H-8341

   Amend Senate File 2466, as passed by the Senate, as follows:
   1.  By striking everything after the enacting clause and inserting: 
   <Section 1.  NEW SECTION.  35.4  Power of attorney.
   The provisions of this chapter and chapters 35A, 35B, 35C, and 35D do not limit the ability of a veterans’ service organization recognized pursuant to 38 C.F.R. §14.628(c) to represent a veteran in the United States department of veterans affairs benefit claims process or to be granted the power of attorney for a veteran with the United States department of veterans affairs. A veteran may grant a veterans’ service organization that is recognized pursuant to 38 C.F.R. §14.628(c) power of attorney for the purposes of filing claims with the United States department of veterans affairs.
   Sec. 2.  Section 35A.5, subsection 9, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   9.  Verify each executive director and administrator of a county commission of veteran affairs is fully qualified to work in the person’s position. Qualifications include but are not limited to has all of the following credentials:
   a.  The person has obtained certification that is federally required for the executive director’s or administrator’s position within twelve months of beginning the person’s employment.
   b.  The person has obtained a personal identification verification card necessary to access the veterans benefits management system within twelve months of beginning the person’s employment.
   c.  The person maintains certification that is federally required for the executive director’s or administrator’s position.
   d.  The person maintains an active personal identification verification card and has access to the veterans benefits management system.
   e.  The person is proficient in the use of electronic mail, general computer use, and use of the internet to access information regarding facilities, benefits, and services available to veterans and their families in compliance with education and training standards established by the commandant.
   Sec. 3.  Section 35A.5, Code 2026, is amended by adding the following new subsections:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  16A.  Establish and maintain a statewide standardized electronic claim system to be used by county veterans service offices for submission of all United States department of veterans affairs claims.
   NEW SUBSECTION.  16B.  Communicate county veterans service office performance metrics to county commissions of veteran affairs and boards of supervisors through quarterly and annual reports.
   Sec. 4.  Section 35A.13, subsection 2, paragraph c, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   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.  For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026, and each fiscal year thereafter, thirty-three percent of the interest collected in that fiscal year is appropriated to the commission to be used for the purposes set forth in subsection 8, and thirty-three percent of the interest collected in that fiscal year is appropriated to the department to allocate to each county commission of veteran affairs or to each county sharing the services of an executive director or administrator pursuant to chapter 28E for veterans service officer salaries and training, based on the number of veterans in each county according to the most current data from the United States department of veterans affairs on July 1 of that fiscal year. If the annual report under section 35A.5 demonstrates that a county has not met the standards established by the department, the moneys that the county would have received shall remain in the trust fund. Notwithstanding section 8.33, moneys appropriated to the commission under this paragraph that remain unencumbered or unobligated at the close of a fiscal year shall not revert but shall remain available for expenditure for the purposes designated.
   Sec. 5.  Section 35A.13, subsection 5, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   5.  a.  For each the fiscal year that the balance of the trust fund on July 1 is below fifty million dollars beginning July 1, 2026, and each fiscal year thereafter, the remaining interest and earnings on moneys in the fund and the first five hundred thousand one million dollars transferred pursuant to section 99G.39 from the lottery fund are appropriated to the commission to be used to achieve the purposes of subsection 8. Moneys appropriated to the commission under this paragraph that remain unencumbered or unobligated at the end of the fiscal year shall revert to the fund.  Notwithstanding section 8.33, any moneys appropriated to the commission under this paragraph that remain unencumbered or unobligated at the close of a fiscal year shall not revert but shall remain available for expenditure for the purposes designated. However, nine hundred ninety thousand dollars of the amount transferred pursuant to section 99G.39 from the lottery fund is appropriated to the department to allocate to each county commission of veteran affairs or to each county sharing the services of an executive director or administrator pursuant to chapter 28E for veterans service officer salaries. In addition, sixty thousand dollars of the amount transferred pursuant to section 99G.39 is appropriated to the department for one full-time equivalent position to administer the statewide standardized electronic claim system created pursuant to section 35A.5, subsection 16A.
