ARKANSAS, USA — 5NEWS spoke to the bill sponsor Cindy Crawford who says this bill is a must for the state.
“48% of 100% disabled veterans are at the poverty line or below the poverty line, so this would be a hope that would help them in some way,” said State Rep. Cindy Crawford (R-Fort Smith).
The veteran of foreign wars branch in Van Buren is the oldest VFW post in the state, and the post commander says this bill would help the majority of veterans there.
“Here at this post, 60% of us are 65 and older and this will really impact them because many of them are retired, many of them on are on fixed incomes,” explained Matthew Hicks, the commander of Robert Jack VFW post-1322.
House bill 1465 is only a state tax exemption, leaving disabled veterans to pay for city and county taxes.
“They’re exempt from this tax at the point of sale, and it has to be at a brick or mortar store. It can’t be an online purchase because there’s too much fraud that could happen there,” Crawford said.
Scott Hardin with the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration says that as of right now the department doesn’t know how much this bill will cost the state, but figuring out how to implement it effectively is a process.
“The first thing that we would do is look at it and say 'what would this mean to the state and how much revenue would the state lose or how much would the veterans gain through this,'” Hardin explained.
With the economic hardships many Americans face every day, Hicks says he believes now is the time to help those who fought for our freedom.
“And it also makes Arkansas another great place for folks to want to live here, especially in the veteran community because you know Arkansas likes to take care of their veterans,” Hicks said.
“We would not be in a free America without the veterans … this is just a small token of saying thank you,” Explained Crawford.
If the bill were to pass, the veteran would be provided a swipe card, and the limit caps at $25,000 dollars per year for fully disabled veterans. The status of the bill right now is on hold until the state knows the total cost of the LEARNS bill.
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