{"id":8289,"date":"2023-05-12T17:47:09","date_gmt":"2023-05-12T17:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/?p=8289"},"modified":"2023-05-30T17:48:34","modified_gmt":"2023-05-30T17:48:34","slug":"md-governor-signs-healthcare-bill-for-guard-members-at-175th-wing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/2023\/05\/12\/md-governor-signs-healthcare-bill-for-guard-members-at-175th-wing\/","title":{"rendered":"Md. Governor signs healthcare bill for Guard members at 175th Wing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Master Sgt. Christopher Schepers and Senior Airman Rachel Underwood<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Maryland National Guard leadership present Maryland Gov. Wes Moore a photo of A-10C Thunderbolt II aircraft on the flight line and a flight jacket after a bill signing event at the 175th Wing, Maryland Air National Guard at Martin State Air National Guard Base, Middle River, Maryland, May 12, 2023. Moore visited the 175th Wing to sign veteran-related bills. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Rachel Underwood)(This photo has been cropped and color corrected to enhance the subject)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

MIDDLE RIVER, Md. – Gov. Wes Moore made his first visit to the 175th Wing at Martin State Air National Guard Base to sign veteran-related bills May 12.

During his visit, Gov. Moore, Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller, and other state political leaders signed six bills, including the Healthcare For Heroes Act, in front of an A-10C Thunderbolt II aircraft and with Maryland Guard members in attendance.

The Health Care for Heroes Act of 2023 establishes the Tricare Premium Reimbursement Program within the Maryland Military Department. The program will provide members of the Maryland National Guard who utilize the DoD-provided Tricare Reserve Select reimbursements for monthly premiums.

\u201cWe need to support our military community because they make our state better\u2014whether they are active duty, reservists, or veterans,\u201d said Gov. Moore. \u201cFor Maryland to win this decade, we need to make Maryland the best state in the nation to serve in uniform and the best state in the nation to live after discharge. The bipartisan legislation I signed today sets us on that path, and shows our commitment to bettering the lives of our men and women that have sacrificed so much.\u201d

Before signing the bills, Gov. Moore administered the oath of enlistment to Zion Rawls, who will serve in the Maryland Air National Guard\u2019s 104th Fighter Squadron as an aviation resource manager.

\u201cToday was an honor and is quite humbling,\u201d said Rawls. \u201cI never imagined that I would be part of such a historic event.\u201d

Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson and Maryland House Speaker Adrienne Jones took part in the bill signings and Maryland Air National Guard Brig. Gen. Drew Dougherty, assistant adjutant general – Air, and Maryland Army National Guard Col. Andrew Collins, Maryland National Guard deputy adjutant general and commander of the Maryland Army National Guard, were part of the event with other Guard members.

Other bills included the Keep Our Heroes Home Act, which will increase the military retirement income tax exemption for veterans, spouses, or anyone receiving military pensions in Maryland.

\u201cToday recognizes the contributions of our Soldiers, Airmen, and their families,\u201d said Maryland Army National Guard Brig. Gen. Janeen Birckhead, adjutant general of Maryland. \u201cI am so proud to serve in a state that cares enough about its service members to introduce this legislation and recognize their contributions to the state and nation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Governor Wes Moore administers the oath of enlistment to Zion Rawls, who will serve in the Maryland Air National Guard\u2019s 104th Fighter Squadron as an aviation resource manager.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Master Sgt. Christopher Schepers and Senior Airman Rachel Underwood MIDDLE RIVER, Md. – Gov. Wes Moore made his first visit to the 175th Wing at Martin State Air National Guard Base to sign veteran-related bills May 12. During his visit, Gov. Moore, Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller, and other state political leaders signed six bills,  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":8297,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8289"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8300,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8289\/revisions\/8300"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}