House File 2701 - Introduced
HOUSE FILE
BY COMMITTEE ON VETERANS
AFFAIRS
(SUCCESSOR TO HSB 675)
Passed House, Date Passed Senate, Date
Vote: Ayes Nays Vote: Ayes Nays
Approved
A BILL FOR
1 An Act providing hardship grants on behalf of veterans seriously
2 injured in a combat zone, providing an income tax exclusion,
3 and including an effective date and retroactive applicability
4 provision.
5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
6 TLSB 5781HV 81
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PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. NEW SECTION. 35A.14 VETERANS APPRECIATION
1 2 PROGRAM == TRUST FUND == 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 on active duty at any time
1 7 after September 11, 2001, and, if discharged, was discharged
1 8 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. To finance the program created by this section, a
1 13 veterans appreciation trust fund is created in the state
1 14 treasury under the control of the department. Moneys credited
1 15 to the trust fund shall not be transferred, used, obligated,
1 16 appropriated, or otherwise encumbered, except as provided in
1 17 this section. Moneys in the trust fund may be used for cash
1 18 flow purposes during a fiscal year provided that any moneys so
1 19 allocated are returned to the trust fund by the end of that
1 20 fiscal year.
1 21 4. The trust fund shall consist of all of the following:
1 22 a. Moneys in the form of a devise, gift, bequest,
1 23 donation, federal or other grant, reimbursement, repayment,
1 24 judgment, transfer, payment, or appropriation from any source
1 25 intended to be used for the purposes of the trust fund.
1 26 b. Interest attributable to investment of moneys in the
1 27 fund or an account of the trust fund. Notwithstanding section
1 28 12C.7, subsection 2, interest or earnings on moneys in the
1 29 trust fund shall be credited to the trust fund.
1 30 5. Moneys credited to the trust fund for providing
1 31 veterans appreciation grants under this section may be
1 32 expended by the department for one=time hardship grants of up
1 33 to ten thousand dollars to a seriously injured veteran who
1 34 received a combat=related injury while serving in a combat
1 35 zone or in a zone where the veteran was receiving hazardous
2 1 duty pay since September 11, 2001.
2 2 6. The commission shall adopt rules governing the
2 3 distribution of hardship grants under this section.
2 4 Sec. 2. Section 422.7, Code Supplement 2005, is amended by
2 5 adding the following new subsection:
2 6 NEW SUBSECTION. 45. Subtract, to the extent included, the
2 7 amount of any grant provided pursuant to the veterans
2 8 appreciation program pursuant to section 35A.14.
2 9 Sec. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE == RETROACTIVE APPLICABILITY.
2 10 1. The section of this Act creating section 35A.14, being
2 11 deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment
2 12 and is retroactively applicable to veterans seriously injured
2 13 after September 11, 2001, and is applicable on and after that
2 14 date.
2 15 2. The section of this Act amending section 422.7, being
2 16 deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment
2 17 and is retroactively applicable to January 1, 2006, and is
2 18 applicable for tax years beginning on and after that date.
2 19 EXPLANATION
2 20 This bill establishes a veterans appreciation program under
2 21 the control of the department of veterans affairs.
2 22 New Code section 35A.14 establishes the veterans
2 23 appreciation program and trust fund. The fund receives any
2 24 appropriations and moneys provided for purposes of the fund,
2 25 and interest and earnings on the moneys credited to the fund.
2 26 Moneys in the fund are not subject to appropriation or
2 27 transfer except as provided by the bill. Moneys credited to
2 28 the trust fund for this program may be expended by the
2 29 department of veterans affairs for one=time hardship grants of
2 30 up to $10,000 for seriously injured veterans sustaining a
2 31 combat=related injury while serving in a combat zone or
2 32 hazardous duty pay zone since September 11, 2001. The bill
2 33 also requires that the commission of veterans affairs adopt
2 34 rules governing the distribution of these grants. The new
2 35 section takes effect upon enactment and applies retroactively
3 1 to veterans seriously injured after September 11, 2001.
3 2 The bill also amends Code section 422.7 to provide that
3 3 grants received under this program are subtracted from net
3 4 income for purposes of taxation. This provision takes effect
3 5 upon enactment and is applicable to tax years beginning on or
3 6 after January 1, 2006.
3 7 LSB 5781HV 81
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