The “Guard at Home” bill pushed through the Missouri State Legislature by Veteran and State Representative Colonel Jack Jackson (R-Wildwood) is now law.
House Bill 1787, provides immediate financial assistance, job training and job placement services to the spouses of men and women who are currently fighting in the war on terror. At the bill signing ceremony Tuesday at the State Capitol in Jefferson City Colonel Jackson (USMC-Ret.) said the state had taken another step to help protect the families of those who have answered the call to military duty. “When you are in combat you can’t let worries about what is happening back home stand in the way of the job at hand.” Said Jackson;”“If you are not 100 percent focused on your mission you might not come home at all.” As primary sponsor of the bill Jackson argued for its passage by telling fellow lawmakers he recalled when he was in combat in Vietnam not knowing from mission to mission if he would ever make it home and wondering what would happen to his family if he didn’t. “I feel a duty as a veteran and lawmaker to do whatever I can to make sure that our brave warriors have one less thing to worry about on the home front.”
Jackson says the Guard at home law will help prevent hundreds of Missouri families from falling into difficult financial situations. The program will be administered through the Missouri Department of Economic Development. Jackson is Chairman of the Missouri House Veterans Committee and the Chairman of the Joint Committee on Terrorism, Bio-Terrorism and Homeland Security. Colonel Jackson is also a candidate for Missouri State Auditor.
Great work, Colonel Jackson!
