How property tax relief for disabled Veterans has moved through the Kansas Legislature since 2022. Bills here often change numbers, get replaced, or get bundled with unrelated tax changes, so each vote below says what was actually in the bill.
How to read this page. A recorded vote covers the whole bill or package unless it says otherwise. A lawmaker’s vote on a bundled bill doesn’t, by itself, show what they think of any one part of it. A “conference committee report” is the final version worked out by a few House and Senate negotiators; each chamber votes it up or down without changes.
2022
Not law
Our first testimony. Introduced in 2021, it proposed exempting part of the home’s value from property tax for retired and disabled Veterans.
We testified that the bill fell short and offered a stronger draft.
The committee never voted on it.
Sources: Kansas Legislature: HB 2440 history · Our testimony
2023–2024
Not law
The one bill so far that would have taken these Veterans’ homes off the property tax rolls. The House passed it almost unanimously. The Senate replaced it with a sales tax exemption, and the bill number was later used for an unrelated tax package.
Rep. Pat Proctor and others introduced a property tax exemption for the homes of retired and disabled Veterans. We testified at the House Taxation hearing on January 30.
As passed, it would have exempted the home entirely for Veterans rated above 70%, and some others, starting in tax year 2024. Veterans rated 30% to 60% would have had 60% to 90% of the home’s assessed value exempted. A floor amendment barred anyone getting the exemption from also getting a Homestead Refund.
Vote: 123 to 1 in the House. A yes vote meant: support for the graduated property tax exemption.
The Senate Assessment and Taxation Committee heard the bill January 16, 17 and 23. We testified in support.
The Senate committee swapped out the property tax exemption for a sales tax exemption for disabled Veterans rated 50% or more, up to $24,000 a year in purchases. The Senate passed that version.
Vote: 38 to 2 in the Senate. A yes vote meant: support for a sales tax exemption, not a property tax exemption.
House and Senate negotiators removed the sales tax exemption and put in a broad tax package: income tax rates, Social Security, the sales tax on food and the school property tax levy. Nothing in it was specific to Veterans. A first version passed the Senate 38 to 1 on April 4 but failed in the House. A revised version passed the next day.
Vote: Revised version: 119 to 0 in the House, 24 to 9 in the Senate. A yes vote meant: support for the broad tax package.
Governor Kelly vetoed it. The House voted 104 to 15 to override. The Senate voted 26 to 14, one vote short of the 27 needed, so the veto stood.
Sources: House-passed version, summary · Senate substitute, summary · Bill history and votes · Veto message
2024
Law, over a veto
The Veterans’ sales tax exemption that started July 1, 2026 came from this bill, not from HB 2036. It began in 2023 as an insurance bill.
Negotiators replaced the bill’s contents with several sales tax changes: the exemption for Veterans rated 100% permanent or unable to work, on up to $24,000 a year in purchases starting July 1, 2026; a deduction when trading one vehicle for another; leaving manufacturers’ coupons out of the taxable price; and exemptions for custom meat processing and several organizations.
Vote: 102 to 17 in the House. A yes vote meant: support for the whole sales tax package.
Governor Kelly vetoed it.
Both chambers overrode the veto, and it became law as K.S.A. 79-3606h.
Vote: 99 to 20 in the House, 37 to 0 in the Senate. A yes vote meant: making the whole sales tax package law over the veto.
Sources: Kansas Legislature: HB 2098 history · 2024 summary of legislation · Veto message
2024
Not law
The Veterans’ Valor credit: a refundable state income tax credit for 75% of the property tax for Veterans rated permanently and totally disabled or unable to work, with no income or home-value limit. It reached the governor only as part of a larger property tax bill. The state estimated the credit alone would cost about $7.6 million to $8.4 million a year.
HB 2096 began as a change to insurance premium taxes for certain group-funded insurance pools. It passed the House 121 to 0 and the Senate 39 to 0 with changes, then went to a conference committee.
Negotiators replaced the insurance language with a property tax package: the 75% Veterans’ credit; a bigger K-40SVR ($80,000 income limit and $500,000 home-value limit); a property tax exemption for child care centers, health clubs and restaurants that compete with nearby city or county facilities; exemptions for boats, off-road vehicles and some trailers; a rule keeping certain commercial sales out of property appraisals; and changes to valuation notices and appeals.
In the Senate, a motion to send it back to negotiators failed, 19 to 20, and the Senate then adopted it, 23 to 14. The House did not adopt it and sent it back.
