ACT NOW - NLT AUGUST 12TH!

District office  

• CHAIR Sabrina Cervantes (D) SD 31 · Riverside, San Bernardino (951) 680-6750  
• VICE CHAIR Kelly Seyarto (R) SD 32 · Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego,  Orange  (951) 894-2220  
• Member Christopher Cabaldon (D) SD 3 · Napa, Solano, Yolo, Sonoma, Contra Costa,  Sacramento  (707) 224-1990  
• Member Timothy Grayson (D) SD 9 · Contra Costa, Alameda (925) 944-4901  
• Member Aisha Wahab (D) SD 10 · Santa Clara, Alameda (510) 794-3900  
• Member Laura Richardson (D) SD 35 · Los Angeles (310) 412-6120  
• Member Megan Dahle (R) SD 1 · Butte, Shasta, Placer, Nevada, Yuba and  northern counties  (530) 879-7424 

• · CHAIR Buffy Wicks (D) AD 14 · Alameda, Contra Costa (510) 286-1400 
• · VICE CHAIR Josh Hoover (R) AD 7 · Sacramento, Placer (916) 294-9774 
• · Member Maggy Krell (D) AD 6 · Sacramento (916) 324-4676 
• · Member David Tangipa (R) AD 8 · Fresno, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, 
• · Calaveras, Tuolumne, Stanislaus, Inyo, Mono, 
• · Kern 
• · (559) 446-2029 
• · Member Gail Pellerin (D) AD 28 · Santa Cruz, Santa Clara (408) 264-2848 
• · Member Joaquin Arambula (D) AD 31 · Fresno, Tulare (559) 445-5532 
• · Member Mike Fong (D) AD 49 · Los Angeles (626) 457-4918 
• · Member Jessica Caloza (D) AD 52 · Los Angeles (213) 483-5252 
• · Member Mark González (D) AD 54 · Los Angeles (213) 620-4646 
• · Member Lisa Calderon (D) AD 56 · Los Angeles, Orange (562) 692-5858
• · Member José Luis Solache (D) AD 62 · Los Angeles, Orange (562) 529-3250
• · Member Blanca Pacheco (D) AD 64 · Los Angeles, Orange (562) 861-5803 
• · Member Tri Ta (R) AD 70 · Orange (714) 379-0970 
• · Member Diane Dixon (R) AD 72 · Orange (949) 798-7221
• · Member LaShae Sharp-Collins (D) AD 79 · San Diego (619) 465-7903

CALL THE DISTRICT OFFICE.  "Hello, my name is ____ from ____. I am a Veteran. Please support [BILL] when it comes before  Appropriations. Thank you."  

Sixty seconds. Do not argue. Do not stay on the line. Staff are counting calls, not debating. 

Senate Appropriations — Chair Sabrina Cervantes  Committee line (916) 651-4101   ·   call before August 12  

• AB 2022 (Gonzalez) — Property tax exemption for 100% disabled veterans. Under $83,000 income, full exemption.  Over, a 50% reduction.  
• AB 2203 (Tangipa) — Priority registration for veterans and dependents using the GI Bill.   AB 2219 (Schiavo) — Veterans omnibus.      
• AB 2467 (Committee on Education) — Teacher credentialing, military dependents. 

AB 2022 (Gonzalez) — Disabled veteran property tax exemption Currently in the Senate committee process.

Senate Committee on Appropriations

1021 O Street

Sacramento, CA 95814

Subject:  Please Vote AYE on AB 2022 – Support California’s 100% Disabled Veterans

Honorable Members of the Committee,

Dear Assemblymember,

I am writing as a California Veteran to urge your AYE vote on AB 2022, which would provide a full property tax exemption on the principal residence of Veterans rated 100 percent service-connected disabled and their unmarried surviving spouses.

As AB 2022 comes before the Appropriations Committee, the fiscal impact deserves perspective. At the bill’s June 22 hearing, Assemblymember Gonzalez noted that the cost represents approximately 0.0005 percent of California’s General Fund—a very small investment to provide meaningful relief to some of our state’s most severely disabled Veterans.

AB 2022 is also carefully targeted. It applies to Veterans rated totally disabled by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, protects existing benefits, and includes a five-year sunset covering lien dates from January 1, 2027 through December 31, 2031. It also requires the State Board of Equalization to report on the exemption’s impact, giving the Legislature an opportunity to evaluate its effectiveness.

