(The Center Square) – Iowa’s Administrative Rules Committee heard a proposal Tuesday on whether to change legibility requirements for the states Veterans Trust Fund.
The fund assists veterans with emergencies such as dental care, medical expenses, and home and car repairs. The state lottery provides $2.5 million annually to the trust fund. The program operates on the fund’s interest plus $500,000 from the Lottery Principle Fund approved by lawmakers, according to a report of the 2022 expenditures.
The income eligibility requirements were increased in 2021 from 200% of the federal poverty guidelines to 300% to help Iowans with expenses related to COVID-19 and a derecho that blew into the state in 2020. The changes led to an increased demand. During the calendar year 2022, the department approved 521 applications for $1.5 million.
But state officials shut the fund down in late 2022 after funding for the awards was depleted.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds allocated $440,000 in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act in January to cover the number of grants approved between March 2021 and November 2023.
The Department of Veterans Affairs recommends changing the income eligibility requirements to 200% of the federal poverty guidelines for the number of people living in the residence. The applicant can not have more than $15,000 in available liquid assets.
The rule change would reduce annual costs for the Department of Veterans Affairs by $500,000, according to the rule’s fiscal note.
“This is all oriented around trying to better manage funds and we all believe that, when I say we, all the commission of Veterans Affairs and our staff, believe that we will stll be able to address all emergency requirements,” said Todd Jacobus, executive director and commandant of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The change will affect about 30% of veterans, according to Mellissa Miller, who is in charge of the program.
Sen. Nate Boulton, D-Des Moines, said the change “seems like we are going in the wrong direction.” Lawmakers discussed increasing the draw from the Lottery Principle fund from $500,000 to $800,000, but the bill failed.
“It seems to be, to me, a pretty clear message of legislative intent that we should be doing more to support veterans and expanding the number of veterans served as opposed to reducing the number of eligible veterans,” Boulton said.
The rule will become official five days after a second publication in the Iowa Administrative Bulletin.
