Section 35A.2. Commission of veterans affairs.

  1.  A commission of veterans affairs is created consisting of nine persons who shall be appointed by the governor, subject to confirmation by the senate. Members shall be appointed to staggered terms of four years beginning and ending as provided in section 69.19. The governor shall fill a vacancy for the unexpired portion of the term. In addition to the members appointed by the governor, the director of the department and the commandant of the Iowa veterans home shall serve as nonvoting, ex officio members of the commission.

  2.  Eight commissioners shall be honorably discharged members of the armed forces of the United States. The American legion of Iowa, disabled American veterans department of Iowa, veterans of foreign wars department of Iowa, American veterans of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, the Vietnam veterans of America, and the military order of the purple heart, through their department commanders, shall submit two names respectively from their organizations to the governor. The adjutant general and the Iowa affiliate of the reserve officers association shall submit names to the governor of persons to represent the Iowa national guard and the association. The governor shall appoint from the group of names submitted by the adjutant general and reserve officers association two representatives and from each of the other organizations one representative to serve as a member of the commission, unless the appointments would conflict with the bipartisan and gender balance provisions of sections 69.16 and 69.16A. In addition, the governor shall appoint one member of the public, knowledgeable in the general field of veterans affairs, to serve on the commission.

  3.  a.  The commissioners are entitled to receive reimbursement for actual expenses incurred while engaged in the performance of official duties. Each member of the commission may also be eligible to receive compensation as provided in section 7E.6.

  b.  The executive director, commandant, and employees of the department and the Iowa veterans home are entitled to receive, in addition to salary, reimbursement for actual expenses incurred while engaged in the performance of official duties.

  c.  All out-of-state travel by commissioners shall be approved by the chairperson of the commission.

[C31, §446-c1; C35, §467-f42; C39, §467.44; C46, 50, §29.44; C54, 58, 62, §29.12; C66, 71, 73, 75, 77, §29A.12; C79, 81, §35A.2;

81 Acts, ch 33, §1

]

86 Acts, ch 1245, §1705, 1706

; 92 Acts, ch 1140, §8

; 95 Acts, ch 67, §6

; 95 Acts, ch 161, §1, 2

; 2004 Acts, ch 1175, §222, 287

; 2007 Acts, ch 202, §2

; 2012 Acts, ch 1059, §1

Confirmation, see §2.32