House File 2390 - Introduced



                                       HOUSE FILE       
                                       BY  DANDEKAR, STRUYK, HUSER,
                                           and KAUFMANN


    Passed House, Date                Passed Senate,  Date            
    Vote:  Ayes        Nays           Vote:  Ayes        Nays         
                 Approved                            

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act creating a veterans appreciation program to award hardship
  2    grants on behalf of veterans seriously injured in a combat
  3    zone, providing an income tax exclusion, and including an
  4    effective date and retroactive applicability provision.
  5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
  6 TLSB 6075HH 81
  7 ec/je/5

PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  NEW SECTION.  35A.14  VETERANS APPRECIATION
  1  2 PROGRAM == GRANTS.
  1  3    1.  For the purposes of this section, "veteran" means a
  1  4 resident of this state who is or was a member of the national
  1  5 guard, reserve, or regular component of the armed forces of
  1  6 the United States who has served at least ninety days of
  1  7 active duty at any time after September 11, 2001, and, if
  1  8 discharged, was discharged under honorable conditions.
  1  9    2.  A veterans appreciation program is created under the
  1 10 control of the department for the purpose of providing
  1 11 hardship grants to eligible veterans.
  1 12    3.  Moneys appropriated to the department for providing
  1 13 veterans appreciation grants under this section may be
  1 14 expended for one=time hardship grants of up to ten thousand
  1 15 dollars to a seriously injured veteran who received a combat=
  1 16 related injury while serving in a combat zone or in a zone
  1 17 where the veteran was receiving hazardous duty pay since
  1 18 September 11, 2001.
  1 19    4.  The commission shall adopt rules governing the
  1 20 distribution of hardship grants under this section.
  1 21    Sec. 2.  Section 422.7, Code Supplement 2005, is amended by
  1 22 adding the following new subsection:
  1 23    NEW SUBSECTION.  45.  Subtract, to the extent included, the
  1 24 amount of any grant provided pursuant to the veterans
  1 25 appreciation program pursuant to section 35A.14.
  1 26    Sec. 3.  EFFECTIVE DATE == RETROACTIVE APPLICABILITY.
  1 27    1.  The section of this Act creating section 35A.14, being
  1 28 deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment
  1 29 and is retroactively applicable to veterans seriously injured
  1 30 after September 11, 2001, and is applicable on and after that
  1 31 date.
  1 32    2.  The section of this Act amending section 422.7, being
  1 33 deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment
  1 34 and is retroactively applicable to January 1, 2006, and is
  1 35 applicable for tax years beginning on and after that date.
  2  1                           EXPLANATION
  2  2    This bill establishes a veterans appreciation program under
  2  3 the control of the department of veterans affairs.
  2  4    New Code section 35A.14 establishes the veterans
  2  5 appreciation program.  Moneys appropriated to the department
  2  6 for this program may be expended by the department of veterans
  2  7 affairs for one=time hardship grants of up to $10,000 for
  2  8 seriously injured veterans sustaining a combat=related injury
  2  9 while serving in a combat zone or hazardous duty pay zone
  2 10 since September 11, 2001.  The bill also requires that the
  2 11 commission of veterans affairs adopt rules governing the
  2 12 distribution of these grants.  The new section takes effect
  2 13 upon enactment and applies retroactively to veterans seriously
  2 14 injured after September 11, 2001.
  2 15    The bill also amends Code section 422.7 to provide that
  2 16 grants received under this program are subtracted from net
  2 17 income for purposes of taxation.  This provision takes effect
  2 18 upon enactment and is applicable to tax years beginning on or
  2 19 after January 1, 2006.
  2 20 LSB 6075HH 81
  2 21 ec:rj/je/5