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State Senator May Get Called to Duty

As the U.S. moves closer to war with Iraq, one Missouri lawmaker who serves in the National Guard may get called to action.

Missy Shelton reports.

Republican senator Jon Dolan is a major in the National Guard and commander of the 70th mobile public affairs detachment in Jefferson City.

Does he expect to get called up?

And if Dolan gets the call during the legislative session, he's already thought about how that would impact his constituents.

And doing his best as a state senator means making sure military men and women who work in state government receive compensation if they're called to duty.

Dolan says he's backing legislation that would equalize pay for state workers on active duty...That means the state would make up the difference between an employee's military pay and their wages as a state worker.

If passed into law, the estimated cost of the bill could exceed 100 thousand dollars...More precise figures were not available.

Despite that, Dolan says he expects the cost to be reasonable.

The chair of the senate appropriations committee John Russell has pleaded with lawmakers to keep a lid on spending as he struggles to put together a balanced budget for next year in the face of a one billion dollar shortfall.

But Russell says Dolan's bill has merits, despite the cost.

The proposal has the support of a House committee and now moves to the floor for consideration.

In the meantime, Dolan says he's waiting for orders and watching closely as more troops mobilize for a possible war with Iraq.

SOC