The Minnesota House advanced two bills containing Veterans related policy this week. The Senate did not. With the conclusion of this week, there are only three full weeks left in this year’s legislative session.

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives approved HF 4293 with a vote of 70-63. This is the Omnibus State Government, Transportation, Veterans and Military Affairs supplemental budget bill authored by Rep. Michael Nelson of Brooklyn Park. There were no amendments added that changed the Veterans provisions that have been mentioned in previous updates.

While the Senate did not bring up the companion to this bill for a vote, it is expected to on Monday, May 2. After passage, the House and Senate will be able to appoint conference committee members to work out the differences of the two bills.

On Wednesday, the Omnibus Tax bill was unveiled in the House Ways and Means committee. The bill contains the language of two Veterans related tax bills HFs 2865 and 2091.

HF 2865 was authored by Rep. Bob Dettmer and it changes the disabled Veterans’ exclusion application window for spouses of Veterans who died due to service-connected cause, allowing applications within two years of the service member’s death, within two years of the spouse receiving a Dependency and Indemnity Compensation determination, or by Dec. 31, 2023, whichever is later. Any surviving spouse whose application under this provision was previously denied may reapply. This provision also provides this same extension of the application window for spouses of Veterans who would have been eligible for the exclusion amount to Veterans with a 100% total and permanent disability, but died (from any cause) before applying for the exclusion. Any surviving spouse whose application under this provision was previously denied may reapply.

HF 2091 was authored by Rep. Mike Sundin of Esko. This provision expands the subtraction for individuals who receive military pensions by allowing a portion of the pension income received through a federal civilian pension, if calculation of the pension includes a credit for military service. Civilian federal employees who served in the armed forces may elect to receive “service credit” to their civilian pensions for their military service. To receive a service credit, most individuals must waive their military retirement pay and pay a military service credit deposit based on a percentage of their military base pay. Recipients typically opt to do this to increase their federal civilian pensions. The provision would allow individuals receiving a civilian pension through the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) or the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) to subtract the percentage share of their federal pension that was earned by converting a military pension into service credit for a civilian pension. The bill requires the taxpayer to calculate their “military service ratio,” which equals the years of service for the taxpayer’s federal pension that were credited for military service, divided by the taxpayer’s total years of service. The subtraction equals the “military service ratio,” multiplied by the amount of FERS or CSRS pension received in the taxable year.

These provisions and the rest of the Omnibus Tax bill were approved by the House Ways and Means committee. A vote by the full House of Representatives is expected on Monday, May 6.

The Senate tax bill did not include Veterans provisions.