1002 to submitting a constitutional referendum to the public to add 140 surviving Gold Star Spouses to the state's Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption. To repeat, unanimous House vote. Colorado's state representatives merely wanted to give active-duty widows the same too-small exemption disabled veterans' survivors get.
Every single Democrat and Republican voted for these 140 widows (no known husbands) to a total cost of only $95,000. HCR21-1002 then went to the Senate. These 140 widows would have represented 0.00062 of the $150M spent towards the entire homestead exemption program.
SECOND FLASH: To prevent the embarrassment of a Senate vote where Colorado's voters would see who voted against these Gold Star Spouses, the Senate killed the bill last night in committee. Straight party line, thumbs down and the bill died. Republicans YES, but every Democrat NO. I guess cautious senators felt Colorado would be overburdened if we didn't continue to ignore our dead soldiers' spouses.
I've been interested in advancing the Gold Star Wives property tax exemption for many years, urging action through the United Veterans Coalition. I've recently set the issue aside and for the UVC and Gold Star Wives to address the exemption for themselves – perhaps too much from me when I'm not a Gold Star spouse, only a Gold Star son.
Anyway...shot down behind closed doors. It feels like something's backwards here, as I'd have expected Democrats to have more concern than Republican. This was a vicious slap in the face to the House and to survivors of our troops who've died in the line of duty. The cost? Less than $94,000 according to Legislative Council Staff.
