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1 1 Section 1. NEW SECTION. 35E.1 DEFINITIONS.
1 2 As used in this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:
1 3 1. "Active duty" means full-time duty in the merchant
1 4 marine service of the United States, excluding active duty for
1 5 training purposes only, excluding any period a person was
1 6 assigned to a civilian institution for a course of study or
1 7 training which was substantially the same as established
1 8 courses offered to civilians, and including a cadet or
1 9 midshipman enrolled at one of the service academies.
1 10 2. "Board" means the merchant marine service compensation
1 11 board.
1 12 3. "Fund" means the merchant marine service compensation
1 13 fund.
1 14 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION. 35E.2 MERCHANT MARINE SERVICE
1 15 COMPENSATION BOARD.
1 16 A merchant marine service compensation board is created.
1 17 The membership of the board consists of the auditor of state,
1 18 the treasurer of state, and the adjutant general of this
1 19 state.
1 20 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION. 35E.3 MERCHANT MARINE SERVICE
1 21 COMPENSATION FUND CREATED.
1 22 A merchant marine service compensation fund is created in
1 23 the state treasury. The proceeds of the fund shall be used to
1 24 pay the compensation claims, administrative expenses and
1 25 costs, and legal fees as otherwise provided in this chapter.
1 26 Sec. 4. NEW SECTION. 35E.4. DUTIES OF THE BOARD &endash;
1 27 APPLICATIONS &endash; DEADLINE.
1 28 1. The board shall administer the provisions of this
1 29 chapter, shall examine all applications for service
1 30 compensation, shall approve or disapprove the applications,
1 31 and shall carry out any investigations as necessary to
1 32 establish facts. If an application is disapproved by the
1 33 board, the applicant may appeal to the district court of the
1 34 state of Iowa in the county of the applicant's legal residence
1 35 as provided in section 17A.19.
2 1 2. When an application is approved by the board, the
2 2 applicant shall be paid as provided in this chapter. The
2 3 board shall prepare and transmit vouchers to the department of
2 4 revenue and finance in payment of the compensation claims
2 5 provided for in this chapter and other necessary
2 6 administrative expenses. The director of revenue and finance
2 7 shall issue a warrant for the amount stated in the voucher and
2 8 the treasurer of state shall pay the warrants out of the
2 9 merchant marine compensation fund.
2 10 3. The board may employ assistants and incur other
2 11 expenses as may be necessary for the administration of this
2 12 chapter. The assistants as the board may determine shall be
2 13 exempt from the provisions of chapter 19A and shall give bond
2 14 in an amount as may be determined by the board. The board
2 15 shall adopt rules, pursuant to chapter 17A, as necessary to
2 16 administer this chapter.
2 17 4. To receive compensation as provided in this chapter, an
2 18 applicant, or the applicant's successor in interest, shall
2 19 file an application with the board before July 1, 1998. The
2 20 application shall be made on forms provided by the board.
2 21 Sec. 5. NEW SECTION. 35E.5 MERCHANT MARINE COMPENSATION
2 22 &endash; QUALIFIED PERSONS.
2 23 1. Each person who served on active duty in the merchant
2 24 marine service of the United States, at any time between
2 25 September 16, 1940, and September 2, 1945, both dates
2 26 inclusive, and who served for a period of not less than one
2 27 hundred twenty days on or before December 31, 1946, and who at
2 28 the time of entering into the merchant marine service was a
2 29 legal resident of the state of Iowa, and who had maintained
2 30 the person's residence in this state for a period of at least
2 31 six months immediately before entering the merchant marine
2 32 service and was honorably discharged or separated from the
2 33 merchant marine service is entitled to receive from the fund
2 34 the sum of twenty-two dollars and seventy-five cents for each
2 35 month that the person was on active duty in the merchant
3 1 marine service, all before December 31, 1946, not to exceed a
3 2 total sum of five hundred dollars. Compensation for a
3 3 fraction of a month shall not be considered unless the
3 4 fraction is sixteen days or more, in which case the fraction
3 5 shall be computed as a full month.
3 6 2. A person is not entitled to compensation pursuant to
3 7 this chapter if the person received a bonus or compensation of
3 8 a similar nature as provided in this chapter from another
3 9 state.
3 10 3. A person is not entitled to compensation pursuant to
3 11 this chapter if the person was on active duty in the merchant
3 12 marine service after September 16, 1940, and the person
3 13 refused on conscientious, political, religious, or other
3 14 grounds, to be subject to military discipline.
3 15 4. The surviving widow or widower, child or children,
3 16 mother, father, or person standing in loco parentis, in the
3 17 order named and none other, of any deceased person, shall be
3 18 paid the compensation that the deceased person would be
3 19 entitled to pursuant to this chapter, if living, but if any
3 20 person has died or shall die, or is disabled, from service-
3 21 connected causes incurred during the period and in the area
3 22 from which the person is entitled to receive compensation
3 23 pursuant to this chapter, the person or the first survivor as
3 24 designated by this chapter and in the order named, shall be
3 25 paid five hundred dollars, regardless of the length of
3 26 service.
3 27 Sec. 6. NEW SECTION. 35E.6 FALSE STATEMENT &endash; PENALTY.
3 28 A person who knowingly makes a false statement relating to
3 29 a material fact in supporting an application under this
3 30 chapter is guilty of a serious misdemeanor. A person
3 31 convicted pursuant to this section shall forfeit all benefits
3 32 to which the person may have been entitled under this chapter.
3 33 Sec. 7. NEW SECTION. 35E.7 TAX EXEMPTION.
3 34 All payments and allowances made under this chapter shall
3 35 be exempt from taxation and from levy and sale on execution.
4 1 Sec. 8. APPROPRIATION. There is appropriated to the
4 2 merchant marine compensation fund from the general fund of the
4 3 state for the fiscal biennium beginning July 1, 1996, and
4 4 ending June 30, 1998, the sum of $250,000, or so much thereof
4 5 as is necessary, to pay the merchant marine compensation
4 6 claims, administrative expenses and costs, and legal fees as
4 7 authorized in chapter 35E.
4 8 EXPLANATION
4 9 This bill provides a bonus for Iowans who served on active
4 10 duty with the merchant marines of the United States during
4 11 World War II. The bill includes merchant mariners who served
4 12 on active duty between September 16, 1940, and September 2,
4 13 1945, and who served for at least 120 days on or before
4 14 December 31, 1946. The compensation amounts to $22.75 per
4 15 month but not to exceed a total sum of $500. The bill also
4 16 provides for payment to certain surviving family members of a
4 17 deceased merchant mariner. An application for compensation
4 18 must be filed before July 1, 1998.
4 19 The bill creates a merchant marine service compensation
4 20 board consisting of the auditor of state, treasurer of state,
4 21 and adjutant general of this state, and a merchant marine
4 22 service compensation fund, the proceeds of which will be used
4 23 to pay the merchant mariners compensation, administrative
4 24 costs and expenses, and legal fees.
4 25 An appropriation of $250,000 is included to fund the
4 26 requirements of the bonus and its administrative costs.
4 27 A person who knowingly submits false statements in support
4 28 of a bonus claim is guilty of a serious misdemeanor. A
4 29 serious misdemeanor is punishable by a fine of at least $250
4 30 but not more than $1,500 and imprisonment for not more than
4 31 one year.
4 32 LSB 3137SS 76
4 33 tj/jw/5
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