Governor Gary Herbert signed three bills on Wednesday aimed at helping veterans, military personnel, and their families.
Ahead of signing the bills, Governor Herbert officially declared May 2016 as Military Appreciation Month in Utah. He spoke to a room full of uniformed service members and veterans.
“We’re here to pay tribute to you and thank you for your great and outstanding service,” he said. “We say it all the time, we can’t tell you enough and give you enough thanks for the service you’ve rendered to help us as a state and as a country.”
Herbert then signed three bills. The first, House Bill 98, will provide a death benefit of one hundred thousand dollars for families of Utah National Guard members who die in the line of duty. Rep. Paul Ray (R-Clearfield) co-sponsored that bill earlier this year.
“Now this is the first step,” Rep. Ray said. “We’re going to look at, next year, bringing health insurance to the families of those who make the ultimate sacrifice, so that we know that they’re covered.”
Gov. Herbert also gave approval to House Bill 135, which grants disabled veterans free admission to state parks, and Senate Bill 35, which creates a special license plate that indicates the campaign or combat zone where a veteran served.
