Active-duty soldiers get break from fees

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- A newly signed state law allows soldiers on active duty to avoid fees for terminating their cellular-phone contracts or car leases early.

The law also protects soldiers and their immediate families from interest rate increases by creditors and prevents companies from canceling insurance policies due to nonpayment while military service personnel are deployed.

Public utilities will not be able to turn off a service member's gas or electricity and the utilities must arrange ways for active-duty personnel to pay their bills when they return from deployment.

"Soldiers on active duty are bravely defending our country," Gov. Rod Blagojevich said in a statement. "The last thing they should have to worry about is having to pay extra fees for canceling their cellular phone contracts because they have been sent to Iraq or Afghanistan."

Blagojevich signed the legislation Sunday. It takes effect immediately.

The law also will allow the state to purchase bulk long-distance telephone services and make them available to soldiers' immediate family members.