SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom has included a 2025-26 state budget item proposal to grant uniformed retirees and their survivors a state tax exemption on their military pensions. Assemblymember James C. Ramos (D-San Bernardino) has championed such an exemption in the past and last month introduced AB 53 which would allow military retirees and their survivors to claim the benefit.
Ramos who has introduced proposals for military retiree state tax exemptions three times in previous years, including during his chairmanship of the Assembly Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs, was heartened by the governor’s willingness to include a pension tax exemption in this year’s state budget proposal. Last year, Ramos’s bill was the first time the measure made it to the other house of the legislature’s fiscal committee.
“I’m not one to give up on something I think is important, and I am grateful to the governor for including this item in the upcoming year’s budget proposal. We are excited to work with him on this exemption for those who have served our country and that honors the many sacrifices of our armed services personnel and their families.”
Jeffrey Breiten, of the Marine Corps League-Department of California Legislative Affairs office said, "Assemblymember Ramos's strong support for California's military community is without question. Assemblymember Ramos has been working diligently for the last three years to remove the stigma of California being the only state in the nation that fails to provide an exemption on military retirement pay, and he continues that battle today. I want to thank the Assembly member for his continued staunch support of our nation's veterans and military retirees and Governor Newsom for recognizing the economic benefits that military retirees bring to the state they chose to call home after their 20 plus years of military service to our great nation."
AB 53 is jointly sponsored by the American Legion-Department of California, the Marine Corps League-Department of California, the California Association of County Veteran Service Officers, California Military Officers Association of America, the Enlisted Association of the California National Guard of the United States and the California State Commanders Veterans Council.
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Assemblymember James C. Ramos proudly represents the 45th Assembly district that includes the Cities of Fontana, Highland, Mentone, Redlands, Rialto and San Bernardino. He is the first and only California Native American serving in the state’s legislature. Ramos chairs the Assembly Budget Subcommittee #6 on Public Safety.