Loading
Skip to main content

Johnson Announces Unanimous Passage of Tax Cut for Disabled Veterans

December 20, 2019
Terry Johnson News
 
COLUMBUS—State Senator Terry Johnson (R-McDermott) today announced the Senate's unanimous passage of House Bill 18, which will exempt veterans who receive disability severance pay from being taxed on that income. Johnson co-sponsored the bill, which passed Tuesday during the Senate’s final session day of 2019.

"What a tremendous debt we owe to these wonderful Americans, our military veterans now disabled, who shouldered the load and weathered the battle so that the rest of us can remain free,” said Johnson. "This action we are taking is a token of our appreciation, and I pray that it will make a positive difference in their lives."

In 2016, Congress passed "The Combat-Injured Veterans Tax Fairness Act," which addressed the improper taxation of disability severance pay that should have been tax-exempt. House Bill 18 seeks to do the same in Ohio.

The legislation also mirrors federal law by offering veterans who have paid state income tax on their disability severance payments, a one-time, retroactive tax credit, going back as far as January 17, 1991. House Bill 18 provides veterans a two-year period during which they can claim the retroactive credit.

House Bill 18 now returns to the Ohio House for a concurrence vote and will then head to Governor Mike DeWine for his signature.

Additionally, on Wednesday, Governor DeWine signed House Bill 12 into law. The bill, also co-sponsored by Johnson, establishes the Ohio Children’s Behavioral Health Prevention Network Stakeholder Group. This group will study and make recommendations to the General Assembly aimed at reducing behavioral health disparities among young children. The bill was supported by children's hospitals and received a unanimous vote in the Senate last week.