Tennessee State Representative Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood) filed the Veterans Assistance for Livelihood, Opportunity, and Relief (VALOR) Act on Monday.
Otherwise known as HB 52, the legislation would exempt U.S. veterans determined by Veterans Affairs (VA) to be 100 percent disabled from a service-related injury from vehicle taxes, refund them for property taxes, and allow them to apply for lifetime licenses to hunt and fish in Tennessee.
Bulso’s bill would specifically exempt such veterans from any type of taxes paid for their vehicle, declaring those deemed 100 percent disabled by the VA, “exempt from taxes and fees under this chapter for the registration of one (1) private passenger automobile, recreational vehicle, or truck of one-half (1/2) or three-quarter (3/4) ton rating,” as defined under Tennessee law.
For 100 percent disabled veterans to be reimbursed for any property taxes paid, the legislation would require the dispersal of “general funds from the state to certain disabled veteran in the amount necessary to pay or reimburse such taxpayers for al of the local property taxes paid,” during each tax year.
The fishing and hunting license, according to the legislation, would similarly come “without the payment of a fee to those residents of this state who are disabled veterans with one hundred percent permanent and total disability from a service-connected cause, as determined by the United States department of veterans affairs.”
Under present Tennessee law, such veterans are currently required to pay $10 for lifetime licenses to fish and hunt in Tennessee.
The proposed VALOR Act would only be the latest efforts by Tennessee to thank its veterans, who are also guaranteed interviews for state service positions, offered property tax relief, given discounted off-season camping rates at state parks, and offered free and discounted burials in Tennessee state cemeteries.
Bulso was elected to the Tennessee General Assembly in 2022 and made headlines earlier this year after he successfully passed legislation prohibiting Tennessee schools from displaying flags other than the official United States Flag in classrooms. The legislation ultimately passed the House in an April 70-24 vote, when Bulso predicted Governor Bill Lee would sign it into law.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
