1-1 By: Barrientos S.J.R. No. 22
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed February 12, 2001; February 13, 2001,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on Veteran Affairs and
1-4 Military Installations; March 1, 2001, reported favorably by the
1-5 following vote: Yeas 4, Nays 0; March 1, 2001, sent to printer.)
1-6 SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
1-7 proposing a constitutional amendment relating to the ad valorem tax
1-8 exemption for the surviving spouse and children of a deceased
1-9 disabled veteran.
1-10 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. Subsection (b), Section 2, Article VIII, Texas
1-12 Constitution, is amended to read as follows:
1-13 (b) The Legislature may, by general law, exempt property
1-14 owned by a disabled veteran or by the surviving spouse and
1-15 surviving [minor] children of a disabled veteran. A disabled
1-16 veteran is a veteran of the armed services of the United States who
1-17 is classified as disabled by the Veterans' Administration or [by] a
1-18 successor to that agency[;] or by the military service in which the
1-19 veteran [he] served. A veteran who is certified as having a
1-20 disability of less than 10 percent is not entitled to an exemption.
1-21 A veteran having a disability rating of not less than 10 percent
1-22 nor more than 30 percent may be granted an exemption from taxation
1-23 for property valued at up to $5,000. A veteran having a disability
1-24 rating of more than 30 percent but not more than 50 percent may be
1-25 granted an exemption from taxation for property valued at up to
1-26 $7,500. A veteran having a disability rating of more than 50
1-27 percent but not more than 70 percent may be granted an exemption
1-28 from taxation for property valued at up to $10,000. A veteran who
1-29 has a disability rating of more than 70 percent, or a veteran who
1-30 has a disability rating of not less than 10 percent and has
1-31 attained the age of 65, or a disabled veteran whose disability
1-32 consists of the loss or loss of use of one or more limbs, total
1-33 blindness in one or both eyes, or paraplegia, may be granted an
1-34 exemption from taxation for property valued at up to $12,000. The
1-35 spouse and children of any member of the United States Armed Forces
1-36 who dies while on active duty may be granted an exemption from
1-37 taxation for property valued at up to $5,000. A deceased disabled
1-38 veteran's surviving spouse and each child of the veteran [children]
1-39 may be granted an exemption [which] in an amount [the aggregate is]
1-40 equal to the exemption to which the veteran was entitled when the
1-41 veteran died.
1-42 SECTION 2. Subsection (d), Section 2, Article VIII, Texas
1-43 Constitution, is repealed.
1-44 SECTION 3. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
1-45 submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 6, 2001.
1-46 The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the
1-47 proposition: "The constitutional amendment to authorize the
1-48 legislature to set the amount of the ad valorem tax exemption for
1-49 the surviving spouse and each child of a deceased disabled veteran
1-50 in an amount equal to the amount of the exemption to which the
1-51 disabled veteran was entitled."
1-52 * * * * *