   b.  For each fiscal year that the balance of the trust fund on July 1 is above fifty million dollars but the balance of the fund was below fifty million dollars on July 1 of the previous fiscal year, moneys transferred pursuant to section 99G.39 from the lottery fund are appropriated to the commission to be used to achieve the purposes of subsection 8. Moneys appropriated to the commission under this paragraph that remain unencumbered or unobligated at the end of the fiscal year shall revert to the fund.
   c.  For each fiscal year that the balance of the trust fund on July 1 is above fifty million dollars and the balance of the fund was above fifty million dollars on July 1 of the previous fiscal year, moneys equal to the net income the fund received in the previous fiscal year are appropriated to the commission to be used to achieve the purposes of subsection 8. Moneys appropriated to the commission under this paragraph that remain unencumbered or unobligated at the end of the fiscal year shall revert to the fund. For the purposes of this paragraph, “income” means moneys credited to the veterans trust fund pursuant to subsection 2 and moneys transferred pursuant to section 99G.39.
   d.  b.  Notwithstanding paragraphs paragraph “a”, “b”, and “c”, moneys credited to the war orphans educational assistance account shall be expended as provided in subsection 9.
   e.  c.  Notwithstanding paragraphs paragraph “a”, “b”, and “c”, moneys transferred under subsection 6 to the county commission of veteran affairs training program account shall be expended as provided in section 35A.16.
   Sec. 6.  Section 35A.16, subsection 3, paragraph a, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   a.  If sufficient moneys are available, the department shall annually allocate ten thousand dollars to each county commission of veteran affairs, or to each county sharing the services of an executive director or administrator pursuant to chapter 28E, to be used to provide services to veterans pursuant to section 35B.6 and provide for and maintain accreditation in accordance with the policies and procedures of the United States department of veterans affairs. Each county receiving an allocation shall annually report on expenditure of the allocation in on a form agreed to provided by the department and county representatives.
   Sec. 7.  Section 35B.6, subsection 1, paragraph d, Code 2026, is amended by adding the following new subparagraph:
   NEW SUBPARAGRAPH.  (4)  Utilize the statewide standardized electronic claim system authorized and provided by the department of veterans affairs to file all claims for United States department of veterans affairs benefits.
   Sec. 8.  Section 35B.6, Code 2026, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  4.  Each county commission of veteran affairs shall employ at least one veterans service officer to work for forty hours per week. Two adjacent counties may share the services of a veterans service officer pursuant to a chapter 28E agreement. A veterans service officer shall spend a minimum of sixteen hours per week physically present in each county in which the veterans service officer is employed for the purpose of providing veterans services.
   Sec. 9.  Section 35B.7, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   35B.7  Meetings —— report —— budget.
   The commission shall meet monthly and at other times as necessary. At the monthly meeting, the commission shall determine who are is entitled to county benefits and the probable amount required to be expended.  The commission shall also review quarterly performance reports generated by the department of veterans affairs to assess the effectiveness of delivery of federal benefits and shall publish the annual performance report generated by the department of veterans affairs. The commission shall meet annually to prepare an estimated budget for all expenditures to be made in the next fiscal year and certify the budget to the board of supervisors. The board may approve or reduce the budget for valid reasons shown and entered of record and the board’s decision is final.
   Sec. 10.  Section 99G.39, subsection 3, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   3.  Two million five hundred thousand dollars in lottery revenues shall be transferred each fiscal year to the veterans trust fund established pursuant to section 35A.13 prior to deposit of the lottery revenues in the general fund pursuant to section 99G.40. However, if the balance of the veterans trust fund is fifty million dollars or more, the moneys shall be appropriated to the department for distribution to county directors of veteran affairs, with fifty percent of the moneys to be distributed equally to each county and fifty percent of the moneys to be distributed to each county based upon the population of veterans in the county, so long as the moneys distributed to a county do not supplant moneys appropriated by that county for the county director of veteran affairs.
   Sec. 11.  DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS —— APPROPRIATION.  There is appropriated from the veterans trust fund created in section 35A.13 to the department of veterans affairs for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026, and ending June 30, 2027, the following amount, or so much thereof as is necessary, to be used for the purposes designated:
   For implementing section 35A.5, subsections 16A and 16B, as enacted by this Act:
   ...................................................................... $    300,000>

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RINKER of Des Moines