Assembly committee releases package of veterans bills, including retroactive tax relief and $5,000 rebate cap

A New Jersey Assembly committee on Monday released a package of bills meant to expand benefits and protections for veterans, including a measure to make a property tax exemption for totally disabled veterans retroactive to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) determination date and a substitute bill that would create a refundable property tax rebate capped at $5,000.

The committee released Assembly Bill A941, which would make the total property tax exemption for totally disabled veterans retroactive to the effective date of the VA’s determination and would require municipalities to return taxes collected after that effective date; the state would reimburse municipalities for those returns. Committee members also approved a committee substitute for A3169 that would create a disability-proportional rebate capped at $5,000 and limit eligibility to households with gross incomes up to $200,000. Other bills released address employment and housing protections for veterans and suicide-prevention funding.

The measures drew testimony and support from veterans organizations. Ken Hageman, representing the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), described delays veterans face waiting for VA disability decisions and urged passage of retroactive relief. "While the veteran awaits a VA decision, they're often unable to work, and the family members also miss out on employment," Hageman said. He described the VA process as slow, noting large backlogs and long appeal times and adding that a single 100% disabled veteran receives $3,831.30 a month, “just under $46,000 a year compared to New Jersey’s median household…