Did SB 1357 Pass in California? Disabled Veterans Bill

California Senate Bill 1357 did not pass into law. Introduced by Senator Bob Archuleta on February 18, 2022, the bill would have given a full property tax exemption to veterans rated 100 percent disabled and a scaled partial exemption to others, but the proposed Revenue and Taxation Code Section 205.5.1 never appeared in California statute. The existing disabled veterans’ exemption under Section 205.5 remains in effect, shielding up to $180,671 of assessed value for qualifying veterans in the 2026 assessment year, or $271,009 for those who meet the low-income threshold.¹

What SB 1357 Would Have Changed

The bill targeted a longstanding complaint from veteran advocates: even a 100 percent disabled rating from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs currently earns only a partial dollar-amount exemption, not a full pass on property taxes. SB 1357 proposed three tiers of relief in a new Section 205.5.1:

A full exemption for veterans rated 100 percent disabled by the VA or their military branch, including those blind in both eyes or who had lost the use of two or more limbs at a 100 percent rating.
A full exemption for veterans rated totally disabled from a service-connected injury or disease.
A partial exemption for veterans blind in both eyes or with loss of use of two or more limbs at ratings between 10 and 99 percent, calculated as $700,000 multiplied by the disability rating percentage, adjusted annually for inflation.

The exemption would have applied to a principal residence owned by the veteran, spouse, or both jointly. It came with a built-in sunset, covering tax lien dates from January 1, 2023, through December 31, 2032, with the section repealing itself on January 1, 2034.²

For a 100 percent disabled veteran with a home assessed at $800,000, current law exempts roughly $181,000 from taxation. Under SB 1357, the entire $800,000 would have been exempt. In a high-cost California county, that gap can amount to several thousand dollars per year.

Why the Bill Did Not Become Law

SB 1357 moved through several committees during the 2021–2022 session. The Senate referred it to the Governance and Finance Committee in April 2022 and then to the Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs. It was amended on June 15, 2022, and passed to the Assembly, where it went through the Revenue and Taxation, Military and Veterans Affairs, and Appropriations committees between June and August 2022. Committee discussion focused heavily on the fiscal impact — a full exemption for 100 percent disabled veterans would reduce revenue for local governments and school districts that rely on property tax collections.³

Whatever the final step, the bill did not complete the process. The proposed Section 205.5.1 is absent from the Revenue and Taxation Code, and Section 205.5 remains unchanged. Disabled veteran homeowners in California operate under the same exemption framework that existed before SB 1357 was introduced.

What Disabled Veterans Get Under Current Law

Revenue and Taxation Code Section 205.5 applies to the principal residence of a veteran who meets one of three service-connected conditions: blindness in both eyes, loss of use of two or more limbs, or total disability.⁴

“Totally disabled” has a specific meaning under the statute: the VA or the veteran’s military branch must have assigned a 100 percent disability rating, or rated disability compensation at 100 percent because the veteran cannot hold a substantially gainful occupation.⁵

The exemption also passes to an unmarried surviving spouse of a qualifying deceased veteran if the veteran previously qualified during their lifetime, or if the VA determines the veteran died from a service-connected disease.⁴

2026 Exemption Amounts

Both exemption levels adjust annually using the California Consumer Price Index. For the 2026 assessment year:

Basic exemption: $180,671 of assessed value exempt from taxation, available to all qualifying veterans regardless of income.
Low-income exemption: $271,009 of assessed value exempt from taxation, available when the veteran’s household income falls below an annually adjusted limit.¹

One boundary worth knowing: claiming the disabled veterans’ exemption means giving up any other real property tax exemption on the same home, including the standard veterans’ exemption and the homeowners’ exemption. These benefits do not stack.⁴

How to File a Claim

Claims go to the county assessor’s office where the property sits. You submit Form BOE-261-G (Claim for Disabled Veterans’ Property Tax Exemption) along with proof of disability, usually a VA rating letter, and proof of honorable or other-than-dishonorable service such as a DD-214. Veterans with a 100 percent VA rating generally do not need additional medical documentation beyond the rating letter.⁵

Timing affects the amount you get. To receive the full exemption in your first qualifying year, file between the eligibility event date and the following January 1, or within 90 days of the eligibility event, whichever is later. Filing after that window still gets you the exemption, but only 85 percent of it for that initial year.⁵

The low-income exemption has an annual filing requirement on top of the initial claim. Re-file between January 1 and February 15 each year to confirm household income still qualifies. Filing late but before December 10 reduces the exemption to 90 percent for that year; filing after December 10 drops it to 85 percent.⁵

Watching for Future Legislation

Because SB 1357 does not appear in California law, the framework it proposed — a full exemption for the most severely disabled veterans and a scaled partial exemption for others — is not available. Veterans who would have benefited from that structure receive only the current dollar-amount exemption under Section 205.5. Similar legislation could be reintroduced in a future session, but for now the 2026 amounts of $180,671 and $271,009 define the ceiling on California property tax relief for disabled veteran homeowners.

1
California Board of Equalization. LTA 2025/014 – Disabled Veterans Exemption Increases for 2026
2
California Legislative Information. California Senate Bill 1357 – Property Taxation: Exemption: Disabled Veteran Homeowners
3
California Legislative Information. SB 1357 – Property Taxation: Exemption: Disabled Veteran Homeowners
4
California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code 205-5
5
California Board of Equalization. Disabled Veterans Exemption