By Rebecca Christie

WASHINGTON -- Military reservists who are called to active duty deserve more help from the government, including tax breaks and health-care benefits, U.S. Sen. John Kerry , D-Mass., said Tuesday.

Kerry said the federal government should do more to help reservists, whose salaries shrink when they are mobilized. Also, he called for expanded health-care options for the reserves, such as extending their private-sector health insurance or providing access to military health care even for reservists who aren't deployed.

Small-business owners should be allowed to borrow money from tax-advantaged retirement accounts without penalty when they return from service and must jump-start their companies, he said. He also called for "injury disaster grants" to help small business affected by deployments.

The measures are a part of legislation Kerry plans to introduce this week to improve living conditions for military personnel. The package would cost about $3 billion a year, with about $5 billion or so to fund an increase in troop strength.

Pentagon officials have opposed a permanent increase in troop levels, saying it would divert money from needed modernization programs. Kerry said his plan calls for extra funding to avoid that kind of conundrum.

"I do not want to provide a zero-sum game for them," Kerry said, speaking to reporters at a Defense Writers Group breakfast.

Kerry predicted his legislation would win bipartisan support, but he declined to offer details of its probable reception on Capitol Hill.

Even though he backed extra funding for personnel costs, Kerry also said the Bush administration needs to make smart choices about its procurement spending to keep the budget under control. For example, he said, missile defense funding could be scaled back to paying for research only, rather than accelerated deployment of a system that hasn't yet been proven effective.