Serving the 71st District with Mike Boland

At Mike Boland’s office, one of our primary goals is to make a difference in the lives of the people we represent. One piece of legislation Representative Boland passed has not only made a difference for the families of fighting men and women in Illinois, it has also served as a model for other states. I am talking about a bill Mike Boland sponsored and passed from the Illinois House, and into law, called the “Military Family Relief Fund Act”.

This legislation created a voluntary income tax check-off in Illinois, with all funds dedicated to helping families of fighting men and women from Illinois. The Military Family Relief Fund assists the families of Illinois National Guard members and reservists called to active duty, with rent, car payments, and utility bills. As of 2005 it had distributed more than $2.4 million to 4,300 Illinois military families.

In 2004 when this legislation passed, it joined several other voluntary donation check-offs already on the State of Illinois individual income tax form: wildlife preservation, child abuse prevention, Alzheimer’s research, homeless assistance, breast cancer research, prostate cancer research, and the World War II Memorial fund. The Military Family Relief Fund Act has served as a model for similar legislation in California and other states who wished to help active service men and women.

Mike Boland is pictured here with Lt. Governor Pat Quinn. Lt. Governor Quinn worked tirelesslyfor the passage of Military Family Relief Fund Act.