S.F. 2282 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 35.4 Power of attorney. 1 The provisions of this chapter and chapters 35A, 35B, 2 35C, and 35D do not limit the ability of a veterans’ service 3 organization recognized pursuant to 38 C.F.R. §14.628(c) to 4 represent a veteran in the United States department of veterans 5 affairs benefit claims process or to be granted the power of 6 attorney for a veteran with the United States department of 7 veterans affairs. A veteran may grant a veterans’ service 8 organization that is recognized pursuant to 38 C.F.R. 9 §14.628(c) power of attorney for the purposes of filing claims 10 with the United States department of veterans affairs. 11 Sec. 2. Section 35A.5, subsection 6, paragraph b, 12 subparagraph (2), Code 2026, is amended to read as follows: 13 (2) All funds moneys received by the department for the 14 purposes established in subparagraph (1) shall be deposited 15 in the county commission of veteran affairs training veterans 16 services excellence training program and administration account 17 established in section 35A.16, subsection 4 . 18 Sec. 3. Section 35A.5, subsection 9, Code 2026, is amended 19 to read as follows: 20 9. Verify each executive director and administrator of a 21 county commission of veteran affairs is fully qualified to work 22 in the person’s position. Qualifications include but are not 23 limited to has all of the following credentials : 24 a. The person has obtained certification that is federally 25 required for the executive director’s or administrator’s 26 position within twelve months of beginning the person’s 27 employment. 28 b. The person has obtained a personal identification 29 verification card necessary to access the veterans benefits 30 management system within twelve months of beginning the 31 person’s employment. 32 c. The person maintains certification that is federally 33 required for the executive director’s or administrator’s 34 position. 35 -1- LSB 5189SV (3) 91 sc/ns 1/ 7

S.F. 2282 d. The person maintains an active personal identification 1 verification card and has access to the veterans benefits 2 management system. 3 e. The person is proficient in the use of electronic 4 mail, general computer use, and use of the internet to access 5 information regarding facilities, benefits, and services 6 available to veterans and their families in compliance with 7 education and training standards established by the commandant . 8 Sec. 4. Section 35A.5, Code 2026, is amended by adding the 9 following new subsections: 10 NEW SUBSECTION . 16A. Establish and maintain a statewide 11 standardized electronic claim system to be used by county 12 veterans service offices for submission of all United States 13 department of veterans affairs claims. 14 NEW SUBSECTION . 16B. Communicate county veterans service 15 office performance metrics to county commissions of veteran 16 affairs and boards of supervisors through quarterly reports. 17 Sec. 5. Section 35A.13, subsection 5, paragraph e, Code 18 2026, is amended to read as follows: 19 e. Notwithstanding paragraphs “a” , “b” , and “c” , moneys 20 transferred under subsection 6 to the county commission of 21 veteran affairs training veterans services excellence training 22 program and administration account shall be expended as 23 provided in section 35A.16 . 24 Sec. 6. Section 35A.13, subsection 6, Code 2026, is amended 25 to read as follows: 26 6. For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024 2026 , and 27 for each subsequent fiscal year, there is transferred to the 28 county commission of veteran affairs training veterans services 29 excellence training program and administration account of 30 the county commissions of veteran affairs veterans services 31 excellence fund created in section 35A.16 , from the moneys 32 transferred pursuant to section 99G.39 from the lottery fund to 33 the veterans trust fund, three hundred thousand dollars. 34 Sec. 7. Section 35A.16, Code 2026, is amended to read as 35 -2- LSB 5189SV (3) 91 sc/ns 2/ 7

