Section 35A.13. Veterans trust fund.

  1.  A veterans trust fund is created in the state treasury under the control of the commission.

  2.  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.  Moneys credited to the fund pursuant to an income tax checkoff provided in chapter 422, division II, if applicable.

  c.  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.

  3.  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. Moneys in the trust fund may also be used for cemetery grant development purposes provided that any moneys so allocated are returned to the trust fund upon receipt of federal funds received for such purposes.

  4.  a.  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 the first three hundred thousand dollars transferred each fiscal year pursuant to section 99G.39 from the lottery fund to the trust fund are appropriated to the commission to be used to achieve the purposes of subsection 6 of this section. Moneys appropriated to the commission that remain unobligated or unexpended at the end of each fiscal year shall revert to the trust fund. It is the intent of the general assembly that the balance in the trust fund reach fifty million dollars.

  b.  Notwithstanding paragraph “a”, moneys credited to the war orphans educational assistance account shall be expended as provided in subsection 7.

  5.  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.

  6.  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.

  m.  Expenses related to initial screening for any military service-connected traumatic brain injury sustained while on federal active duty, state active duty, or national guard duty, as defined in section 29A.1, or sustained while on federal reserve duty pursuant to orders issued under Tit. 10 of the United States Code for which payment or reimbursement is not otherwise available through any other federal or state program or, if applicable, through a veteran’s private insurance or managed care organization. A veteran seeking moneys for expenses pursuant to this paragraph “m” shall not be subject to an income limit.

  7.  a.  A war orphans educational assistance account shall be created as a separate account in the veterans trust fund and moneys in the account shall not be commingled with any other moneys within the fund. Moneys credited to the war orphans educational assistance account shall only be expended for the purposes of assisting in the education of orphaned children of veterans as provided in this subsection. Interest or earnings on moneys deposited in the account shall be credited to the account.

  b.  (1)  The commission may provide educational assistance funds to any child who has lived in the state of Iowa for two years preceding application for state educational assistance, and who is the child of a person who died prior to September 11, 2001, during active federal military service while serving in the armed forces or during active federal military service in the Iowa national guard or other military component of the United States, to defray the expenses of tuition, matriculation, laboratory and similar fees, books and supplies, board, lodging, and any other reasonably necessary expense for the child or children incident to attendance in this state at an educational or training institution of college grade, or in a business or vocational training school with standards approved by the department. The commission shall not expend more than six hundred dollars per year for educational assistance for any one child under this paragraph “b”.

  (2)  A child eligible to receive funds under this subsection shall not receive more than three thousand dollars under this paragraph “b” during the child’s lifetime.

  c.  (1)  Upon application by a child who is less than thirty-one years of age, and who is the child of a person who died on or after September 11, 2001, during active federal military service while serving in the armed forces or during active federal military service in the Iowa national guard or other military component of the United States, and who at the time of entering into active military service had maintained the person’s residence in the state for a period of at least six months immediately before entering into active military service, the commission shall provide state educational assistance in an amount of no more than the highest resident undergraduate tuition rate established per year for an institution of higher learning under the control of the state board of regents less the amount of any state and federal education benefits, grants, or scholarships received by the child, or the amount of the child’s established financial need, whichever is less, to defray the expenses of tuition at any postsecondary educational institution in this state.

  (2)  A child eligible to receive state educational assistance under this paragraph “c” shall begin postsecondary education prior to reaching age twenty-six, shall not receive more than an amount equal to five times the highest resident undergraduate tuition rate established per year for an institution of higher learning under the control of the state board of regents during the child’s lifetime, and shall, to remain eligible for assistance, meet the academic progress standards of the postsecondary educational institution. Payments for state educational assistance for a child under this paragraph “c” shall be made to the applicable postsecondary educational institution. The college student aid commission may, if requested, assist the commission in administering this paragraph “c”.

  d.  Eligibility for assistance pursuant to this subsection shall be determined upon application to the commission, whose decision is final. The eligibility of applicants shall be certified by the commission to the director of the department of administrative services in a timely manner, and all amounts that are or become due an individual or a training institution under this subsection shall be paid to the individual or institution by the director of the department of administrative services upon receipt by the director of certification by the president or governing board of the educational or training institution as to accuracy of charges made, and as to the attendance of the individual at the educational or training institution. The commission may pay over the annual sum set forth in this subsection to the educational or training institution in a lump sum, or in installments as the circumstances warrant, upon receiving from the institution such written undertaking as the department may require to assure the use of funds for the child for the authorized purposes and for no other purpose. A person is not eligible for the benefits of this subsection until the person has graduated from a high school or educational institution offering a course of training equivalent to high school training.

  e.  Any expense incurred in carrying out the provisions of this subsection shall be chargeable to the trust fund.

  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 6.

  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.

  11.  It is the intent of the general assembly that beginning with the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2013, appropriations be made as necessary to the war orphans educational assistance account of the veterans trust fund to pay all claims made pursuant to subsection 7. Prior to any additional appropriations to this account, the department shall provide the general assembly with information identifying immediate and long-term war orphans educational needs throughout the state and a plan for meeting those needs.

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

; 2009 Acts, ch 164, §2, 7

; 2012 Acts, ch 1029, §1

; 2012 Acts, ch 1097, §1, 6

; 2012 Acts, ch 1139, §1

; 2013 Acts, ch 91, §1 – 3

; 2013 Acts, ch 98, §1

; 2013 Acts, ch 140, §54

; 2015 Acts, ch 15, §1

Subsection 2, paragraph b, applies retroactively to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2012;

2012 Acts, ch 1097, §6

Subsection 4, paragraph a amended