Mae Flexer

Senator Flexer Leads Passage of Bill to Support Gold Star Families

Bill would allow municipalities to provide property tax relief to the parents and surviving spouses of military personnel killed in active duty service

Hartford, CT – In a unanimous, bipartisan vote the State Senate Tuesday passed a bill to provide property tax relief to Gold Star Families in the State of Connecticut.

Senate Bill 918, An Act Concerning A Municipal Option Property Tax Exemption For Gold Star Parents, will next be debated in the State House of Representatives.

Senator Mae Flexer (D-Danielson) wrote the bill and led its passage in the Senate.

“I think it is extremely appropriate that we have taken up this legislation today, which is the original date of Memorial Day,” said Sen. Flexer, the Senate Chair of the General Assembly’s Veterans’ Affairs Committee. “Many of us have spent the last several days remembering and paying tribute to the brave men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice serving our great country and to the families who lost loved ones in conflict. We must do all that we can to support our Gold Star families, and I am proud that we were able to pass this bill with broad support from both sides of the political aisle.”

Senate Bill 918 grants municipalities a local option to implement a tax property exemption for up to $20,000 or 10 percent of the property’s value to Gold Star parents. Gold star parents are those whose son or daughter was killed in a war. The bill also contains language extending the exemption to the surviving spouses of military personnel who die in the line of duty.