S.F. 2282 follows: 1 35A.16 County commissions of veteran affairs veterans 2 services excellence fund —— appropriation. 3 1. a. A county commissions of veteran affairs veterans 4 services excellence fund is created within the state treasury 5 under the control of the department. The fund shall consist of 6 appropriations made to the fund and any other moneys available 7 to and obtained or accepted by the department from the federal 8 government or private sources for deposit in the fund. Moneys 9 in the fund are appropriated to the department to be used to 10 incentivize counties to effectively increase veteran outreach 11 and efficiency in the application for individual federal 12 veteran compensation. 13 b. There is appropriated from the general fund of the state 14 to the department, for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2009 15 2026 , and for each subsequent fiscal year, the sum of nine 16 hundred ninety thousand dollars to be credited to the county 17 commissions of veteran affairs veterans services excellence 18 fund. 19 2. Notwithstanding section 12C.7 , interest or earnings on 20 moneys in the county commissions of veteran affairs fund shall 21 be credited to the county commissions of veteran affairs fund. 22 Notwithstanding section 8.33 , moneys remaining in the county 23 commissions of veteran affairs fund at the end of a fiscal year 24 shall not revert to the general fund of the state . 25 3. a. If sufficient moneys are available, the department 26 shall annually allocate ten thousand dollars make allocations 27 from the fund to each county commission of veteran affairs, or 28 to each county sharing the services of an executive director 29 or administrator pursuant to chapter 28E , to . For the fiscal 30 year beginning July 1, 2026, the department shall allocate 31 moneys equally to each qualifying county. For the fiscal year 32 beginning July 1, 2027, and each subsequent fiscal year, the 33 department shall allocate moneys based on performance criteria 34 determined by the department. The moneys shall be used to 35 -3- LSB 5189SV (3) 91 sc/ns 3/ 7

S.F. 2282 provide services to veterans pursuant to section 35B.6 and 1 provide for and maintain accreditation in accordance with 2 the policies and procedures of the department and the United 3 States department of veterans affairs. Each county receiving 4 an allocation shall annually report on expenditure of the 5 allocation in on a form agreed to provided by the department 6 and county representatives . 7 b. If a county fails to be in compliance with the 8 requirements of section 35B.6 on June 30 of each fiscal year, 9 all moneys received by the county pursuant to this subsection 10 during that fiscal year shall be reimbursed to the county 11 commissions of veteran affairs fund. 12 c. Moneys distributed to a county under this subsection 13 shall be used to supplement and not supplant any existing 14 funding provided by the county or received by the county from 15 any other source. The department shall adopt a maintenance 16 of effort requirement for moneys distributed under this 17 subsection . 18 4. A county commission of veteran affairs veterans services 19 excellence training program and administration account shall 20 be is established within the county commissions of veteran 21 affairs fund. Any moneys remaining in the fund after the 22 allocations under subsection 3 shall be credited to the account 23 and are appropriated to the department to fund the county 24 commission of veteran affairs training program under section 25 35A.5, subsection 6 , and training for department personnel. 26 In addition, from the moneys transferred to the account 27 from the veterans trust fund created in section 35A.13 , the 28 department shall annually allocate three thousand dollars to 29 each county commission of veteran affairs, or to each county 30 sharing the services of an executive director or administrator 31 pursuant to chapter 28E , to be used for national training 32 and related expenses of county veteran service officers and 33 appropriate staff. Moneys in the account are appropriated 34 to the department to provide training and support for county 35 -4- LSB 5189SV (3) 91 sc/ns 4/ 7

