The bill’s passage marked the end
of a legislative effort that began in the early 1980s. That’s when Georgia MOAA Inc. (GMOAA) joined forces with the Georgia Federal Military Re- tiree Coalition (GFMRC) and began lobbying to exempt military and fed- eral retired pay from state income tax — an exemption already enjoyed by retired state employees. Their efforts were successful, and military and federal retirees 62 and older won a series of tax exemptions and a refund on the state income taxes they had paid from 1985 through 1988. During the multiyear battle,
members gave testimony and pre- sented studies showing retirees could positively affect the state’s economy. They also began “Storming the Gold Dome.” During this one-day lobby- ing blitz, patterned after national MOAA’s own Storming the Hill effort, GMOAA members travel to the gold- domed statehouse in Atlanta to talk with legislators about issues affecting servicemembers and their families. “Our motto is never give up,” says
Col. Art Carey, USA-Ret., vice presi- dent of legislative affairs for both GMOAA and the GFMRC. “You just have to keep the pressure on.”
Tackling state issues Georgia isn’t the only state where MOAA council and chapter members helped pass legislation that exempts military retired pay or Survivor Ben- efit Plan payments from state income tax. Council and chapter members in Missouri, New Jersey, and Ohio, working in conjunction with military and veterans’ coalitions in their re- spective states, have passed similar legislation. MOAA council and chap- ter members in other states, including
Join a Chapter 6 4 MI L I T A R Y O F F I C E R O C TO B E R 2 0 1 0
California, In- diana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, and North Caro- lina, continue to lobby on those issues. Council and
chapter mem- bers also advo- cate on many other state-level issues. In 2009, members of the Alabama Council of Chapters joined with the South Ala- bama Veterans Council and helped pass legislation to establish a new state veterans’ cemetery near Span- ish Port, Ala. At a key juncture, South Alabama Chapter members Col. Bill Callender, USA-Ret., and former Navy Lt. Barry Booth rented a bus and transported MOAA members and area veterans and their spouses to the statehouse. The group sat in the gallery and made their presence known to ensure legislators would pass a bill authorizing the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs to establish and operate Alabama’s first state-run veterans’ cemetery. “We all wore something that iden-
tified us as veterans,” says Callender, who donned his Army cavalry hat. “We wanted to stand out and let them know there was a group of veterans there who were determined to do something to help other veterans.”
Making votes count Members also advocate on issues that affect the quality of life of ser-
vicemembers and their families and only can be addressed at the state level. These issues are worked through the DoD State Liaison Office, which educates state poli- cymakers and leaders, businesses, and nonprofit associations such as MOAA about the needs of military members and their families. One DoD issue, improving the absentee voting system, has galva- nized council and chapter members in Alabama and Texas to continue to push for legislation that will im- prove their state’s absentee ballot system. Meanwhile, members of MOAA’s Aloha and Hawaii chapters addressed a snag in their state’s ab- sentee ballot system that could have prevented Hawaii citizens who are deployed or stationed overseas from having their votes counted. In 2009, a federal law passed
Do you want to support legislative efforts in your state? Join a local MOAA chapter. To find a chapter near you, visit
www.moaa.org/chapters/locator.
requiring states to distribute absen- tee ballots to overseas and military voters at least 45 days before an election. Several states, includ- ing Hawaii, hold their primary too close to meet the dead- line. This year, Hawaii’s primary is Sept. 18 — just 45 days before the gen- eral election. To fix the snafu, members lobbied
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