Six benefits Missouri Veterans can take advantage of right now. Do you know other benefits Missouri has to offer?

The estimated 430,000 Veterans residing in Missouri have many reasons to call the state home — the Gateway Arch, the City of Fountains, North America’s biggest mammal, the American Bison, and history galore, with American originals Harry S. Truman, Mark Twain and the “Unsinkable Molly Brown” all hailing from the Show Me state. You can also lay claim to these Missouri-specific benefits and live life to the fullest after your military service:

1. Connect with a Missouri Veterans Commission (MVC) Veterans service officer (VSO). Start by meeting with your VSO, who receives training and accreditation in Veterans’ benefits counseling. VSOs assist you in applying for U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) programs in compensation and pensions, the GI Bill, health care, home loans and more. They also help you file appeals for denied claims and apply for certain state-offered benefits (see below). In Missouri, VSOs are available to provide group presentations as well.

Learn more: Find the VSO in your county by calling [login to see] or use the locator online at https://rly.pt/3kDroCb.

2. Seek re-entry services. If you are or know a Missouri Veteran who is within three to six months of release from the Department of Corrections, the MVC’s Incarcerated Veterans Outreach program can assist with transition services. Assistance includes education to and transition coordination with corrections, law enforcement, and probation and parole; benefits counseling; and outreach services. Your eligibility is determined based on verification of military service and honorable discharge conditions.

Learn more: https://rly.pt/3oAdUtf.

3. Look into education benefits. If you’re a service member or Veteran in Missouri, you have a few options to reduce higher education costs, for you or your children:

• Missouri Returning Heroes Education Act: If you served after Sept. 11, 2001, this state law limits your tuition to no more than $50 per credit hour. This applies as long as you’re enrolled in a Missouri public college or university undergraduate certificate or degree program and all other financial aid is considered. Eligibility is for 10 years after discharge. Details: Call [login to see] and select option 4.

• Academic credit for military courses: Get academic credit for applicable military training or service at Missouri public universities, colleges, vocational and technical schools. Details: https://rly.pt/3kDoj53.

• Wartime Veteran’s Survivor Grants: This program is for children and spouses of Veterans who died or were injured as a result of combat or due to an illness related to combat, or of Veterans who became 80% disabled due to injuries or accidents in combat since Sept. 11, 2001. Details: https://rly.pt/3ox68jM.

Learn more: Get more information about these and other educational benefits at https://rly.pt/3kDoj53 and in the benefits booklet, linked below.

4. Apply for a tax exemption or reduction. Missouri offers you a few ways to reduce your tax burden in exchange for military service:

• Military retirement pension deduction: Starting Jan. 1, 2016, all military retirement pension income is 100% deductible from state income tax.

• National Guard and reserves income: Starting Jan. 1, 2020, 20% of Inactive Duty for Training income is exempt from state taxes. This exemption grows 20% annually until 2024, when all of this income is tax free.

• Personal property tax credit: If you are 100% disabled as a result of military service and have a VA letter attesting to this, you can receive a tax credit of up to $750 if you rent or up to $1,100 if you own your home.

• Sales tax exemption: If you have a disability and buy equipment to modify your vehicle, such purchases are exempt from sales taxes.

Learn more: Information about these and other tax benefits is at https://rly.pt/2HN1e0Y.

5. Explore the outdoors. Service members and Veterans receive a year-round discount of $2 at state park campgrounds in the state. And in Missouri, if you are a Veteran with a VA service-connected disability rating of 60% or greater, were a POW or were a patient in warrior transition brigade or unit or a military medical center, you may hunt and fish (but not trap) without a permit.

Learn more: Get information about the military camping discount at https://rly.pt/3jCu7KK and about hunting permits at https://rly.pt/2TymxX6.

6. Start a business. After the military, you may choose a career in health care, high tech, public service, the service sector or another industry (https://rly.pt/37QpQAX). Or you can become an entrepreneur. Here are a few resources to get your Veteran-owned business off the ground in Missouri:

• Consult with a Missouri Small Business Development Center (SBDC). This nationwide business assistance network is partly funded by Congress through a partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The network (https://rly.pt/33Ldx5F) gives you access to free and at-cost training to start, grow and expand your small business. The Missouri SBDC Lead Center (https://sbdc.missouri.edu) oversees an in-state network of 16 service centers, which provide no- and low-cost counseling and training to new and established small businesses (8% of which are Veteran-owned). You can receive management and marketing assistance and special services related to innovation, technology and exports.

• Locate other trainings. Also check out National Veterans Small Business Week on Nov. 2-6, 2020, at https://rly.pt/3knMdkH; and SBA’s Boots to Business training offerings for transitioning service members, Veterans and military spouses at https://rly.pt/2ZBUTvp. In addition, find local, no-cost business advisers at https://rly.pt/2E3xICV, https://rly.pt/33A6Xi0 and https://rly.pt/3hy2eTc.

• Get verified as Veteran-owned. Once your Veteran business is set up, get help getting verified from VA’s Office of Small & Disadvantaged Business Utilization (https://rly.pt/3kheSZ6) and start doing business directly with VA, the second largest federal agency.

More resources for Missouri Veterans

• Download the Missouri Benefits and Resource Guide: https://rly.pt/3kCYy4Q.

• Visit Missouri Department of Public Safety Veterans Commission: https://rly.pt/3oDhcf4.