By:  Barrientos, Shapleigh                            S.J.R. No. 22
           Van de Putte
 1-1                           SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
 1-2     proposing a constitutional amendment relating to the ad valorem tax
 1-3     exemption for the surviving spouse and children of a deceased
 1-4     disabled veteran.
 1-5           BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-6           SECTION 1.  Subsection (b), Section 2, Article VIII, Texas
 1-7     Constitution, is amended to read as follows:
 1-8           (b)  The Legislature may, by general law, exempt property
 1-9     owned by a disabled veteran or by the surviving spouse and
1-10     surviving [minor] children of a disabled veteran.  A disabled
1-11     veteran is a veteran of the armed services of the United States who
1-12     is classified as disabled by the Veterans' Administration or [by] a
1-13     successor to that agency[;] or by the military service in which the
1-14     veteran [he] served.  A veteran who is certified as having a
1-15     disability of less than 10 percent is not entitled to an exemption.
1-16     A veteran having a disability rating of not less than 10 percent
1-17     nor more than 30 percent may be granted an exemption from taxation
1-18     for property valued at up to $5,000.  A veteran having a disability
1-19     rating of more than 30 percent but not more than 50 percent may be
1-20     granted an exemption from taxation for property valued at up to
1-21     $7,500.  A veteran having a disability rating of more than 50
1-22     percent but not more than 70 percent may be granted an exemption
1-23     from taxation for property valued at up to $10,000.  A veteran who
1-24     has a disability rating of more than 70 percent, or a veteran who
 2-1     has a disability rating of not less than 10 percent and has
 2-2     attained the age of 65, or a disabled veteran whose disability
 2-3     consists of the loss or loss of use of one or more limbs, total
 2-4     blindness in one or both eyes, or paraplegia, may be granted an
 2-5     exemption from taxation for property valued at up to $12,000.  The
 2-6     spouse and children of any member of the United States Armed Forces
 2-7     who dies while on active duty may be granted an exemption from
 2-8     taxation for property valued at up to $5,000.  A deceased disabled
 2-9     veteran's surviving spouse and each child of the veteran [children]
2-10     may be granted an exemption [which] in an amount [the aggregate is]
2-11     equal to the exemption to which the veteran was entitled when the
2-12     veteran died.
2-13           SECTION 2.  Subsection (d), Section 2, Article VIII, Texas
2-14     Constitution, is repealed.
2-15           SECTION 3.  This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
2-16     submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 6, 2001.
2-17     The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the
2-18     proposition:  "The constitutional amendment to authorize the
2-19     legislature to set the amount of the ad valorem tax exemption for
2-20     the surviving spouse and each child of a deceased disabled veteran
2-21     in an amount equal to the amount of the exemption to which the
2-22     disabled veteran was entitled."