Depleted veterans fund gets infusion from federal pandemic relief

DES MOINES — A depleted state fund for emergency financial assistance to Iowa veterans will receive a financial shot in the arm.

Gov. Kim Reynolds on Tuesday approved more than $440,000 in federal pandemic relief funding to address a backlog in the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund.

Reynolds approved the funding, which comes from the state’s American Rescue Plan Act funds, to cover the backlog of trust fund grants that were approved between March 3, 2021, and Nov. 3, 2022, before the program was temporarily suspended due to insufficient funds.

Available funds from the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund were depleted in October for the first time in more than a decade.

The program helps veterans pay for myriad eligible emergency expenses, such as medical equipment, emergency room care, dental and hearing care, emergency housing and vehicle repairs, counseling, unemployment assistance and job training.

Officials from the state Veterans Affairs department said the available funds expired thanks in part to a spike in requests and expenses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, August 2020 derecho and inflation.

State lawmakers are considering long-term proposals to address the available funds. The appropriation approved by Reynolds is intended to address the fund’s issues in the short term.

“I’m pleased that this funding will finally provide veterans the financial assistance they were approved to receive,” Reynolds said in a statement. “We owe Iowa’s veterans a debt of gratitude and we must ensure that the services we offer them are available when needed.”

Todd Jacobus, commandant of the Iowa Veterans Home and interim director of the state Veterans Affairs department, thanked Reynolds for allocating the federal funding.

Iowa Sen. Bill Dotzler, D-Waterloo, said he is glad Reynolds allocated the federal funding to the trust fund. Dotzler also suggested lawmakers should pass his proposal to double the state’s annual appropriation to the trust fund to $1 million.

“We can all agree that providing the resources to meet Iowa veterans’ needs is the right thing to do — this year and every year,” Dotzler said in a statement. “Senate Democrats have a plan to shore up the trust fund’s finances long-term, and we look forward to working with the governor and Republican lawmakers to get it done.”

Data privacy

Iowans would have more control over how companies handle their personal data under a bill being considered in the Iowa Legislature.

Senate Study Bill 1071 would require some companies to inform Iowans of the companies’ data collection practices and how their personal data is being used. It would require companies to obtain consent for data collection and provide processes for consumers to request a copy of the personal data a company has collected on them. It also gives consumers the right to delete personal data collected by a company.

The bill unanimously passed a three-member Senate subcommittee, and a companion House bill cleared a subcommittee last week.

It would apply to any company that controls the data of at least 100,000 Iowans as well as companies with 25,000 customers that derive 50 percent of their revenue from selling personal data.

The bill is similar to a bill that passed in the House last year but did not get a vote in the Senate.

Lobbyists and lawmakers said they preferred data privacy be taken up at the federal level, but without federal legislation, the bill is an attempt to create a data privacy standard following measures taken by other states.