By Barrientos                                         S.J.R. No. 22
         77R6333 SMH-D                           
                                 A JOINT RESOLUTION
 1-1     proposing a constitutional amendment relating to the ad valorem tax
 1-2     exemption for the surviving spouse and children of a deceased
 1-3     disabled veteran.
 1-4           BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 2(b), Article VIII, Texas Constitution,
 1-6     is amended to read as follows:
 1-7           (b)  The Legislature may, by general law, exempt property
 1-8     owned by a disabled veteran or by the surviving spouse and
 1-9     surviving [minor] children of a disabled veteran.  A disabled
1-10     veteran is a veteran of the armed services of the United States who
1-11     is classified as disabled by the Veterans' Administration or [by] a
1-12     successor to that agency[;] or by the military service in which the
1-13     veteran [he] served.  A veteran who is certified as having a
1-14     disability of less than 10 percent is not entitled to an exemption.
1-15     A veteran having a disability rating of not less than 10 percent
1-16     nor more than 30 percent may be granted an exemption from taxation
1-17     for property valued at up to $5,000.  A veteran having a disability
1-18     rating of more than 30 percent but not more than 50 percent may be
1-19     granted an exemption from taxation for property valued at up to
1-20     $7,500.  A veteran having a disability rating of more than 50
1-21     percent but not more than 70 percent may be granted an exemption
1-22     from taxation for property valued at up to $10,000.  A veteran who
1-23     has a disability rating of more than 70 percent, or a veteran who
1-24     has a disability rating of not less than 10 percent and has
 2-1     attained the age of 65, or a disabled veteran whose disability
 2-2     consists of the loss or loss of use of one or more limbs, total
 2-3     blindness in one or both eyes, or paraplegia, may be granted an
 2-4     exemption from taxation for property valued at up to $12,000.  The
 2-5     spouse and children of any member of the United States Armed Forces
 2-6     who dies while on active duty may be granted an exemption from
 2-7     taxation for property valued at up to $5,000.  A deceased disabled
 2-8     veteran's surviving spouse and each child of the veteran [children]
 2-9     may be granted an exemption [which] in an amount [the aggregate is]
2-10     equal to the exemption to which the veteran was entitled when the
2-11     veteran died.
2-12           SECTION 2.  Section 2(d), Article VIII, Texas Constitution,
2-13     is repealed.
2-14           SECTION 3. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
2-15     submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 6, 2001.
2-16     The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the
2-17     proposition:  "The constitutional amendment to authorize the
2-18     legislature to set the amount of the ad valorem tax exemption for
2-19     the surviving spouse and each child of a deceased disabled veteran
2-20     in an amount equal to the amount of the exemption to which the
2-21     disabled veteran was entitled."