35A.13 - VETERANS TRUST FUND.
35A.13 VETERANS TRUST FUND.
1. For the purposes of this section, "veteran" means the same
as defined in section 35.1 or a resident of this state who served in
the armed forces of the United States, completed a minimum aggregate
of ninety days of active federal service, and was discharged under
honorable conditions.
2. A veterans trust fund is created in the state treasury under
the control of the commission.
3. The trust fund shall consist of all of the following:
a. Moneys in the form of a devise, gift, bequest, donation,
federal or other grant, reimbursement, repayment, judgment, transfer,
payment, or appropriation from any source intended to be used for the
purposes of the trust fund.
b. Interest attributable to investment of moneys in the fund
or an account of the trust fund. Notwithstanding section 12C.7,
subsection 2, interest or earnings on moneys in the trust fund shall
be credited to the trust fund.
4. Moneys credited to the trust fund shall not be transferred,
used, obligated, appropriated, or otherwise encumbered, except as
provided in this section. Moneys in the trust fund may be used for
cash flow purposes during a fiscal year provided that any moneys so
allocated are returned to the trust fund by the end of that fiscal
year.
5. The minimum balance of the trust fund required prior to
expenditure of moneys from the trust fund is five million dollars.
Once the minimum balance is reached, the interest and earnings on the
fund and any moneys received under subsection 3, paragraph "a",
are appropriated to the commission to be used to achieve the purposes
of this section. It is the intent of the general assembly that the
balance in the trust fund reach fifty million dollars.
6. It is the intent of the general assembly that beginning with
the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2008, appropriations be made
annually to the veterans trust fund. Prior to any additional
appropriations to this fund, the department shall provide the general
assembly with information identifying immediate and long-term veteran
services throughout the state and a plan for delivering those
services.
7. Moneys appropriated to the commission under this section shall
not be used to supplant funding provided by other sources. The
moneys may be expended upon a majority vote of the commission
membership for the benefit of veterans and the spouses and dependents
of veterans, for any of the following purposes:
a. Travel expenses for wounded veterans, and their spouses,
directly related to follow-up medical care.
b. Job training or college tuition assistance for job
retraining.
c. Unemployment assistance during a period of unemployment
due to prolonged physical or mental illness or disability resulting
from military service.
d. Expenses related to the purchase of durable medical
equipment or services to allow veterans to remain in their homes.
e. Expenses related to hearing care, dental care, vision
care, or prescription drugs.
f. Individual counseling or family counseling programs.
g. Family support group programs or programs for children of
members of the military.
h. Honor guard services.
i. Expenses related to ambulance and emergency room services
for veterans who are trauma patients.
j. Emergency expenses related to vehicle repair, housing
repair, or temporary housing assistance.
k. Expenses related to establishing whether a minor child is
a dependent of a deceased veteran.
l. Matching funds to veterans organizations to provide for
accredited veteran service officers. However, moneys expended for
this purpose in a fiscal year shall not exceed the lesser of one
hundred fifty thousand dollars or twenty percent of the moneys
appropriated to the commission from interest and earnings on the fund
in that fiscal year.
8. If the commission identifies other purposes for which the
moneys appropriated under this section may be used for the benefit of
veterans and the spouses and dependents of veterans, the commission
shall submit recommendations for the addition of such purposes to the
general assembly for review.
9. The commission shall submit an annual report to the general
assembly by January 15 of each year concerning the veterans trust
fund created by this section. The annual report shall include
financial information concerning the moneys in the trust fund and
shall also include information on the number, amount, and type of
expenditures, if any, from the fund during the prior calendar year
for the purposes described in subsection 7.
10. The department may adopt emergency rules under section 17A.4,
subsection 3, and section 17A.5, subsection 2, paragraph "b", to
implement the provisions of this section and the rules shall be
effective immediately upon filing unless a later date is specified in
the rules. Any rules adopted in accordance with this subsection
shall also be published as a notice of intended action as provided in
section 17A.4. Section History: Recent Form
2003 Acts, ch 131, §1; 2006 Acts, ch 1110, §1, 2; 2006 Acts, ch
1185, §66--68; 2007 Acts, ch 202, §7; 2008 Acts, ch 1012, § 1; 2008
Acts, ch 1129, § 1, 2, 3, 9
Referred to in § 99G.9A, 422.12L Footnotes
FY 2007-2008 appropriation from veterans trust fund to Vietnam
Conflict veterans bonus fund; 2007 Acts, ch 176, §3; 2008 Acts, ch
1187, §68; 2009 Acts, ch 182, §82, 87
For future amendments to this section effective July 1, 2010, see
2009 Acts, ch 164, §2, 6, 7