S.F. 2282 commissions of veteran affairs, including but not limited to 1 a statewide standardized electronic claim system for county 2 submissions of claims to the United States department of 3 veterans affairs and education and training for county veterans 4 service officers. 5 Sec. 8. Section 35B.6, subsection 1, paragraph d, Code 2026, 6 is amended by adding the following new subparagraph: 7 NEW SUBPARAGRAPH . (4) Utilize the statewide standardized 8 electronic claim system authorized and provided by the 9 department of veterans affairs to file all claims for United 10 States department of veterans affairs benefits. 11 Sec. 9. Section 35B.7, Code 2026, is amended to read as 12 follows: 13 35B.7 Meetings —— report —— budget. 14 The commission shall meet monthly and at other times as 15 necessary. At the monthly meeting , the commission shall 16 determine who are is entitled to county benefits and the 17 probable amount required to be expended. The commission shall 18 also review quarterly performance reports generated by the 19 department of veterans affairs to assess the effectiveness 20 of delivery of federal benefits. The commission shall meet 21 annually to prepare an estimated budget for all expenditures 22 to be made in the next fiscal year and certify the budget to 23 the board of supervisors. The board may approve or reduce the 24 budget for valid reasons shown and entered of record and the 25 board’s decision is final. 26 Sec. 10. Section 99G.39, subsection 3, Code 2026, is amended 27 to read as follows: 28 3. Two million five hundred thousand dollars in lottery 29 revenues shall be transferred each fiscal year to the veterans 30 trust fund established pursuant to section 35A.13 prior to 31 deposit of the lottery revenues in the general fund of the 32 state pursuant to section 99G.40 . However, if the balance 33 of the veterans trust fund is fifty million dollars or more, 34 the moneys shall be are appropriated to the department of 35 -5- LSB 5189SV (3) 91 sc/ns 5/ 7

S.F. 2282 veterans affairs for distribution , with the first three hundred 1 thousand dollars transferred to the county veterans services 2 excellence training program and administration account created 3 in section 35A.16, and the remainder allocated to county 4 directors of veteran affairs , with fifty percent of the moneys 5 to be distributed equally to each county and fifty percent of 6 the moneys to be distributed to each county based upon the 7 population of veterans in the county, so long as the moneys 8 distributed to a county do not supplant moneys appropriated by 9 that county for the county director of veteran affairs. 10 EXPLANATION 11 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 12 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 13 This bill provides that the provisions of Code chapters 35, 14 35A, 35B, 35C, and 35D do not limit the ability of a veterans’ 15 service organization to represent a veteran in the United 16 States department of veterans affairs benefit claims process 17 or to be granted power of attorney by a veteran for those 18 purposes. 19 The bill replaces the county commissions of veteran 20 affairs fund and training program account with the county 21 veterans services excellence fund and training program and 22 administration account. Moneys in the fund are appropriated 23 to the department of veterans affairs (IDVA) to be used to 24 incentivize counties to effectively increase veteran outreach 25 and efficiency in the application for individual federal 26 veteran compensation. 27 Under current law, IDVA annually allocates $10,000 from the 28 fund to each county commission of veteran affairs (CCVA) or to 29 each county sharing the services of an executive director or 30 administrator, and each county must report on the expenditure 31 of its allocation in a form agreed to by IDVA and the county 32 representatives. The bill strikes the specified allocation 33 amount. The bill provides that for FY 2026-2027, each county 34 shall receive an equal amount of moneys from the fund. For 35 -6- LSB 5189SV (3) 91 sc/ns 6/ 7

S.F. 2282 subsequent fiscal years, allocations shall be based on 1 performance criteria established by IDVA. 2 The bill requires the veterans services excellence training 3 program and administration account to fund training and support 4 for CCVAs and strikes provisions that credit remaining moneys 5 in the fund to the account and that allocate $3,000 to each 6 CCVA or each county sharing the services of an executive 7 director or administrator for training expenses. 8 The bill requires IDVA to verify that each executive 9 director and administrator of a CCVA be in compliance with 10 education and training standards established by the commandant 11 and removes the requirement to verify they are proficient in 12 general computer use. 13 The bill requires IDVA to create a statewide standardized 14 electronic claim system through which county veterans service 15 offices must submit all United States department of veterans 16 affairs claims and requires IDVA to communicate county veterans 17 service office performance metrics to CCVAs and boards of 18 supervisors. A CCVA must review the quarterly performance 19 report generated by IDVA. 20 Under current law, when the balance of the veterans 21 trust fund is $50 million or more, lottery revenues that 22 would otherwise be deposited in the veterans trust fund is 23 distributed to county directors of veteran affairs. The bill 24 provides that the first $300,000 of these moneys is transferred 25 to the county veterans services excellence training program and 26 administration account. 27 -7- LSB 5189SV (3) 91 sc/ns 7/ 7