Des Moines, Iowa (RI) — Governor Kim Reynolds’ bill to restructure funding for county veterans services has cleared one committee in the Iowa Senate and is ready for debate in another.
Each Iowa county currently gets $10,000 to pay a veterans service officer. The governor says only a third of Iowa’s nearly 180,000 veterans are signed up for the benefits they earned, and her alternative ties funding to the county’s performance in signing veterans up for benefits.
Dan Gannon with Disabled American Veterans says he supports the bill because Iowa can do much better at connecting veterans with the compensation they deserve.
Michael Mortensen is legislative liaison for the Iowa Association of County Veterans Services. He says most counties are opposed to the bill because one-third of them would lose funding based on what he says is inaccurate data.
Mortensen says they’d support incentives created with new funding.
Winnebago County Veterans Affairs Director Mary Lou Kleveland says the governor’s plan does not recognize that not all veterans qualify for a pension or disability compensation.
Kleveland also says veterans must have at least 90 days of active‑duty service to qualify for a pension.
The plan Governor Reynolds unveiled in her proposal in January would see the top third of counties with a high percentage of veterans who are signed up for VA compensation get $15,000 annually from the state for veterans service officers. The bottom third would get $5,000 and the middle third would get $10,000 annually if more of the county’s veterans are signed up for VA benefits.
KIWA Staff Photo
