Senate File 2027 - Introduced SENATE FILE 2027 BY JOCHUM A BILL FOR An Act relating to driver’s licenses marked to reflect veteran 1 status for members of the reserve forces of the United 2 States and the Iowa national guard. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 5139XS (2) 87 ns/rh

S.F. 2027 Section 1. Section 321.189, subsection 8, Code 2018, is 1 amended to read as follows: 2 8. Veterans status. A licensee who is an honorably 3 discharged veteran of the armed forces of the United States may 4 request that the license be marked to reflect the licensee’s 5 veteran status. Upon such a request, the word “VETERAN” shall 6 be marked prominently on the face of the license. Such a 7 license shall be issued upon receipt of satisfactory proof 8 of veteran status pursuant to procedures established by the 9 department in consultation with the department of veterans 10 affairs, or upon presentation of the licensee’s certification 11 of release or discharge from active duty, DD form 214, to 12 the department at the time of the licensee’s request, if the 13 form indicates the licensee was honorably discharged. If 14 the license is issued upon presentation of the licensee’s 15 certification of release or discharge from active duty, 16 DD form 214, the department shall notify the commission of 17 veteran affairs of the county of the licensee’s residence 18 that the licensee was issued a license marked to reflect the 19 licensee’s veteran status. After receiving notification 20 from the department, the commission of veteran affairs shall 21 initiate contact with the licensee. For purposes of this 22 subsection, “veteran” means as defined in section 35.1 but shall 23 also include any member of the reserve forces of the United 24 States discharged under honorable conditions and any member of 25 the Iowa national guard discharged under honorable conditions 26 regardless of the aggregate number of days of federal active 27 duty served by the member and regardless of whether the member 28 was activated for federal duty. 29 EXPLANATION 30 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 31 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 32 Under current law, a person who is an honorably discharged 33 veteran of the armed forces of the United States may request 34 that the person’s driver’s license be marked to reflect the 35 -1- LSB 5139XS (2) 87 ns/rh 1/ 2

S.F. 2027 person’s veteran status. Such a license is required to be 1 issued upon receipt of satisfactory proof of veteran status 2 pursuant to procedures established by the department of 3 transportation (DOT) in consultation with the department of 4 veterans affairs (DVA), or upon presentation of the person’s 5 certification of release or discharge from active duty, DD form 6 214, to the DOT. The procedures established by the DOT (761 7 IAC 605.2) require a person who was a member of the national 8 guard or reserve forces and who applies directly to the DOT 9 to present a DD form 214 which indicates that the person was 10 honorably discharged after serving for at least a minimum 11 aggregate of 90 days of active duty service for purposes other 12 than training. A person who was a member of the national 13 guard or reserve forces and who has a discharge document other 14 than a DD form 214 must have the person’s eligibility for a 15 veteran designation determined by a designee of the Iowa DVA 16 and is required to apply to the DVA for a veteran designation 17 by submitting form 432035. Form 432035 requires the person 18 to meet the definition of “veteran” set forth in Code section 19 35.1. Code section 35.1 defines “veteran” to mean, in part, a 20 member of the reserve forces of the United States who completed 21 a minimum aggregate of 90 days of federal active duty other 22 than training and was discharged under honorable conditions, 23 and a member of the Iowa national guard who was activated for 24 federal duty other than training for a minimum aggregate of 90 25 days and was discharged under honorable conditions. 26 This bill provides that for purposes of a driver’s license 27 marked to reflect veteran status, “veteran” means as defined 28 in Code section 35.1 but also includes any member of the 29 reserve forces of the United States discharged under honorable 30 conditions and any member of the Iowa national guard discharged 31 under honorable conditions regardless of the aggregate number 32 of days of federal active duty served by the member and 33 regardless of whether the member was activated for federal 34 duty. 35 -2- LSB 5139XS (2) 87 ns/rh 2/ 2