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Committee hears testimony on bill to extend veteran property tax exemption to spouses of service members killed on active duty
Summary
Representative Bruck presented House Bill 5407 to amend Public Act 161 (2013) to extend property tax exemption eligibility to surviving spouses of veterans killed while on active duty and to remove a remarriage clause; a surviving spouse, Melissa Alex, testified about her family's exclusion from the benefit.
Representative Bruck presented House Bill 5407 to the House Committee on Government Operations on March 5, urging the committee to amend Public Act 161 (2013) to expand a property tax exemption. Bruck told the committee the original act, enacted in 2013 and signed by then-Governor Snyder, gave benefits to veterans determined to be 100% disabled or deemed unemployable and, in some cases, to surviving spouses, but that surviving spouses of veterans killed on active duty were left out. The bill would strike a remarriage clause and add eligibility for spouses receiving Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC).
Bruck presented personal examples from his district, including a constituent whose veteran spouse had not received a VA 100% disability determination before he died, leaving the spouse ineligible. He said the change is intended 'to make it right' for survivors and noted disputes over the program's status as an unfunded liability for some local governments.
Bruck introduced Melissa Alex, whose husband, Staff Sergeant Eugene Alex, died from wounds received in Iraq on Sept. 2, 2005. Melissa Alex testified that the family did not receive a VA disability determination in time and so did not qualify under the current state provision; she urged the state to 'embrace' and provide equal benefits to survivors. "I don't know what more disabled than being shot by a sniper in the head and three days later being removed from life support," she said during testimony.
Committee members thanked her for her testimony; no roll-call vote on HB 5407 was recorded during this session. The clerk read into the record stakeholder positions recorded on testimony cards: Brad Ward (Michigan Realtors) did not wish to speak in support, John Lamacchia (Michigan Municipal League) opposed, Judy Allen (Michigan Township Association) opposed, and Derek Blumke (Veterans of Foreign Wars) did not wish to speak in support. With no further business, the committee adjourned.
