Pence Signs Military Family Relief Fund Bill

All post 9-11 Hoosier soldiers and their families now have access to money intended to help with food, housing, utilities, medical services, and other essential needs.

Gov. Mike Pence signed Senate Bill 352 into law Thursday at the Indiana War Memorial, downtown.

With the stroke of his pen, Pence expanded the Military Family Relief Fund to about 26,000 Hoosier veterans.

"This legislation is an effort to make certain that those who have served in recent conflicts have access to resources to assist them and their families at the point of the need when they have fallen on hard times," said Pence.  

The fund is financed through sales of veteran and military licenses plates.

Part of the new law is eliminating a three-year restriction on accessing the fund.

The goal is to aid those returning from service in transitioning back into civilian life for those such as Nicholas Winningham.

"It's something to fall back on when coming home from deployment," he said.  "It allows us to - if we don't find a job - it gives us that relief that we are not going to lose everything immediately."

Winningham served six month in Kuwait and says once he got back, finances were tight.

"I came home and, basically, lost most of the stuff I had because I took a massive pay cut when I came home," he said.

Winningham and his wife Brittani have two boys, 7- and 2-years old.   She says having the financial assistance helps their family get back on track.

"It means a lot that this has come in because we took a major hit whenever he came home," she said.  "Especially on our cars, we got behind whenever he came home.  And, that really helped us as far as to catch back up."

The new law takes effect July 1.