{"id":29107,"date":"2023-04-04T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-04T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/04\/04\/family-of-dead-guardsman-seeks-retroactive-benefits-from-namesake-bill\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:17:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:17:44","slug":"family-of-dead-guardsman-seeks-retroactive-benefits-from-namesake-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/congress\/2023\/04\/04\/family-of-dead-guardsman-seeks-retroactive-benefits-from-namesake-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Family of dead Guardsman seeks retroactive benefits from namesake bill"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>This article was shared as part of an ongoing project between Military Times and the <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/\" target=\"_blank\"><i>The Texas Tribune<\/i><\/a><i>, a nonprofit newsroom that informs Texans about state policy and politics. <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/newsletters\/the-brief\/?utm_medium=website&#038;utm_source=trib-ads-owned&#038;utm_campaign=trib-marketing&#038;utm_term=inline-CTA-brief\"><i>Sign up for The Brief<\/i><\/a><i>, its daily newsletter.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The death of Bishop Evans, the Texas National Guard member who died last year while serving on Gov. Greg Abbott\u2019s border mission, inspired legislation to ensure future Guard members who die in the line of duty are guaranteed $500,000 in death benefits for their survivors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But if the bill \u2014 named the \u201cBishop Evans Act\u201d \u2014 passes, Evans\u2019 own family won\u2019t qualify. Now, Evans\u2019 grandmother and other military advocates are asking lawmakers to make the bill retroactive so they could access the death benefits provided in the legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFinancially, as far as me and my husband, we are seniors,\u201d said Jo Ann Johnson, Evans\u2019 grandmother, who raised him. \u201cThis definitely will help the family with some of the things [Bishop] wanted to do for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Evans, 22, died last April while trying to save two migrants from drowning in the Rio Grande while he was on deployment for Operation Lone Star, Abbott\u2019s signature immigration effort to try to curb the number of migrants crossing from Mexico into Texas. Evans was promoted posthumously to sergeant and awarded the Lone Star Medal of Valor at his funeral. He had also received the Meritorious Service Medal and two Army Achievement Medals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Johnson said Evans, who lived with them, had purchased a private life insurance policy, which helped cover the cost of his funeral. But she said his family still had to cover other debts left behind in his name, and now they can no longer count on money he would send them to help pay the house bills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBills come due, and they don\u2019t stop just because someone stops breathing,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Johnson\u2019s family has been vocal about improving the conditions of the more than 4,000 service members who remain deployed on Operation Lone Star. She said providing that death benefit would ease the burden of families already dealing with the loss of a loved one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hunter Schuler, a soldier who led a unionizing effort among the Guard members, said the Texas State Employees Union also wants a retroactive bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think I can safely speak for all soldiers when I say that we hope SGT Evans\u2019 family receives all the help they possibly can,\u201d Schuler said in a written statement. \u201cIf there is some legal technicality standing in the way of getting them the help they need, I would happily contribute and fundraise on their behalf and I know many other soldiers would do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Schuler said that while Evans\u2019 death has gotten the most attention, other soldiers have also died before him on the mission and have died since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe SGT Evans Memorial Bill is one of those laws that you hope you\u2019ll never need to use,\u201d he wrote. \u201cHowever, the reality of the dangers that service members on the border mission face in the line of duty means that the state of Texas needs to step up and take care of a service members\u2019 family when the unthinkable happens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mitch Fuller, director of government and public affairs for Texas Veterans of Foreign Wars, said his organization also supports making the bill retroactive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf it\u2019s possible to do it, we would support it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the state guarantees law enforcement officers, like Department of Public Safety troopers, a $500,000 death benefit for their families if they die on duty, National Guard troops who stand shoulder to shoulder with those DPS officers on Operation Lone Star don\u2019t have the same benefit. National Guard troops on federal deployment who die on the job receive a six-figure lump-sum death benefit, but Operation Lone Star is a state deployment, and Texas does not currently offer similar financial support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lawmakers are trying to address that disparity during this year\u2019s legislative session, which ends on Memorial Day. If lawmakers do not approve a law change before then, they could have to wait two more years before the Legislature reconvenes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rep. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/directory\/jared-patterson\/\" target=\"_blank\">Jared Patterson<\/a>, R-Frisco, and Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/directory\/joan-huffman\/\" target=\"_blank\">Joan Huffman<\/a>, a Houston Republican who leads the budget-writing Senate Finance Committee, have filed bills to guarantee the $500,000 death benefit to troops who are deployed to action by the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Patterson declined comment. Huffman did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The legislation has the support of top leaders such as Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan, who has made it one of his legislative priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Making the legislation retroactive could potentially impact the family of another soldier assigned to Operation Lone Star, Spc. DaJuan Townes, who died in an accidental shooting on Feb. 7, 2022 at Fort Clark Springs near Brackettville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Townes, a <a href=\"https:\/\/tmd.texas.gov\/texas-national-guard-announces-the-death-of-soldier-07FEB\" target=\"_blank\">19-year-old horizontal construction engineer<\/a> from Spring, was sitting in a fellow soldier\u2019s car amid a swim training event. He was handing a personally owned handgun to a soldier sitting behind him in the vehicle when it fired a round through the seat and into his back, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2022\/02\/07\/another-texas-soldier-on-border-dies-in-accidental-shooting\/\" target=\"_blank\">documents obtained by Military Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the Texas Military Department\u2019s statement identifying Townes described the shooting as \u201cnon-mission related,\u201d leaving it unclear whether his death would be eligible for the death benefit. Efforts to reach members of Townes\u2019 family were unsuccessful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Other deaths associated with the mission were either suspected suicides or occurred outside of duty hours. Those circumstances likely wouldn\u2019t qualify for death benefits under the legislation as currently written.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Patterson\u2019s legislation received committee approval last month and is on its way to the House Calendars Committee, one step away from being considered by the entire Texas House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Texas military leaders have asked the Legislature for years without success to provide the state death benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But this year, the bill has garnered much more attention, largely due to Evans\u2019 death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An investigation by The Texas Tribune and Military Times revealed that Evans did not have flotation devices or water rescue equipment when he jumped into the river. The potentially fatal lack of key equipment added to the myriad of issues troops have faced on Operation Lone Star, including pay problems, poor living conditions and a rash of suspected suicides tied to the mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most National Guard troops serve part time and have civilian jobs. They\u2019re usually called to help in emergency situations, such as hurricanes, tornadoes or crowd control, and historically have been used for short-term deployments that last weeks at the most. Long-term missions usually have months of notice and come with federal benefits, such as no-cost health care and education funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Abbott involuntarily activated thousands of soldiers to the border for deployments of up to a year at a time, some of them with only 72-hour notice. At one point, Abbott said there were 10,000 troops deployed to the border. (In reality, there were roughly 6,500 there, with others scattered throughout the state for logistical help.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By the end of his time on the mission, Evans no longer wanted to be deployed. He was ready to go home and start his studies at Tarrant County College.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But his grandmother said he loved being part of JROTC at Mansfield High School, where the annual drill meet has been renamed in Evans\u2019 honor. Evans later joined the Texas Army National Guard, served in Kuwait and Iraq, and was proud to be part of the military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Johnson said the family would like to create a scholarship fund in Evans\u2019 name for the Mansfield JROTC program. Having access to death benefits would help them with that goal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Bishop Evans Act, named for a Texas National Guardsman who died, would guarantee death benefits for survivors of troops who die in the line of 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