After serving eight years in the Army, Lisa Berry Barbosa thought she would be entitled to a veterans tax exemption in her town of Narragansett. She quickly learned that those who served during the Cold War weren’t eligible to receive an exemption. 

She went to her State Representative Carol Hagan McEntee and they took the fight to Smith Hill to pass legislation that would extend the exemption to any member who served in uniform during the Cold War between 1947 through 1991, even if they did not serve in a declared war or conflict.

On Wednesday, during Holliman Elementary School’s Veterans Day celebration Gov. Dan McKee signed the legislation into law, saying that it was “long overdue.”

“Our veterans have served the nation with valor and dignity. We must always be sure to appreciate them and show them a debt of gratitude, because it is their heroism that keeps us free,” said McKee. “That goes for all veterans. Our veterans who served in uniform during the Cold War were gallant in protecting our American ideals. They kept our nation safe, they were our nation's backbone during a decades-long crisis.”

The legislation was sponsored by Navy Veteran and State Representative Camille F.J. Vella-Wilkinson, who told the crowd at the ceremony that when she was the Ward 3 City Councilor for Warwick people from the American Legion Post asked her if anything could be done to help Cold War Veterans in terms of property tax exemptions.

She said that at first she tried to get something done on the federal level but when she realized that was a dead end she knew they had to do something as a state. 

“The current definition of ‘veteran’ that we use has a disparate impact on peacetime veterans and especially female veterans,” said Vella-Wilkinson in a press release. “By changing the way the current law embraces combat in its definition, this bill will correct an injustice to many who served in peacetime and those women who were excluded from combat until policy was changed by the Secretary of Defense in 2013.”

In the Senate Senator James Seveney sponsored the legislation. 

“We owe veterans a debt that can never be repaid,” said Seveney. “Anyone who joins the armed forces makes a commitment to their country that they back with their lives, regardless of where the flow of history may take them. To honor that commitment, it’s only proper that we extend this exemption to other veterans as well.”

Now that all veterans will be able to enjoy the benefits of the property tax exemptions in Rhode Island Vella-Wilkinson and Berry Barbosa hope that it’s the case across the country. 

“I sincerely hope that other states will follow our lead,” Vella-Wilkinson said.