FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 4, 2005
Governor signs 11 Veteran's Bills
OLYMPIA -- Eleven bills to benefit U.S. Armed Forces veterans were signed by Gov. Christine Gregoire on Tuesday, May 3, in what she called "the most productive session for Vets ever." Gregoire signed all 11 bills at the Winged Victory Memorial on the Capitol Campus as a throng of veterans, old and young, cheered and applauded.
The bills signed into law had a variety of subjects to help and to honor those veterans in Washington who have served their country, including tuition waivers at institutions of higher education (SHB 1174), employment and retirement rights of members of the armed forces called to active duty (HB 1938), and one bill Rep. Tom Campbell has been working on for five years, property tax exemptions for persons with disabilities related to the performance of military duties (HB 1019).
House Bill 1019 gives disabled veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces with 100-percent service-connected disability, and who have an annual income below $25,000, the same local property tax relief on their homes as now is provided senior citizens.
Campbell said he was elated to be there as the governor signed his bill into law, after a grueling five-year effort to get it passed. But I'm not through yet. I was disappointed that the Senate weakened the bill when they attached the provision that the annual income be 'below $25,000.' I will continue to work to raise that level.
Other veteran bills signed by the Governor are: SHB 2173 -- Relating to service members' civil relief; ESSB 5415 -- Relating to making loans under chapter 31.45 RCW to military borrowers; SHB 1189 - Relating to veterans' relief; HB 1307 -- Relating to defining veteran for certain purposes; HB 1307 - Relating to military department accounts; SHB 1509 - Relating to property tax exemption for widows or widowers of honorably discharged veterans; SSB 5112 - Relating to veterans of the Afghanistan conflict and Persian Gulf War II; SSB 5539 - Relating to restoring Washington's watersheds with help from post conflict veterans.
For details on any of these bills, check out the Legislative Website http://www.leg.wa.gov/wsladm/billinfo1/bills.cfm
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