The state constitution allows a veteran who has a
service-connected disability rated as a 100% permanent disability to claim a property tax exemption for a portion of the actual value of the veteran's owner-occupied primary residence. The 100% permanent disability requirement can only be changed through a constitutional amendment.
If, at the 2024 general election, the voters of the state approve a
constitutional amendment to expand eligibility for the exemption by allowing a veteran who has individual unemployability status, as determined by the United States department of veterans affairs, to claim the exemption, the bill makes conforming statutory changes to reflect that expansion of the exemption. In most cases, to have individual unemployability status, a veteran must be unable to keep a steady job because the veteran either has at least one service-connected disability rated at 60% or more disabling or has 2 or more service-connected disabilities with at least one disability rated at 40% or more disabling and a combined rating of 70% or more disabling.
The bill also requires a veteran who has individual
unemployability status to be treated equivalently to a veteran who has one hundred percent permanent disability when determining eligibility for any state veterans benefit. Finally, to comply with an existing statutory requirement that people first language be used in new or amended statutes that refer to persons with disabilities, the bill also changes the existing terms disabled veteran and disabled veterans to veteran with a disability and veterans with a disability.
