of Michigan's active duty Army National
Guard, Air National Guard and military reserve members. The funds can be
spent on clothing, housing, medical services, utilities, or any other
related necessities of daily living. The need must occur while a family
member is on active duty or be the result of a line-of-duty related injury
or illness.
The fund was created in October 2004 when Granholm signed
Public Act 363 of
2004 and Public Act 364 of 2004. The funding is provided by generous
contributions of Michigan taxpayers using a check off box on state income
tax forms.
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