By Nick Busse

Assembly Bill 2016, authored by Assemblyman Jeff Gonzalez (R), was originally introduced to expand California’s military retirement pay and Survivor Benefit Plan tax exclusions.

Unfortunately, AB 2016 has since been gutted and amended. The bill no longer deals with military retirement pay, survivor benefits, or veterans tax relief. It has been changed into a bill dealing with drinking water and hexavalent chromium removal.

However, this issue is not dead.

There are still other bills carrying this effort forward, including:

 AB 53, authored by Assemblymembers James Ramos (D), Tina McKinnor (D), Blanca Pacheco (D), and Darshana Patel (D),

Co-Authors: Assemblyman Jeff Gonzalez (R) and Senator Sabrina Cervantes (D)

AB 53 is also related to excluding military retirement pay and survivor benefit payments from California taxable income, though it has not moved recently and is currently pending in the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee.

This bill has made it all the way through the lower chamber assembly last year, and there’s going to make it sway through the Senate. This is our best bet! 

So while AB 2016 has changed direction, the broader fight for California veterans, retirees, survivors, and military families is still moving forward through other legislation.

We will continue tracking these bills and advocating for those who served.