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Committee approves constitutional amendment and companion bill to let veterans stack exemptions
Summary
SCA 4 (constitutional amendment) and companion SB 623, both presented by Senator Archuleta, would allow eligible veterans to receive both veterans’ or disabled veterans’ exemptions and the homeowners exemption; both measures were favorably reported to committees (SCA 4 to elections/constitutional amendments, SB 623 to Military and Veterans Affairs).
Senator Archuleta presented SCA 4, a proposed constitutional amendment to remove a provision that currently prevents veterans from claiming both the homeowner’s exemption and the veterans or disabled-veterans exemption. "SCA 4 modernizes the veterans exemption," he said, and urged an "I" vote.
Seth Reeve (identified in the transcript as representing the American Legion Department of California, AMVETS Department of California, the California State Commanders Veterans Council, the Military Officers Association of America California Council of Chapters, and the Vietnam Veterans of America California State Council) testified in support, saying combining exemptions would "restore fairness" and help retain veterans in California; he said the veteran population declined from nearly 2,000,000 in 2017 to closer to 1,500,000 today.
A motion to adopt SCA 4 and refer it to the committee on elections and constitutional amendments was recorded and the committee adopted the motion unanimously (5-0). Senator Archuleta then presented SB 623 as a statutory companion to implement SCA 4; witnesses including Seth Reeve, Jack Neal (representing the County of San Diego) and Scott Kaufman of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association testified in support. The motion to pass SB 623 as amended to the committee on Military and Veterans Affairs was approved by the committee, recorded as a unanimous 5-0 vote.
Next steps: SCA 4 will proceed as a constitutional amendment measure through the required legislative steps; SB 623 was referred to the Senate committee on Military and Veterans Affairs for further action.
