House Bill 16-1444 Passes Colorado Legislature Unanimously - Governor signs May 27

Thanks to the efforts of state Senator Keffalas and his colleagues, the conflict between Article X Section 3.5 of the Colorado constitution and its enabling legislation will be resolved tomorrow when the Governor signs House Bill 16-1444.

The constitution provided a modest property tax exemption to both VA 100% disabled veterans and military retired 100% disabled servicemembers. BUT...someone writing the subsequent legislation forgot the military and only specified VA, denying hundreds of retired totally disabled servicemembers the exemption guaranteed by the constitution.

WOW...it only took three months from mentioning the problem to Senator Keffalas, getting the support of the United Veterans Committee, and even the state Division of Military and Veterans Affairs, and the correction simply sailed through both houses without a dissenting vote.

So...one problem solved, and next we move on to the shameful discrimination suffered by Colorado's war widows and widowers, who are denied the property tax exemption afforded disabled veterans' survivors.

Why the exclusion of war widows and widowers? Because the constitution only provides the property tax exemption to those whose veteran husband/wife was in receipt of the exemption before the veteran's death. Logically, a soldier who dies in a roadside bomb or hostile artillery fire doesn't make it home to complete Colorado's application, but illogically, his/her survivor is denied the property tax exemption.

Unanimous vote moves disabled veteran property tax legislation forward in Colorado legislature

IT WAS UNANIMOUS!

Yesterday after the two hour wait for a previous bill to be defeated, the Colorado House Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs approved House bill 16 – 1444. And the vote was all in favor of the proposed legislation.

Our thanks are due to Committee Chair Sue Ryden who not only sponsored the legislation but testified on its behalf as did Representative Terri Carver (Colonel, USAF, Ret.)  And also to the outstanding leg work done by the United Veterans Committee of Colorado, Senator John Kefalas, and other leaders behind this issue.

Next up? The House Appropriations Committee, to address the modest cost of bringing the laws of Colorado into alignment with our state's Constitution Article 10, Section 3.5.