The Assembly Committee on Banking and Finance today approved SB 513, a bill by State Senator Nell Soto (D – Pomona) offering a measure of financial protection to survivors of members of the California National Guard who are killed in the line of duty.

Specifically, Soto’s bill seeks to provide (to the extent permitted by federal law and the California Constitution) that any principal and interest on any financial obligation or interest-bearing liability incurred by a Guard member, or his or her surviving spouse,  shall be deferred for a period of six months after the death of the member without penalty or accrual of additional interest.

“Under the provisions of my bill, a beneficiary’s payments of interest and principal on private debts will simply be suspended for six months, with regular payments to resume at the end of that six month period,” Soto said.

“By allowing a deferral of payments and interest accrual for that brief period of time, SB 513 offers a measure of financial relief to husbands, wives and children during a time of great emotional hardship.”

Soto also noted that her bill would apply only to members of the California National Guard who are killed in the line of duty, thereby limiting its impact on private entities.

Currently, members of the California National Guard receive a $10,000 death benefit.  If members die in federal service that benefit is supplemented by the federal government, but there is still a great emotional and often financial hardship on the member's family.

“Since the 2001 inception of the war in Iraq, 12,000 soldiers with the California National Guard have been deployed to fight in the Middle East,” Soto said. “Nine families eagerly awaiting the safe return of their soldiers have only received notice of their deaths, and have been expected to continue daily life as usual."