S.F. _____ H.F. _____ Section 1. Section 35A.5, subsection 6, paragraph b, 1 subparagraph (2), Code 2026, is amended to read as follows: 2 (2) All funds moneys received by the department for the 3 purposes established in subparagraph (1) shall be deposited 4 in the county commission of veteran affairs training veterans 5 services excellence training program and administration account 6 established in section 35A.16, subsection 4 . 7 Sec. 2. Section 35A.5, subsection 9, Code 2026, is amended 8 to read as follows: 9 9. Verify each executive director and administrator of a 10 county commission of veteran affairs is fully qualified to work 11 in the person’s position. Qualifications include but are not 12 limited to has all of the following credentials : 13 a. The person has obtained certification that is federally 14 required for the executive director’s or administrator’s 15 position within twelve months of beginning the person’s 16 employment. 17 b. The person has obtained a personal identification 18 verification card necessary to access the veterans benefits 19 management system within twelve months of beginning the 20 person’s employment. 21 c. The person maintains certification that is federally 22 required for the executive director’s or administrator’s 23 position. 24 d. The person maintains an active personal identification 25 verification card and has access to the veterans benefits 26 management system. 27 e. The person is proficient in the use of electronic 28 mail, general computer use, and use of the internet to access 29 information regarding facilities, benefits, and services 30 available to veterans and their families in compliance with 31 education and training standards established by the commandant . 32 Sec. 3. Section 35A.5, Code 2026, is amended by adding the 33 following new subsections: 34 NEW SUBSECTION . 16A. Establish and maintain a statewide 35 -1- LSB 5189XL (5) 91 sc/ns 1/ 7

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ standardized electronic claim system to be used by county 1 veterans service offices for submission of all United States 2 department of veterans affairs claims. 3 NEW SUBSECTION . 16B. Communicate county veterans service 4 office performance metrics to county commissions of veteran 5 affairs and boards of supervisors through quarterly reports. 6 Sec. 4. Section 35A.13, subsection 5, paragraph e, Code 7 2026, is amended to read as follows: 8 e. Notwithstanding paragraphs “a” , “b” , and “c” , moneys 9 transferred under subsection 6 to the county commission of 10 veteran affairs training veterans services excellence training 11 program and administration account shall be expended as 12 provided in section 35A.16 . 13 Sec. 5. Section 35A.13, subsection 6, Code 2026, is amended 14 to read as follows: 15 6. For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024 2026 , and 16 for each subsequent fiscal year, there is transferred to the 17 county commission of veteran affairs training veterans services 18 excellence training program and administration account of 19 the county commissions of veteran affairs veterans services 20 excellence fund created in section 35A.16 , from the moneys 21 transferred pursuant to section 99G.39 from the lottery fund to 22 the veterans trust fund, three hundred thousand dollars. 23 Sec. 6. Section 35A.16, Code 2026, is amended to read as 24 follows: 25 35A.16 County commissions of veteran affairs veterans 26 services excellence fund —— appropriation. 27 1. a. A county commissions of veteran affairs veterans 28 services excellence fund is created within the state treasury 29 under the control of the department. The fund shall consist of 30 appropriations made to the fund and any other moneys available 31 to and obtained or accepted by the department from the federal 32 government or private sources for deposit in the fund. Moneys 33 in the fund are appropriated to the department to be used to 34 incentivize counties to effectively increase veteran outreach 35 -2- LSB 5189XL (5) 91 sc/ns 2/ 7

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ and efficiency in the application for individual federal 1 veteran compensation. 2 b. There is appropriated from the general fund of the state 3 to the department, for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2009 4 2026 , and for each subsequent fiscal year, the sum of nine 5 hundred ninety thousand dollars to be credited to the county 6 commissions of veteran affairs veterans services excellence 7 fund. 8 2. Notwithstanding section 12C.7 , interest or earnings on 9 moneys in the county commissions of veteran affairs fund shall 10 be credited to the county commissions of veteran affairs fund. 11 Notwithstanding section 8.33 , moneys remaining in the county 12 commissions of veteran affairs fund at the end of a fiscal year 13 shall not revert to the general fund of the state . 14 3. a. If sufficient moneys are available, the department 15 shall annually allocate ten thousand dollars make allocations 16 from the fund to each county commission of veteran affairs, or 17 to each county sharing the services of an executive director 18 or administrator pursuant to chapter 28E , to . For the fiscal 19 year beginning July 1, 2026, the department shall allocate 20 moneys equally to each qualifying county. For the fiscal year 21 beginning July 1, 2027, and each subsequent fiscal year, the 22 department shall allocate moneys based on performance criteria 23 determined by the department. The moneys shall be used to 24 provide services to veterans pursuant to section 35B.6 and 25 provide for and maintain accreditation in accordance with 26 the policies and procedures of the department and the United 27 States department of veterans affairs. Each county receiving 28 an allocation shall annually report on expenditure of the 29 allocation in on a form agreed to provided by the department 30 and county representatives . 31 b. If a county fails to be in compliance with the 32 requirements of section 35B.6 on June 30 of each fiscal year, 33 all moneys received by the county pursuant to this subsection 34 during that fiscal year shall be reimbursed to the county 35 -3- LSB 5189XL (5) 91 sc/ns 3/ 7

