Veterans rallied at the Iowa statehouse, seeking legislative action on a variety of fronts, including an increase in the property tax exemption for combat veterans. Dan Gannon, a Marine veteran who served in combat in Vietnam, says it takes more than just saying, “Thank you,” to honor Iowa’s veterans.
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The Iowa Commission on Veterans Affairs has an 11-point agenda for the 2018 legislative session. In addition to the recommendation that the military property tax exemption increase to five-thousand dollars, there’s a call for some sort of state law requiring “Americanism and Patriotism” be taught in public K-through-12 schools.
Representative Steven Holt, a Republican from Denison who served two decades in the Marines, is chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee in the Iowa House.
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There are more than 230,000 veterans in the state of Iowa. That’s nearly seven-and-a-half percent of the state’s population.