BATON ROUGE – Louisiana National Guard soldiers who have lost their lives or have been disabled defending the United States deserve to be rewarded for the sacrifices, Sen. Robert Adley said Wednesday as he led the Senate in approving SB1.

Adley, R-Benton, said his legislation has an $8.2 million price tag on it but he considers it a small price, compared to what the soldiers gave up.

“It is impossible for us to remove the pain families have experienced,” he said on the Senate floor. “We cannot remove the pain but we can assure that they are treated fairly.”

Adley’s legislation expands a previous bill authored in 2007 by Rep. Rob Marionneaux, D-Livonia, that was intended to grant $250,000 to the families of National Guard members who lost their lives after Sept. 11, 2001, during activation in the war on terror, and $100,000 to those who were totally disabled.

He said that in administering the legislation, it did not go back to 9/11, but his bill picks up the ones who were left out. It includes 32 families.

Marionneaux said the $8.2 million “is but a small amount of debt that we owe soldiers and their families for what they stand for every day.”

Gov. Bobby Jindal has expressed support for almost identical legislation introduced in the House, HB143 by Rep. Nick Lorusso, R-New Orleans. That bill is awaiting a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee.

SB1 was the first piece of legislation pre-filed for the session. Senators endorsed it 34-0.

Adley said the governor has said he would approve funding for the award program but it’s dependent upon raising revenues.



Click here for the original link to the article.