City bill seeks to cover deployed pay gap
City Councilman Charles Djou has introduced a bill that would close the salary gap for city employees called into active service for the Army Reserve or Hawai'i Army and Air National Guard.
Federal law ensures that citizen-soldiers get equivalent jobs from their employers when they return from active duty. But employers are not required to continue paying the salaries of soldiers who often earn less in the Guard and Reserve.
"Like many private companies that help their employees' families deal with the difficulty of a bread-winner being called to duty, the city should similarly try to help its employees' families by paying the difference between city and military pay for mobilized employees," Djou said.
Djou, an Army Reserve first lieutenant, serves in the Judge Advocate General Corps and is one of three Hawai'i elected officials in the Guard or Reserve.
One of the others, Rep. Mark Takai, D-34th (Pearl City, Newtown, Royal Summit), helped shepherd a package of nine bills through the last legislative session to ease the economic hit on Guard and Reserve troops called to duty.
One bill raises the amount of income tax exemptions for Guard and Reserve members. Another allows the Department of Education to use up to $100,000 in federal impact aid to establish a military liaison position.
"As a legislator, any time you have a significant amount of people leaving for duty in a war zone, there is concern," Takai said. "It's a major inconvenience and disruption to people's lives."
Takai should know. He is a preventive medicine specialist with the Hawai'i National Guard and serves with fellow Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo, D-42nd (Waipahu, Honouliuli, 'Ewa), who works in patient administration.
Tamayo works for the non-profit Healthy Hawai'i Coalition providing environmental education for elementary school kids. But last week, she spent her days checking the medical records of hundreds of Hawai'i National Guard soldiers at Kalaeloa.
"We've seen about 200 soldiers yesterday, and at the end of the day, we'll see another 300," Tamayo said. "A lot of people are waiting in line for hours and there's a lot to do."
Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8085.
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Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act ensures that employees in the Guard or Reserve get: • Voluntary or involuntary leaves of absence. • Return to job seniority with same pay and benefits. • Nondiscrimination in hiring. The USERRA also requires that employers receive: • Advance notice of leaves of absence. • Proof of military duty or copies of orders. • Timely return to work. Source: Hawai'i Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve
2004 Military Appreciation Package passed by the Legislature • HB 1904: Increases the allowable income tax exemption for National Guard members and Reserve troops over a five-year period from $1,750 to $4,721 per year beginning in 2005. • SB 2983: Conforms Hawai'i's tax law to most of the provisions of the federal military family tax relief act of 2003, such as providing tax relief on base pay for Hawai'i residents serving in combat zone, extension of tax filing deadlines and numerous other family benefits. • HB 1800: Provides $400,000 in general funds for the Hawai'i 3Rs program; provides $400,000 for the tuition-assistance program for eligible enlisted and commissioned members of the Hawai'i National Guard. • HB 1908: Allows the Department of Education to use up to $100,000 in federal impact aid for the establishment of a military liaison position within the DOE and to provide money for the joint venture education forum. • HB 1929: Codifies a coordinator position for the Hawai'i 3Rs program within the DOE. • HR 63/SR 47: Requests the superintendent of education establish a task force to address problems faced by schools affected by the military. • HR 163: Urges the president and Congress to fully finance the Impact Aid Law and to request the federal Department of Defense and the federal Department of Education to find the means of rectifying the shortfall in impact aid for Hawai'i. • HB 2662: Allows loans for businesses threatened by military base realignment and closures. • SR 23/SCR 52: Urges the support of deployed Hawai'i National Guard and Reserve soldiers through economic relief measures. Source: Hawai'i State Legislature
Guard and Reserve guarantees
