South Dakota / State / 2024 Session

Ch. 125, L. 2024 (House Bill 1008) Repealed the residency requirement and the income cap for admission to the State Veterans Home

Catalog reconciledEnactedScope changed

Signed 2024-02-27

Rewrote 33A-4-25. The old text required an honorable discharge, a residence maintained in South Dakota at some time in the five years preceding application, and income no more than one thousand dollars a year above the maximum income limitation for VA pension benefits. The new text asks only that the applicant be a veteran as defined by 33A-2-1 and be eligible for the payment of per diem for domiciliary or nursing home care in a state home, and turns residency into an admission preference alongside a preference for members of federally recognised tribes located wholly or partly in the state. Tracked because the income cap in particular is still published in guidance and is the reason a veteran with a pension reads the program as closed to them. The spouse income condition in 33A-4-26 and the one-year state residency requirement for a surviving spouse in 33A-4-27 were not repealed and still apply.