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ commissions of veteran affairs fund. 1 c. Moneys distributed to a county under this subsection 2 shall be used to supplement and not supplant any existing 3 funding provided by the county or received by the county from 4 any other source. The department shall adopt a maintenance 5 of effort requirement for moneys distributed under this 6 subsection . 7 4. A county commission of veteran affairs veterans services 8 excellence training program and administration account shall 9 be is established within the county commissions of veteran 10 affairs fund. Any moneys remaining in the fund after the 11 allocations under subsection 3 shall be credited to the account 12 and are appropriated to the department to fund the county 13 commission of veteran affairs training program under section 14 35A.5, subsection 6 , and training for department personnel. 15 In addition, from the moneys transferred to the account 16 from the veterans trust fund created in section 35A.13 , the 17 department shall annually allocate three thousand dollars to 18 each county commission of veteran affairs, or to each county 19 sharing the services of an executive director or administrator 20 pursuant to chapter 28E , to be used for national training 21 and related expenses of county veteran service officers and 22 appropriate staff. Moneys in the account are appropriated 23 to the department to provide training and support for county 24 commissions of veteran affairs, including but not limited to 25 a statewide standardized electronic claim system for county 26 submissions of claims to the United States department of 27 veterans affairs and education and training for county veterans 28 service officers. 29 Sec. 7. Section 35B.6, subsection 1, paragraph d, Code 2026, 30 is amended by adding the following new subparagraph: 31 NEW SUBPARAGRAPH . (4) Utilize the statewide standardized 32 electronic claim system authorized and provided by the 33 department of veterans affairs to file all claims for United 34 States department of veterans affairs benefits. 35 -4- LSB 5189XL (5) 91 sc/ns 4/ 7

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ Sec. 8. Section 35B.7, Code 2026, is amended to read as 1 follows: 2 35B.7 Meetings —— report —— budget. 3 The commission shall meet monthly and at other times as 4 necessary. At the monthly meeting , the commission shall 5 determine who are is entitled to county benefits and the 6 probable amount required to be expended. The commission shall 7 also review quarterly performance reports generated by the 8 department of veterans affairs to assess the effectiveness 9 of delivery of federal benefits. The commission shall meet 10 annually to prepare an estimated budget for all expenditures 11 to be made in the next fiscal year and certify the budget to 12 the board of supervisors. The board may approve or reduce the 13 budget for valid reasons shown and entered of record and the 14 board’s decision is final. 15 Sec. 9. Section 99G.39, subsection 3, Code 2026, is amended 16 to read as follows: 17 3. Two million five hundred thousand dollars in lottery 18 revenues shall be transferred each fiscal year to the veterans 19 trust fund established pursuant to section 35A.13 prior to 20 deposit of the lottery revenues in the general fund of the 21 state pursuant to section 99G.40 . However, if the balance 22 of the veterans trust fund is fifty million dollars or more, 23 the moneys shall be are appropriated to the department of 24 veterans affairs for distribution , with the first three hundred 25 thousand dollars transferred to the county veterans services 26 excellence training program and administration account created 27 in section 35A.16, and the remainder allocated to county 28 directors of veteran affairs , with fifty percent of the moneys 29 to be distributed equally to each county and fifty percent of 30 the moneys to be distributed to each county based upon the 31 population of veterans in the county, so long as the moneys 32 distributed to a county do not supplant moneys appropriated by 33 that county for the county director of veteran affairs. 34 EXPLANATION 35 -5- LSB 5189XL (5) 91 sc/ns 5/ 7

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 1 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 2 This bill replaces the county commissions of veteran 3 affairs fund and training program account with the county 4 veterans services excellence fund and training program and 5 administration account. Moneys in the fund are appropriated 6 to the department of veterans affairs (IDVA) to be used to 7 incentivize counties to effectively increase veteran outreach 8 and efficiency in the application for individual federal 9 veteran compensation. 10 Under current law, IDVA annually allocates $10,000 from the 11 fund to each county commission of veteran affairs (CCVA) or to 12 each county sharing the services of an executive director or 13 administrator, and each county must report on the expenditure 14 of its allocation in a form agreed to by IDVA and the county 15 representatives. The bill strikes the specified allocation 16 amount. The bill provides that for FY 2026-2027, each county 17 shall receive an equal amount of moneys from the fund. For 18 subsequent fiscal years, allocations shall be based on 19 performance criteria established by IDVA. 20 The bill requires the veterans services excellence training 21 program and administration account to fund training and support 22 for CCVAs and strikes provisions that credit remaining moneys 23 in the fund to the account and that allocate $3,000 to each 24 CCVA or each county sharing the services of an executive 25 director or administrator for training expenses. 26 The bill requires IDVA to verify that each executive 27 director and administrator of a CCVA be in compliance with 28 education and training standards established by the commandant 29 and removes the requirement to verify they are proficient in 30 general computer use. 31 The bill requires IDVA to create a statewide standardized 32 electronic claim system through which county veterans service 33 offices must submit all United States department of veterans 34 affairs claims and requires IDVA to communicate county veterans 35 -6- LSB 5189XL (5) 91 sc/ns 6/ 7

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ service office performance metrics to CCVAs and boards of 1 supervisors. A CCVA must review the quarterly performance 2 report generated by IDVA. 3 Under current law, when the balance of the veterans 4 trust fund is $50 million or more, lottery revenues that 5 would otherwise be deposited in the veterans trust fund is 6 distributed to county directors of veteran affairs. The bill 7 provides that the first $300,000 of these moneys is transferred 8 to the county veterans services excellence training program and 9 administration account. 10 -7- LSB 5189XL (5) 91 sc/ns 7/ 7