Senate Study Bill 1152 - Introduced SENATE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS BILL BY CHAIRPERSON REICHMAN) A BILL FOR An Act relating to the administration of the veterans trust 1 fund. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 2163XC (3) 90 dg/rn
S.F. _____ Section 1. Section 35A.13, subsection 3, Code 2023, is 1 amended to read as follows: 2 3. Moneys credited to the trust fund shall not be 3 transferred, used, obligated, appropriated, or otherwise 4 encumbered, except as provided in this section . Moneys in the 5 trust fund may also be used for cemetery grant development 6 purposes provided that any moneys so allocated, except 7 for moneys used for department of administrative services 8 expenditures related to the grant, are returned to the trust 9 fund upon receipt of federal funds received for such purposes. 10 Sec. 2. Section 35A.13, subsection 5, Code 2023, is amended 11 by adding the following new paragraph: 12 NEW PARAGRAPH . 0d. The commission shall not use moneys 13 appropriated to the commission pursuant to this subsection in 14 any fiscal quarter in an amount greater than thirty percent of 15 the moneys appropriated to the commission for the fiscal year. 16 Sec. 3. Section 35A.13, subsection 5, paragraph d, Code 17 2023, is amended to read as follows: 18 d. Notwithstanding paragraphs a , b , and c any other 19 provision of this subsection , moneys credited to the war 20 orphans educational assistance account shall be expended as 21 provided in subsection 8 . 22 Sec. 4. Section 35A.13, subsection 7, paragraph l, Code 23 2023, is amended to read as follows: 24 l. Expenses related to initial screening for any military 25 service-connected traumatic brain injury sustained while on 26 federal active duty, state active duty, or national guard duty, 27 as defined in section 29A.1 , or sustained while on federal 28 reserve duty pursuant to orders issued under Tit. 10 of the 29 United States Code for which payment or reimbursement is not 30 otherwise available through any other federal or state program 31 or, if applicable, through a veterans private insurance or 32 managed care organization. A Notwithstanding subsection 7A, a 33 veteran seeking moneys for expenses pursuant to this paragraph 34 l shall not be subject to an income limit. 35 -1- LSB 2163XC (3) 90 dg/rn 1/ 4
S.F. _____ Sec. 5. Section 35A.13, Code 2023, is amended by adding the 1 following new subsections: 2 NEW SUBSECTION . 7A. To be eligible to receive benefits 3 pursuant to subsection 7, an applicant must meet all of the 4 following requirements: 5 a. The applicants household income, benefits from the 6 federal veterans pension program, service-connected disability 7 income, and social security income, do not exceed two hundred 8 percent of the federal poverty level for a family of applicable 9 size in effect on the date the application was received by 10 a county director of veterans affairs. The commission may 11 waive the requirements of this paragraph if all the applicants 12 income is from a fixed source and all other sources of 13 assistance have been exhausted. 14 b. (1) The applicants available liquid assets are equal 15 to or less than fifteen thousand dollars. For the purposes 16 of this paragraph, available liquid assets means cash on 17 hand, cash in a checking or savings account, stocks, bonds, 18 certificates of deposit, treasury bills, and money market funds 19 and other liquid investments owned individually or jointly by 20 the applicant and the applicants spouse. 21 (2) Notwithstanding subparagraph (1), an asset shall not be 22 counted as an applicants available liquid asset if the asset 23 is any of the following: 24 (a) The cash surrender value of a life insurance policy, 25 real property, an established burial account, or a personal 26 vehicle. 27 (b) A fund deposited in an individual retirement account in 28 accordance with section 408(a) of the federal Internal Revenue 29 Code, a self-employed pension plan, also known as a Keogh plan 30 or H.R. 10 plan, or a deferred compensation plan that the 31 applicant may not withdraw from without incurring a penalty. 32 NEW SUBSECTION . 7B. Benefits from the veterans trust fund 33 to an individual shall not exceed five thousand dollars in any 34 calendar year and shall not exceed ten thousand dollars for the 35 -2- LSB 2163XC (3) 90 dg/rn 2/ 4
S.F. _____ lifetime of the individual. 1 NEW SUBSECTION . 9A. The director shall oversee the 2 management of the veterans trust fund, including compliance 3 with limits on grant amounts, the timely distribution of 4 moneys, and the application of procedures to ensure applicant 5 eligibility in accordance with this section. Any grant of 6 moneys from the veterans trust fund shall be subject to final 7 approval by the director or the directors designee. 8 EXPLANATION 9 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 10 the explanations substance by the members of the general assembly. 11 This bill relates to the administration of the veterans 12 trust fund. 13 The bill no longer allows veterans trust fund moneys to be 14 used for cemetery development purposes in certain situations. 15 The bill prohibits the commission of veterans affairs (CVA) 16 from using any moneys appropriated to the CVA in a fiscal 17 quarter in an amount greater than 30 percent of the moneys 18 appropriated. 19 The bill requires, for an applicant to be eligible to 20 receive benefits from the veterans trust fund, the applicants 21 household income, benefits from the federal veterans pension 22 program, service-connected disability income, and social 23 security income to be at or below 200 percent of the federal 24 poverty level for a family of applicable size in effect on 25 the date the application was received by a county director of 26 veterans affairs. The CVA may waive income requirements if all 27 the applicants income is from a fixed source and all other 28 sources of assistance have been exhausted. 29 The bill also requires, for an applicant to be eligible to 30 receive benefits from the veterans trust fund, the applicants 31 available liquid assets to be equal to or less than $15,000. 32 The bill defines available liquid assets as cash on 33 hand, cash in a checking or savings account, stocks, bonds, 34 certificates of deposit, treasury bills, and money market funds 35 -3- LSB 2163XC (3) 90 dg/rn 3/ 4
S.F. _____ and other liquid investments owned individually or jointly by 1 the applicant and the applicants spouse. However, an asset 2 is not an available liquid asset if it is the cash surrender 3 value of a life insurance policy, real property, an established 4 burial account, or a personal vehicle. An asset is also not 5 an available liquid asset if it is a fund deposited in an 6 individual retirement account in accordance with section 408(a) 7 of the federal Internal Revenue Code, a self-employed pension 8 plan (a Keogh plan or H.R. 10 plan), or a deferred compensation 9 plan that the applicant may not withdraw from without incurring 10 a penalty. 11 The bill limits the benefits an individual may receive from 12 the veterans trust fund to $5,000 in any calendar year and 13 $10,000 for the lifetime of the individual. 14 The bill directs the director of the department of veterans 15 affairs to oversee the management of the veterans trust fund, 16 including compliance with limits on grant amounts, the timely 17 distribution of moneys, and the application of procedures to 18 ensure applicant eligibility. 19 The bill requires any grant of moneys from the veterans trust 20 fund to be subject to final approval by the director of the 21 department of veterans affairs or the directors designee. 22 The bill makes conforming changes to Code section 35A.13, 23 subsection 4, paragraph d, and subsection 7, paragraph l. 24 -4- LSB 2163XC (3) 90 dg/rn 4/ 4