Vote: 23 to 14 in the Senate. Not adopted in the House. A yes vote meant: in the Senate, support for the whole package.
A third set of negotiators kept the Veterans’ credit and the K-40SVR changes, turned the business exemption into state-paid rebates, narrowed the appraisal rule to Section 1031 exchanges, and added an increase in the child and dependent care credit from 25% to 100% of the federal credit.
Vote: 91 to 26 in the House, 23 to 11 in the Senate. A yes vote meant: support for the whole package, not just the Veterans’ credit.
Governor Kelly vetoed it together with two other tax bills. The Legislature had already adjourned, so there was no override vote.
Sources: First conference report, summary · Final conference report, summary · Bill history and votes · Veto message
June 2024
Law, without the credit
After the vetoes, the governor called lawmakers back. SB 1 was negotiated between legislative leaders and the governor before the session started. It kept a few pieces of HB 2096, such as the Section 1031 appraisal rule and a smaller increase in the dependent care credit, but left out the Veterans’ credit, the K-40SVR expansion, the business rebates and the personal property exemptions.
Sen. Tom Holland planned to offer the contents of SB 2, which included the 75% credit, as an amendment. The Senate voted 22 to 16 to end debate, so no amendments came up. The Senate then passed SB 1.
Vote: 22 to 16 to end debate; 34 to 4 to pass SB 1. A yes vote meant: on the final vote, support for the negotiated tax package.
Rep. Vic Miller offered an amendment that would have added the 75% credit, along with other tax changes. House Taxation Chair Adam Smith asked members to vote it down to keep the negotiated deal intact. It was rejected without a recorded vote. The House then passed SB 1.
Vote: 121 to 2 to pass SB 1. A yes vote meant: support for the negotiated package. It wasn’t a vote on the credit.
SB 2, from Sens. Holland and Marci Francisco, and HB 2003 both included the credit. Neither advanced. The governor signed SB 1 on June 20.
Sources: Senate Journal, June 18, 2024 · SB 1 history · Summary of SB 1 · Kansas Reflector on the House debate · HB 2003
2025
One law, one not
Two separate bills. One revived the Veterans’ credit and stalled. The other changed how K-40SVR counts income and became law.
HB 2005 was introduced as the 75% Veterans’ credit, with no income or home-value limit. Veterans testified at the House Taxation hearing. The committee cut it to 50%. It never got a vote of the full House, and in 2026 its contents moved into SB 434.
HB 2231, a broader income tax bill, switched K-40SVR to Kansas adjusted gross income starting with tax year 2025, which leaves out Social Security. It became law. The income and home-value limits didn’t change.
Sources: HB 2005 summary · Kansas Department of Revenue notice on HB 2231
2026
Not law
The 2026 credit rode on a bill that started as something else, and the House version paired it with taking away the sales tax exemption that was already law.
SB 434 was introduced to change how disability is determined for the Veterans’ sales tax exemption, using the federal process. The Senate passed it.
Vote: 40 to 0 in the Senate. A yes vote meant: support for the sales tax eligibility change.
The House Taxation Committee replaced the bill with a refundable state income tax credit for 50% of these Veterans’ property taxes, plus repeal of the Veterans’ sales tax exemption that was set to start July 1. The House passed it on March 18.
Vote: 124 to 0 in the House. A yes vote meant: support for both the 50% credit and the repeal of the sales tax exemption, together.
The Senate didn’t agree to the House version. Negotiators didn’t reach a deal before the session ended, so neither change became law, and the sales tax exemption started on schedule.
Sources: SB 434 as passed by the Senate, summary · Bill history and votes
2026
Not law
These didn’t create Veterans’ relief, but they would have changed the refund programs Veterans use today.
SB 402 would have combined the Homestead Refund and K-40SVR forms, changed SAFESR’s age and income rules, and raised some home-value limits. It passed the Senate and died on the House calendar.
HB 2044 would have let homeowners keep the Homestead Refund or SAFESR if their home’s value later rose above $350,000, and would have exempted active-duty military pay from state income tax. It passed both chambers, 40 to 0 in the Senate and 116 to 4 in the House. Governor Kelly vetoed it after lawmakers had adjourned, so there was no override vote.
Sources: SB 402 summary · HB 2044 veto message
Last reviewed November 10, 2026. Vote counts are from the Kansas Legislature’s records. If you spot an error, tell us. See also our Updates timeline and the short version on the home page.
We'll email you when there's something you can do: