Capitol Notebook: Reynolds highlights support, policy proposals to aid Iowa veterans

DES MOINES — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said she is proposing lawmakers change the definition of “veteran” in Iowa Code to align with federal code, and require mandatory County Veterans Service Offices to obtain Veteran Health Identification Cards “that gives them better access to federal benefits that Iowa veterans are entitled to.”

Reynolds delivered brief remarks Wednesday during Veterans Day on the Hill at the Iowa State Capitol, where Iowa veterans gather to meet with lawmakers and share issues of concern.

The governor also mentioned her proposal to create a newly aligned behavioral health system that includes both mental health and substance use disorder services. The proposal would dissolve Iowa’s 13 Mental Health and Disability Service areas and 19 Integrated Provider Network areas, replacing them with seven behavioral health regions.

“We know that many veterans carry invisible scars that never fully heal. And these heroic Iowans should never feel that they have nowhere to turn,” Reynolds said.

Veterans groups said they are also calling on lawmakers to provide additional property tax relief for disabled veterans, who would have their property tax offset by the percentage of their U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs disability compensation rating. They also support legislation to expand veterans treatment courts in Iowa for military veterans who have a criminal charge, but who may have substance abuse and/or mental health issues, and support proposals for partial grants to help maintain veteran service organizations in the state.

Reynolds noted she signed legislation last year that increased a property tax exemption for military veterans, replenished and increased investment to a state trust fund to clear a backlog of grants requested by Iowa veterans in need of financial assistance, and expanded eligibility for service members or veterans who were seriously injured in the line of duty in a hazardous area after Sept. 11, 2001, to receive state assistance.

“With each of these policies, I hope Iowa’s commitment to our veterans come through loud and clear. These patriots, who have given so much to us, deserve nothing less,” Reynolds said.

Advocates call for expanding summer food assistance

Advocates for food assistance programs called upon state lawmakers to pass legislation that would enroll Iowa in a federal program that expands summer food assistance for low-income children.

The Summer EBT program is fully funded by the federal government and jointly operated with the states. The program provides grocery-buying benefits to low-income families with school-aged children, with the goal of helping to feed low-income children who during the summer months are without at least one meal a day they would normally have at school. The program would have given $40 per child for each of the summer months to families who qualify for free and reduced lunch during the school year, and the state’s administrative costs would have been $2.2 million in the first year and $1.3 million annually in subsequent years.

The federal government recently gave states the option to opt into the program, and Iowa was one of 17 states — most of which have Republican governors — to decline. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds made the decision for Iowa, saying children would be better served by other food assistance programs that provide more nutritious food options for low-income children.

Speakers at a news conference in the Iowa Capitol on Wednesday pushed back at the notion that the Summer EBT program leads to unhealthy food consumption for low-income children.

“Summer EBT is a common sense, tried and tested, evidence-based policy for addressing childhood hunger during the summer. This should not be a partisan issue,” Luke Elzinga, policy and advocacy manager for the Des Moines Area Religious Council, said at the news conference.

Nearly 100 advocacy organizations signed a letter to lawmakers, encouraging them to pass legislation that would enroll Iowa in Summer EBT for 2025 and beyond.

Lawmakers advance judges' pension fix

Iowa judges’ contribution to their pension program would remain at a fixed rate under a bill lawmakers advanced on Wednesday.

The amount judges have to pay into the Judicial Retirement System was been set at a fixed contribution rate of 9.35 percent since 2010. Current law states the rate would become variable once the system was fully funded, which happened in 2022. Since 2023, that variable rate has made contribution rates higher for judges, a lobbyist for the Iowa Judicial Branch told lawmakers Wednesday.

Proposed by the Iowa Judicial Branch, the bill would set a judge’s contribution back to a fixed 9.35 percent of their salary, and set the state’s contribution rate to 30.6 percent.

Lawmakers advanced the bill out of a subcommittee Wednesday. Rep. Brian Lohse of Bondurant said the change “absolutely needs to be done.”

Iowa Chief Justice Susan Christensen warned during her Condition of the Judiciary address this year that the higher contribution rate is making it more difficult to hire judges in the state.

Caitlin Jarzen, a lobbyist for the Iowa Judicial Branch, said the higher rate came as a surprise after the judges’ pension system was fully funded in 2022. Based on projections, she said there is a 30 percent chance the judges’ contribution rate would hit 16 percent over the next 10 years.

“We don't want to be in a position that the nominating commissions feel like their hands are tied because they only have a few applicants, and none of them are good,” Jarzen said. “And then for the governor, to get the names and her hands are tied.”

Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau