Iowa Veterans Trust Fund

This is the fund a county veterans service officer reaches for when a veteran has a specific bill and no other source for it. It is discretionary, it is decided by a vote of the state commission, and the list of what it can pay for is closed. The fifteen purposes, from section 35A.13, subsection 8. Money "may be expended upon a majority vote of the commission membership for the benefit of veterans and the spouses and dependents of veterans" for: Travel expenses for wounded veterans, and their spouses, directly related to follow-up medical care. Job training or college tuition assistance for job retraining. Unemployment assistance during a period of unemployment due to prolonged physical or mental illness or disability resulting from military service. Durable medical equipment or services to allow veterans to remain in their homes. Hearing care, dental care, vision care, or prescription drugs. Individual or family counselling. Family support group programs or programs for children of members of the military. Honor guard services. Ambulance and emergency room services for veterans who are trauma patients. Emergency expenses related to vehicle repair, housing repair, or temporary housing assistance. Expenses related to establishing whether a minor child is a dependent of a deceased veteran. Initial screening for a military service-connected traumatic brain injury. Survivor outreach activities supported by the department of public defense. Rental application fees for veterans who meet the federal definition of homeless in 42 U.S.C. section 11302. And "monetary assistance on a one-time basis per recipient to be used to prevent homelessness in an amount not to exceed one thousand dollars per recipient." Two figures in that list are the only hard numbers the statute gives. Homelessness prevention is capped at $1,000, once ever per recipient. And the traumatic brain injury screening purpose carries its own sentence: "A veteran seeking moneys for expenses pursuant to this paragraph 'l' shall not be subject to an income limit." That is the only purpose with an express income exemption, which implies the department applies an income test to the others; the current test is in the department's rules at 801 Iowa Administrative Code chapter 14 rather than in the statute, so ask the county office for the figure in force. Note what the brain injury paragraph covers and does not. It is "initial screening", for an injury sustained on federal active duty, state active duty, national guard duty as defined in section 29A.1, or federal reserve duty under Title 10 orders, and only where "payment or reimbursement is not otherwise available through any other federal or state program or, if applicable, through a veteran's private insurance or managed care organization." It is a payer of last resort for the screening, not for the treatment. The department's own description is narrower than the statute. The Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs website lists seven things the fund helps with: unemployment assistance due to service-related causes; vision, hearing, dental care and durable medical equipment; prescription drugs; counselling and substance abuse services; vehicle repairs; housing repairs; and transitional housing in an emergency. Travel expenses for follow-up medical care, job retraining tuition, family support programs, honor guard services, ambulance and emergency room expenses, dependency determinations, brain injury screening, and the homelessness prevention payment are all in the statute and not in that list. If a county office says a category is not covered, the statute is the place to check. How it is funded, and a conflict worth knowing about. Section 99G.39, subsection 3 transfers $2,500,000 in lottery revenues to the trust fund each fiscal year, before lottery money reaches the general fund. But section 35A.13, subsection 5 then controls how much of the fund is spendable, and it switches at a $50,000,000 balance: While the July 1 balance is below $50 million, what is appropriated for spending is "the interest and earnings on moneys in the fund and the first five hundred thousand dollars transferred pursuant to section 99G.39". So $2.5 million goes in and, at most, $500,000 plus investment income comes out. Once the balance is above $50 million, paragraphs "b" and "c" of subsection 5 appropriate the lottery transfer, or an amount equal to the previous year's net income, to the commission for the same purposes. Section 99G.39, subsection 3 describes a different destination at the same trigger: "if the balance of the veterans trust fund is fifty million dollars or more, the moneys shall be appropriated to the department for distribution to county directors of veteran affairs, with fifty percent of the moneys to be distributed equally to each county and fifty percent of the moneys to be distributed to each county based upon the population of veterans in the county". So one section sends the money to the commission for veteran assistance above $50 million and the other sends it to the counties. This catalog records the tension rather than resolving it. The annual report the commission must submit to the general assembly by January 15 under subsection 11 is where the current balance is stated, and the balance decides which regime anyone is arguing about. $300,000 a year is carved out for county training. Subsection 6, for fiscal years beginning July 1, 2024 onwards, transfers $300,000 from the lottery money to the county commission of veteran affairs training program account in section 35A.16, which then allocates $3,000 to each county for national training of county veteran service officers. The fund is invested like a pension fund. Subsection 4 has the treasurer of state invest it, in consultation with the commission and the public retirement systems committee, in anything authorised for the Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System under section 97B.7A, "including common stock". Investment management expenses are charged against investment income. That is why interest and earnings are a meaningful part of what is spendable. Two things it cannot do. Subsection 8 opens: "Moneys appropriated to the commission under this section shall not be used to supplant funding provided by other sources." And subsection 3: money credited to the fund "shall not be transferred, used, obligated, appropriated, or otherwise encumbered, except as provided in this section." The fund cannot be raided and cannot be used to replace a county appropriation. Adding a purpose takes the legislature. Subsection 10: if the commission identifies other purposes, it "shall submit recommendations for the addition of such purposes to the general assembly for review". The commission cannot expand the list itself. Two of the fifteen purposes have an Iowa income tax subtraction and thirteen do not. Section 422.7, subsection 32 subtracts trust fund money received for travel expenses and for unemployment assistance only. See the Iowa military income tax entry. Where consumer fraud penalties go. Section 546B.5 sends any civil penalty recovered for a violation of the veterans benefits assistance chapter into this fund. How to apply. Through the county commission of veteran affairs. The department's instruction is "Your County VSO can help you apply for IVTF Assistance", and county office help is free by statute. The commission votes on expenditures; the rules are 801 Iowa Administrative Code chapter 14, which carries a rescission date of January 1, 2028 under Iowa Code section 17A.7.