Committee advances bill to let widows continue disabled-veteran property tax credit

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Senate Military Committee voted to report a committee substitute for House Bill 2121 to the full Senate with a recommendation that it pass as amended, and that it first be referred to the Committee on Finance.

The bill would expand an existing refundable personal income tax credit for real property taxes paid by a disabled veteran so that an eligible widowed spouse may continue to receive the credit for property taxes the spouse pays, so long as the spouse remains living and unmarried.

Counsel for the committee described the measure as a strike-and-insert committee substitute and said technical changes and a pending title amendment accompany the proposal. The counsel told the committee the Tax Department had identified a minimal revenue loss and estimated administrative costs of $1,100 related to implementing the change. The bill is a second reference to the Finance Committee; counsel noted a similar bill from 2024 (House Bill 5134) was reported out of the military committee but not taken up by Finance.

Nicholas Taylor, a Herndon Fellow and senior political science major at Marshall University, presented the committee substitute on behalf of committee staff. The committee adopted the strike-and-insert amendment and then voted to report the engrossed committee substitute to the full Senate with the recommendation that it pass as amended, with the required double reference to Finance.

No roll-call vote with member-by-member votes was recorded in the committee transcript; the chair stated the motion carried after members responded “aye.”

If advanced by Finance and passed by the full Senate and signed by the governor, the change would permit eligible widowed spouses to continue receiving the refundable property tax credit in the circumstances specified in the bill. The Legislature’s next steps are review in the Finance Committee and potential floor consideration by the full Senate.