Most importantly, helping a severely disabled Veteran remain in their home is far less costly than addressing a housing crisis after it occurs. For Veterans whose service-connected disabilities may limit their ability to work, property taxes can become a significant burden on a fixed income.

These Veterans have already paid an extraordinary price through their service and their health. California has an opportunity to provide meaningful relief at a comparatively modest cost.

Please support AB 2022 and vote AYE.

Thank you for standing with California’s Veterans and their families.

Respectfully, 

Name

Address

SB 296  (Archuleta) — Disabled veteran property tax exemption nearly identical to AB 2022 and sitting in the opposite house. Currently in the Assembly committee process.

Assembly Appropriations — Chair Buffy Wicks Committee line (916) 319-2081 · call before August 12  

• SB 296 (Archuleta) — Property tax exemption for 100% disabled veterans. Senate companion to AB 2022.  
• SB 1407 (Archuleta) — Raises the military retirement pay exclusion from $20,000 to $40,000. Also covers survivor  benefit pay.  
• SB 888 (Seyarto) — Fixes how household income counts against the disabled veterans’ exemption.  

SB 1407 Military retirement pay exclusion Would exclude military retirement pay from state income tax up to a cap. Currently in the Assembly, in committee process. California lost 24,237 military retirees between 2010 and 2022, and most states already exempt this income.

Honorable Members of the Committee,

I am writing as a California Veteran to respectfully urge your AYE vote on Senate Bill 1407, which expands the tax relief California provides on retirement and survivor benefits earned through a career of military service.

Today, California excludes only up to $20,000 of military retirement pay from state income tax, subject to income limits. Many who served therefore continue to pay state income tax on the retirement they earned through decades of service. SB 1407 takes another meaningful step forward by increasing the exclusion to $40,000, adjusting income limits to keep pace with inflation, and extending relief to Survivor Benefit Plan payments received by surviving spouses.

For a retired service member, or a surviving spouse supporting a family, this is meaningful relief—money that can remain in the household for housing, healthcare, and California’s high cost of living. It also sends an important message to those completing military careers and deciding where to put down roots: California values their service and wants them to remain here.

Military retirees bring far more to California than their retirement pay. They begin second careers, contribute to our workforce and tax base, volunteer in our communities, and bring decades of leadership, technical expertise, and public service with them.

We are grateful to Senator Bob Archuleta for carrying SB 1407 and to the legislators who have helped advance it. Now we need your help to move it across the finish line.

California took an important first step last year. SB 1407 builds on that progress and brings us closer to providing meaningful recognition of the benefits our military retirees and surviving spouses have earned.

Please vote AYE on SB 1407 and help keep those who served—and the talent, leadership, and experience they bring—here in California.

Respectfully,

Name

Address

  SB 888 — Service-connected disability payments and the household income testwould exclude service-connected disability payments from the household-income definition used for the disabled veteran property tax exemption. Currently in the Assembly, in committee process. 

Assembly Committee on Appropriations
1021 O Street
Sacramento, CA 95814

Subject: SB 888 – Property Taxation: Disabled Veterans’ Exemption: Household Income – SUPPORT

Honorable Members of the Committee,

I am writing as a California Veteran to respectfully urge your AYE vote on SB 888, which corrects an inequity in California’s Disabled Veterans’ Property Tax Exemption.

Under current law, a disabled Veteran’s federal service-connected disability compensation is counted as household income when determining eligibility for the larger, low-income property tax exemption. This creates a troubling catch-22: the very compensation a Veteran receives because of a service-connected disability can push that Veteran over the income threshold and prevent them from receiving the greater property tax relief intended to assist them.

SB 888 provides a common-sense solution by excluding service-connected disability compensation from the household-income calculation. This would allow more qualifying disabled Veterans and surviving spouses to receive the enhanced exemption and help them remain in their homes—particularly important given California’s high housing costs.

Service-connected disability compensation is not ordinary income. It is compensation for injuries, illnesses, and disabilities incurred or aggravated through military service. It should not be used to reduce access to another benefit specifically created to support disabled Veterans.

These Veterans earned their benefits through their service and sacrifice. California should not allow one earned benefit to become the reason they are denied another.

I respectfully urge your AYE vote on SB 888 and ask that you help move this important legislation through the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

Thank you for your consideration and your support of California’s Veterans and their families.

Respectfully,

Name 

Address