83R4587 TJB-D
	By: Van de Putte	S.J.R. No. 30

	A JOINT RESOLUTION
	proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature
	under certain limitations to specify the amount of the exemption
	from ad valorem taxation to which certain disabled veterans and the
	surviving spouses and children of certain veterans are entitled.
	BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 2(b), Article VIII, Texas Constitution,
	is amended to read as follows:
	(b)  The legislature by general law [Legislature] may[, by
	general law,] exempt property owned by a disabled veteran or by the
	surviving spouse and surviving minor children of a disabled
	veteran. A disabled veteran is a veteran of the armed services of
	the United States who is classified as disabled by the United States
	Department of Veterans Affairs [Veterans' Administration] or by a
	successor to that agency or by the military service in which the
	veteran served. The legislature shall base the amount of an
	exemption for the property of a disabled veteran on the disability
	rating of the veteran. The legislature shall establish groupings of
	disability ratings and shall provide an exemption amount for each
	grouping. A veteran who is certified as having a disability of less
	than 10 percent is not entitled to an exemption. [A veteran having a
	disability rating of not less than 10 percent but less than 30
	percent may be granted an exemption from taxation for property
	valued at up to $5,000. A veteran having a disability rating of not
	less than 30 percent but less than 50 percent may be granted an
	exemption from taxation for property valued at up to $7,500. A
	veteran having a disability rating of not less than 50 percent but
	less than 70 percent may be granted an exemption from taxation for
	property valued at up to $10,000.] A veteran [who has a disability
	rating of 70 percent or more, or a veteran] who has a disability
	rating of not less than 10 percent and has attained the age of 65, or
	a disabled veteran whose disability consists of the loss or loss of
	use of one or more limbs, total blindness in one or both eyes, or
	paraplegia, may be granted an exemption from taxation for property
	in the same amount as provided by the legislature [valued at up to
	$12,000]. The spouse and children of any member of the United
	States Armed Forces who dies while on active duty may be granted an
	exemption from taxation for property in an amount provided by the
	legislature [valued at up to $5,000]. A deceased disabled
	veteran's surviving spouse and children may be granted an exemption
	which in the aggregate is equal to the exemption to which the
	veteran was entitled when the veteran died.
	SECTION 2.  Section 2(d), Article VIII, Texas Constitution,
	is repealed.
	SECTION 3.  The following temporary provision is added to
	the Texas Constitution:
	TEMPORARY PROVISION.  (a) This temporary provision applies
	to the constitutional amendment proposed by the 83rd Legislature,
	Regular Session, 2013, authorizing the legislature under certain
	limitations to specify the amount of the exemption from ad valorem
	taxation to which certain disabled veterans and the surviving
	spouses and children of certain veterans are entitled.
	(b)  The amendment to Section 2(b), Article VIII, of this
	constitution and the repeal of Section 2(d), Article VIII, of this
	constitution take effect beginning with the tax year that begins
	January 1, 2014.
	(c)  This temporary provision expires January 1, 2015.
	SECTION 4.  This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
	submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 5, 2013.
	The ballot shall be printed to provide for voting for or against the
	proposition: "The constitutional amendment authorizing the
	legislature under certain limitations to specify the amount of the
	exemption from ad valorem taxation to which certain disabled
	veterans and the surviving spouses and children of certain veterans
	are entitled."