Murray plan would assist GIs’ families

Danielle Lucas’ life was turned upside own when her husband was called to active duty with the Washington National Guard’s 81st Brigade last February.

She and Spec. Jack Lucas of Puyallup, Wash., worked opposite shifts to support themselves and their three children. Finding the cost of day care for her newborn prohibitive, Lucas was forced to quit her job at Safeway and move to a less expensive residence in Spokane Valley, where she has family.

“We had no choice,” Lucas said. “We had to move back. People have to know that in the real world, families have to be compensated.”

Last week, the U.S. Senate may have found a way to help. An amendment offered by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., to the Defense Authorization Act of 2005 directs the secretary of defense to make child-care services available to activated soldiers and their families who don’t live near major military installations.

The full Defense Authorization Act will come to a vote of the Senate next week, said Murray spokesman Mike Spahn. Then it will have to be reconciled with the House version in conference committee.

“This amendment takes one of the many concerns these Guard and Reserve families face off the table,” Murray said after the measure was approved unanimously by the Senate on Thursday. Supported by the Department of Defense, the amendment also applies to full-time military personnel and their families.

“I hope that today we’ve provided some peace of mind to families facing activations, deployments and incredible hardships on behalf of our nation,” Murray said.

On Friday, Lucas welcomed news of the child-care amendment. It won’t solve all her financial problems caused by her husband’s duty in Iraq, but it will help. The cost of child care for her 3-month-old alone is $600 a month. She also has two other children, ages 6 and 9.

Spec. Lucas’ military pay is $1,000 a month less than what he made driving a truck for J.B. Hunt, Danielle Lucas said. She lost the $800 a month she brought in from the grocery store. When she moved, she lost the income the family made by renting out part of their home.

“We were left with nothing,” Lucas said. “The Army doesn’t take this into consideration when they deploy soldiers for this long. We had to borrow money from the Army’s emergency relief fund to pay for our mortgage and food.”

Murray’s amendment was the latest of several provisions to defense authorization that she has sponsored or co-sponsored. They include:

“ Making Tri-Care military health insurance permanent for all members of the Guard and Reserves and their families, regardless of employment or insurance status.

“ Providing tax credits to employers who continue to pay activated Guard and Reserve employees. The credit is capped at $30,000 or $15,000 per employee.

“ Reimbursing soldiers who had to purchase their own body armor due to Department of Defense shortages.

“Supporting our Guard and Reserve families is not cheap,” Murray said, “but we need to do it if we still want to have a Guard and Reserve system after all of these long, extended deployments. These families are part of our war effort.”