Gov. Kim Reynolds’ bill to restructure funding for county veteran services is advancing in the Iowa Senate. Under the bill (SF 2282), funding that’s equally distributed to each county for their veterans service officers would be tied to the county’s performance in signing veterans up for benefits.
Michael Mortensen, legislative liaison for the Iowa Association of County Veteran Services, said most counties are opposed to the bill because one-third of them could lose funding based on what he called inaccurate data. Mortensen said they would support incentives created with new funding.
“We’re very much in favor of a lot of the ideas behind the bill, but the actual way of getting to it, and this really just hammering down from the state, does not equal out into better services to our veterans, and that’s what we’re most concerned about,” Mortensen said.
Supporters of the bill said many Iowa veterans aren’t receiving the assistance they deserve, and the bill could help connect more of them to services and compensation.