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Ohio vets bonuses exceed $72M
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
Veterans of recent and ongoing military conflicts have collected more than $72 million in voter-approved bonuses to date, according to updated statistics compiled by state officials.
Upward of 82,000 military men and women have received checks since payments began five years ago, according the Ohio Department of Veterans Services.
In Trumbull County, servicemen and women made 1,562 claims for bonuses totaling $1.1 million; Mahoning had 1,462 claims totaling more than $1 million; and Columbiana had 783 claims approaching $588,000.
In November 2009, voters signed off on a constitutional amendment allowing the state to borrow up to $200 million to pay cash bonuses to Ohio military men and women who served at least 90 days of active duty in the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan and Iraq in current conflicts in those areas, plus those involved in Operation Desert Storm in the early 1990s.
Eligible veterans are being paid $100 for each month, up to $1,000, for time served in those areas or $50 a month, up to $500, for those serving in other locations at the time.
Families of veterans who died in action are eligible for a $5,000 death benefit.
Similar cash bonuses were approved by voters and paid to veterans of other wars and conflicts, dating back to the Civil War, though the deadline for those payments has long since passed.
Persian Gulf War-era veterans had to apply for bonuses by the end of 2013.
Veterans who served during the most recent Iraqi conflict – between March 19, 2003, and Dec. 31, 2011 – had to submit applications before the end of last year.
There were so many of the latter that the state Controlling Board recently had to approve additional spending authority to cover the bonuses.
According to documents, “A very large number of applications were received for this conflict. Many of them require additional information and the deadline for the remaining information is June 30. Therefore, we are expecting an increase of payments at this time.”