OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma driver licenses would display a special designation for totally disabled military veterans, under a measure advancing through the state Legislature.
Sen. Frank Simpson said the DL modification proposed by his Senate Bill 1177 would make it easier for the state and businesses to know which veterans are eligible for the sales tax exemption and other benefits awarded to fully disabled members.
Comanche County, home of the Fort Sill Army post, had 4,037 permanent, totally disabled military veterans as of the end of January, county Excise Board Chairman J.P. Richard said.
The number of totally disabled vets in Comanche County is “pushing 10,000,” he added, but the Department of Veterans Affairs considers some of those to be temporary, some of the veterans are in rehabilitation and some have their cases under review, Richard explained.
Through the end of January, Oklahoma County had 4,739 totally and permanently disabled military veterans who were honorably discharged, County Assessor Larry Stein told Southwest Ledger.
“These brave men and women have sacrificed so much for our great country and are granted full disability through a stringent process by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs,” said Simpson, R-Springer. “That designation grants them certain benefits in our state,” he noted. Those benefits include not having to pay sales tax on various purchases and exemption from property taxes.
“Unfortunately, those benefits are being fraudulently claimed by non-eligible individuals, and we’ve been working in recent years to find a way to ensure these perks are reserved for our true heroes,” Simpson said. Having a designation on a driver’s license would be “a simple solution that would help the state and businesses better track who is truly qualified to receive these special benefits.”
SB 1177 would direct the state Department of Public Safety to designate on driver licenses whether an individual is a 100% disabled veteran or if they are the spouse or the surviving, unmarried widow of a fully disabled veteran. The bill also would require the DPS and Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs to implement a technology-based information exchange process to allow DPS and motor agents to validate such applicant claims.
The Oklahoma Tax Commission has approximately 32,000 military tax-exempt certificates on file, but the USDVA says Oklahoma has 16,000 fully service-disabled veterans, Simpson said.
SB 1177 was approved unanimously by the full Senate and was transmitted to the House of Representatives, where it is sponsored by Rep. Josh West, R-Grove.