35A.14 Injured veterans grant program.

1. For the purposes of this section, “veteran” means any of the following:

a. A resident of this state who is or was a member of the national guard, reserve, or regular component of the armed forces of the United States who has served on active duty at any time after September 11, 2001, and, if discharged, was discharged under honorable conditions.

b. A nonresident of this state who is or was a member of a national guard unit located in this state prior to alert for mobilization who has served on active duty at any time after September 11, 2001, was injured while serving in the national guard unit located in this state, is not eligible to receive a similar grant from another state for that injury, and, if discharged, was discharged under honorable conditions.

2. An injured veterans grant program is created under the control of the department for the purpose of providing grants to eligible injured veterans. Providing grants to eligible injured veterans pursuant to this section is deemed to serve a vital and valid public purpose of the state by assisting injured veterans and their families.

3. The department may receive and accept donations, grants, gifts, and contributions from any public or private source for the purpose of providing grants under this section. Moneys received by the department pursuant to this subsection shall be deposited in an injured veterans trust fund which shall be created in the state treasury under the control of the department. Moneys credited to the trust fund are appropriated to the department for the purpose of providing injured veterans grants under this section and shall not be transferred, used, obligated, appropriated, or otherwise encumbered, except as provided in this section. Notwithstanding section 12C.7, subsection 2, interest or earnings on moneys in the trust fund shall be credited to the trust fund.

4. Moneys appropriated to or received by the department for providing injured veterans grants under this section may be expended for grants of up to ten thousand dollars to a veteran who is seriously injured or very seriously injured, as defined in the most recently published United States department of defense joint publication 1-02, to provide financial assistance to the veteran so that family members of the veteran may be with the veteran during the veteran’s recovery from an injury received in the line of duty in a combat zone or in a zone where the veteran was receiving hazardous duty pay after September 11, 2001.

5. The department shall adopt rules governing the distribution of grants under this section in accordance with the following:

a. Grants shall be paid in increments of two thousand five hundred dollars, up to a maximum of ten thousand dollars, upon proof that the veteran has been evacuated from the operational theater in which the veteran was injured to a military hospital or that the veteran has suffered an injury requiring at least thirty consecutive days of hospitalization at a military hospital, for an injury received in the line of duty and shall continue to be paid, at thirty-day intervals, up to the maximum amount, so long as the veteran is hospitalized or receiving medical care or rehabilitation services authorized by the military.

b. Proof of continued medical care or rehabilitation services may include any reasonably reliable documentation showing that the veteran is receiving continued medical or rehabilitative care as a result of qualifying injuries. Proof that the injury occurred in the line of duty shall be made based upon the circumstances of the injury known at the time of evacuation from the combat zone or zone in which the veteran was receiving hazardous duty pay.

c. Grants for veterans injured after September 11, 2001, but prior to May 8, 2006, shall be payable, upon a showing that the veteran would have been eligible for payment had the injury occurred on or after May 8, 2006.

d. (1) A seriously injured veteran meeting all other requirements of this section may receive additional grants for subsequent, unrelated injuries that meet the requirements of this section. Any subsequent, unrelated injury shall be treated as if it were an initial injury for the purposes of determining eligibility or allotment.

(2) Grants for veterans suffering subsequent, unrelated injuries after September 11, 2001, but prior to March 30, 2011, shall be payable, upon a showing that the veteran would have been eligible for payment had the subsequent, unrelated injury occurred on or after March 30, 2011.

6. The department may appear before the executive council and request funds to meet the funding needs of the grant program under this section if funds are made available to the executive council for this purpose.

2006 Acts, ch 1106, §1, 4; 2006 Acts, ch 1185, §115; 2007 Acts, ch 22, §112, 116; 2007 Acts, ch 142, §1, 2; 2010 Acts, ch 1047, §1; 2011 Acts, ch 12, §1 – 3; 2012 Acts, ch 1012, §1

Referred to in §422.7(46), 422.7(47)