Senate: Pay reservists more for drill travel

Rick Maze

Navy Times

National Guard and reserve members traveling more than 50 miles to inactive duty training would be reimbursed at a rate of 48.5 cents per mile, plus meal and lodging expenses, under a bipartisan bill introduced last week in the Senate.

The bill, S 2654, also would increase mileage reimbursement for veterans being treated at Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics.

Congress has authorized travel reimbursement for drilling Guard and reserve members under a program intended to be limited to people with critically needed skills, but the Defense Department has not yet implemented the benefit.

Guard and reserve members who travel more than 100 miles from home and stay overnight can deduct their travel expenses from their federal income taxes.

“With gas prices hovering around $3 per gallon, I am concerned about the financial burden high travel costs are placing on our nation’s service members and veterans,” said Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., the bill’s chief sponsor.