House File 655 - Introduced



                                       HOUSE FILE       
                                       BY  MAY


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

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act concerning members of out=of=state national guard units
  2    who reside in Iowa.
  3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
  4 TLSB 2655HH 83
  5 ec/sc/5

PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 35.1, subsection 2, paragraph b,
  1  2 subparagraph (2), Code 2009, is amended by adding the
  1  3 following new unnumbered paragraph:
  1  4    NEW UNNUMBERED PARAGRAPH.  Residents of this state who are
  1  5 former members of the national guard who served at least
  1  6 twenty years in the national guard and who were discharged
  1  7 under honorable conditions.  However, a resident of this state
  1  8 who was a member of the national guard and was activated for
  1  9 federal duty, other than training, for a minimum aggregate of
  1 10 ninety days, and who was discharged under honorable conditions
  1 11 or was retired under Title X of the United States Code shall
  1 12 be included as a veteran.
  1 13    Sec. 2.  Section 35.1, subsection 2, paragraph b,
  1 14 subparagraph (7), Code 2009, is amended by adding the
  1 15 following new unnumbered paragraph:
  1 16    NEW UNNUMBERED PARAGRAPH.  Residents of this state who are
  1 17 members of the national guard who have served at least twenty
  1 18 years in the national guard and who continue to serve in the
  1 19 national guard.
  1 20    Sec. 3.  Section 260C.14, subsection 20, unnumbered
  1 21 paragraph 1, Code 2009, is amended to read as follows:
  1 22    Adopt a policy to offer not less than the following options
  1 23 to a student who is a member of the Iowa national guard or
  1 24 reserve forces of the United States and who is ordered to
  1 25 state military service or federal service or duty:
  1 26    Sec. 4.  Section 261.9, subsection 1, paragraph g,
  1 27 unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2009, is amended to read as
  1 28 follows:
  1 29    Adopts a policy to offer not less than the following
  1 30 options to a student who is a member of the Iowa national
  1 31 guard or reserve forces of the United States and who is
  1 32 ordered to state military service or federal service or duty:
  1 33    Sec. 5.  Section 261.86, subsection 1, unnumbered paragraph
  1 34 1, Code 2009, is amended to read as follows:
  1 35    A national guard educational assistance program is
  2  1 established to be administered by the college student aid
  2  2 commission for members of the Iowa national guard who are
  2  3 enrolled as undergraduate students in a community college, an
  2  4 institution of higher learning under the state board of
  2  5 regents, or an accredited private institution.  The college
  2  6 student aid commission shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter
  2  7 17A to administer this section.  An individual is eligible for
  2  8 the national guard educational assistance program if the
  2  9 individual meets all of the following conditions:
  2 10    Sec. 6.  Section 261.86, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code
  2 11 2009, is amended to read as follows:
  2 12    a.  Is a resident of the state and a member of an Iowa army
  2 13 or air national guard unit while receiving educational
  2 14 assistance pursuant to this section.
  2 15    Sec. 7.  Section 262.9, subsection 29, unnumbered paragraph
  2 16 1, Code 2009, is amended to read as follows:
  2 17    Direct the institutions of higher education under its
  2 18 control to adopt a policy to offer not less than the following
  2 19 options to a student who is a member of the Iowa national
  2 20 guard or reserve forces of the United States and who is
  2 21 ordered to state military service or federal service or duty:
  2 22    Sec. 8.  Section 422.7, subsection 38, Code 2009, is
  2 23 amended to read as follows:
  2 24    38.  Subtract, to the extent not otherwise excluded, the
  2 25 amount of withdrawals from qualified retirement plan accounts
  2 26 made during the tax year if the taxpayer or taxpayer's spouse
  2 27 is a member of the Iowa national guard or reserve forces of
  2 28 the United States who is ordered to state military service or
  2 29 federal service or duty.  In addition, a penalty for such
  2 30 withdrawals shall not be assessed by the state.
  2 31    Sec. 9.  IMPLEMENTATION OF ACT.  Section 25B.2, subsection
  2 32 3, shall not apply to this Act.
  2 33                           EXPLANATION
  2 34    This bill concerns the requirement in several provisions of
  2 35 the Code that a person be a member of the Iowa national guard
  3  1 to be eligible for certain benefits.  The bill provides that
  3  2 eligibility for these benefits applies regardless of where the
  3  3 member's national guard unit is located.
  3  4    Code section 35.1, concerning the definition of veteran, is
  3  5 amended to reflect the expanded definition of a member of the
  3  6 national guard so long as the person is a resident of Iowa.
  3  7 The definition of veteran in Code section 35.1 applies to
  3  8 several provisions of the Code, including provisions
  3  9 concerning veterans' preference in employment, membership on
  3 10 the county commission of veteran affairs, indigent burial
  3 11 expenses and support, grave markers, hepatitis C awareness
  3 12 program, and property tax exemptions.
  3 13    Code section 260C.14(20), concerning community colleges,
  3 14 Code section 261.9(1), concerning private institutions of
  3 15 higher learning, and Code section 262.9(29), concerning board
  3 16 of regents institutions, are amended to apply the expanded
  3 17 definition of a member of the national guard to policies and
  3 18 options required to be offered to students called to military
  3 19 service.
  3 20    Code section 261.86, concerning the national guard
  3 21 educational assistance program, is also amended to reflect the
  3 22 expanded definition of a member of the national guard.
  3 23    Code section 422.7(38), concerning the determination of net
  3 24 income for purposes of income taxation, is amended to reflect
  3 25 the expanded definition of a member of the national guard
  3 26 relative to withdrawals from certain qualified retirement plan
  3 27 accounts if the taxpayer or taxpayer's spouse is a member of
  3 28 the national guard.
  3 29    The bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code
  3 30 section 25B.3.  The bill makes inapplicable Code section
  3 31 25B.2, subsection 3, which would relieve a political
  3 32 subdivision from complying with a state mandate if funding for
  3 33 the cost of the state mandate is not provided or specified.
  3 34 Therefore, political subdivisions are required to comply with
  3 35 any state mandate included in the bill.
  4  1 LSB 2655HH 83
  4  2 ec/sc/5.1