Missouri Military Family Relief Fund

The Missouri Military Family Relief Fund exists in the state treasury under section 41.218 and consists of all gifts, donations, appropriations, transfers and bequests to the fund. The adjutant general makes grants from it under section 41.216, subject to appropriation and on the recommendation of a panel. Interest earned stays in the fund and, notwithstanding section 33.080, the balance does not lapse to general revenue at the end of the biennium. The reason this entry exists is the funding route. Section 143.1004 lets a taxpayer designate part or all of a Missouri income tax refund to the Missouri Military Family Relief Fund on the return itself. The fund is in substantial part a voluntary check-off fund, which means the amount available in any year depends on how many Missourians tick a box, not on a formula. It is the counterpart to the casino money that pays for the veterans homes: both principal veterans funds in Missouri run on revenue the legislature does not vote line by line. Section 143.1003 does the same for the Missouri National Guard trust fund, section 143.1027 for the Missouri National Guard Foundation Fund and section 143.1029 for the Soldiers Memorial Military Museum in St. Louis Fund, so a Missouri return carries four separate military designations. The grants are aimed at the family rather than the member. They address financial hardship arising from a call to active duty, where the family's income drops because a civilian salary has been replaced by military pay, and they are administered by the office of the adjutant general rather than by the Missouri Veterans' Commission. That split matters: a veterans service officer is the right first call for the commission's programmes, and the Guard chain is the right first call for this one. Laws 2026 H.B. 2593 amended section 41.216. The section continues to condition grants on appropriation and on the recommendation of a panel. Because the amounts, the application form and the definition of qualifying hardship are set administratively by the adjutant general rather than in the statute, any dollar figure quoted for this programme is a departmental figure. Ask the Missouri National Guard family programmes office for the current terms rather than relying on a published number. Two related provisions sit nearby. Section 41.214 creates the Missouri National Guard trust fund, from which section 42.300.3 permits appropriations on request of the Missouri Veterans' Commission. And section 105.265 keeps state employee life insurance in force for the entire duration of a deployment in time of active armed warfare, including beyond twelve months, provided the employee pays the cost.