Zweifel To Blunt: Pay The Guard Faster

The Democratic candidate for State Treasurer is calling on the Blunt administration to fix the 30-day pay lag for activated National Guard members when the respond to emergencies.

The Associated Press reported on the problem last week.

"The Blunt Administration needs to stop putting bureaucratic convenience before the financial security of guard members," Rep. Clint Zweifel said in a statement Monday. "There is no reason with our current technology that a system cannot be created to pay activated guard members in a timely manner," Zweifel added.

"The men and women of the guard are willing to leave their families and civilian jobs at a moments notice when called upon to assist their neighbors in state emergencies," Zweifel said. "The least the state can do is ensure that guard members and their families do not suffer financially because of their sacrifice," he added.
According to the A.P.:

When the governor activates the Guard to help with disasters in Missouri, those soldiers are paid through the state payroll system. The state payroll is done in two-week increments with the paycheck covering one cycle behind for accounting purposes. So work done for the first two weeks of the month is paid at the end of that month. And work done in the second half of the month is paid in the middle of the following month.