Senator Jeff Howe (R-Rockville) has authored legislation that seeks to correct an unintended consequence that resulted from the Disabled Veterans’ Homestead Market Value Exclusion. This bill was heard in the Senate Property Taxes Committee last week.

The Disabled Veterans’ Homestead Market Value Exclusion reduces the market value for qualifying homeowners by $150,000 for veterans with a disability rating of 70% or more, and $300,000 for veterans who are totally and permanently disabled. Prior to 2019, a surviving spouse qualified for the exclusion for 8 years following the veteran’s death. In 2019, the Legislature extended this benefit from 8 years to the point at which the spouse remarries or sells the property. There was a gap between the expiration of the 8-year exclusion and the lifetime exclusion, leaving a number of surviving spouses to fall into a “sunset gap,” where they no longer were receiving this benefit.

“This bill simply fixes an unintended consequence for those spouses that fell into a coverage gap,” said Sen. Howe. “Surviving spouses that were receiving benefits for their spouse’s service-related disabilities were doing so for 8 years, and if their benefits expired before the 2019 legislation took effect, they lost access to them. Spouses of disabled veterans do so much to ensure proper care of their disabled loved ones, and they don’t deserve further suffering due to an oversight that we can easily correct.”

This bill was heard in the Senate Property Taxes Committee and was laid over.