for and helped pass legislation to move the state primary back by one month, starting in 2012. “We’ve also applied for a waiver for 2010 … which will allow us to send the ballots out when we usually do — about 40 days before the elec- tion,” says Hawaii Chapter President Lt. Col. Tom Smyth, USMC-Ret. Council and chapter members in
Arizona also helped pass legislation that will improve their state’s absen- tee ballot system. Green Valley (Ariz.) Chapter President Lt. Col. Darren Venters, USAF-Ret., testified in sup- port of a bill that will allow deployed servicemembers and those stationed or serving overseas to vote by elec- tronic means; it passed both houses and was signed into law this year. “Once it got going, the bill met
with no resistance and received near- ly unanimous approval,” says Venters. Members in Arizona also helped
defeat legislation that would have enabled payday lenders to continue operating in the state. Payday lenders offer short-term loans at high interest rates (usually 400 percent on an annu- alized basis) to help borrowers cover expenses until their next paycheck, which often creates a cycle of debt. Under federal law, the annual
percentage rate financial institu- tions can charge active duty service- members and their dependents is capped at 36 percent. However, the law doesn’t cover guardmembers and reservists who aren’t activated, wounded warriors who no longer are on active duty, disabled military re- tirees, retired military members, and other veterans. In 2000, Arizona passed a law
with a 10-year sunset provision that allowed payday lenders to operate in the state and charge triple-digit interest rates until June 30, 2010. In 2008 and again in 2010, council and chapter members helped beat back attempts by the payday-loan industry to repeal the June 30 sunset deadline.
Throughout the process, Col.
Gene Fenstermacher, USAF-Ret., Legislative Affairs chair of the Ari- zona Council of Chapters, e-mailed legislative updates to approximately 600 members of MOAA and other military and veterans’ groups. He also drafted messages recipients could copy and paste into e-mail and send to key legislators. The e-mail blitzes worked, and three separate legislative initiatives to repeal the sunset deadline were defeated. “I had personal comments from
legislative committee members [who] were opposed to the legisla- tion, and they thanked us for our support,” says Fenstermacher.
Speaking up for military children MOAA council and chapter members also championed another important DoD initiative — passage of the Interstate Compact on Edu- cational Opportunity for Military Children. At press time, 32 states had passed the compact, indicating they will work together to eliminate administrative obstacles, including en- rollment, placement, and graduation requirements, affecting military children when they transfer schools because of a parent’s orders. Last year, council and
chapter members were in- strumental in getting the compact passed in several states, including Alabama, Texas, and Virginia. This year, council and chapter members’ lobbying efforts made the difference in states such as California, Illinois, and Wisconsin. “We were just not getting any-
where in Wisconsin,” says Ed Kringer, director of DoD’s State Liaison Office, who oversees all of the department’s legislative efforts.
“Then MOAA got involved up there and just turned it around.” Lt. Col. Rick deMoya, USA-Ret., spearheaded MOAA members’ lob- bying efforts in Wisconsin and tes- tified in favor of the bill’s passage. During his testimony, deMoya shared his experiences as a military depen- dent who attended 10 schools in 12 years. He also reminded legislators the bill’s $700 price tag — roughly $1 per military student in Wisconsin — made it an inexpensive opportunity to do something positive to show their support for military families. “MOAA did a good thing on the
front side getting the legislation through, but we don’t believe our job is done,” says deMoya. “Each of our chapters will be canvassing their own
school districts to make sure the com- pact is being implemented properly.”
Helping disabled veterans and wounded warriors For the past 12 years, members of the Virginia Council of Chapters (VCOC) have held their own Storm- ing the Hill [CONTINUES ON PAGE 75]
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