Relating to the national guard of the state concerning armory board leases, persons subject to the code of military justice, and scholarship and loan repayment programs

This bill concerns the national guard of the state.58, concerning the leasing of armories, is amended to provide that property may be leased to be used for armory purposes for any term not to exceed instead of years.1, concerning persons subject to the Iowa code of military justice, is amended to provide that a person shall not be punished for an offense under the code unless the person is a member of the military forces of the state and the person is on national guard duty or state active duty, including between consecutive drill periods which are less than hours apart, or the person is not on national guard duty or state active duty but a nexus exists between the offense and the military forces of the state. Current law provides that the code applies to all members of the state military forces performing national guard duty or state active duty and to all members of the state military forces who commit an offense during travel to or from the member’s duty location or during intervals between consecutive periods of duty on the same day or on consecutive days in which the victim of the offense is another member of the state military forces. For purposes of applying the code based on a nexus between the offense and the military forces of the state, the bill provides that only a commanding officer holding a position in the grade of 0-6 and above may impose nonjudicial punishment for an offense and the military forces of the state shall have the burden to show the existence of a nexus by a preponderance of the evidence.86, concerning national guard service scholarship programs, is amended.86A, created in the bill. The Code section is further amended to require the adjutant general to submit a report to the governor and the general assembly by December of each year listing the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-related career fields the adjutant general plans to focus on in providing educational incentives using funds available for that fiscal year.86A establishes two recruitment and incentive programs to recruit or retain individuals who have completed or are pursuing training in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-related military occupational specialties or air force specialty codes.86, subsection 6, to recruit or retain individuals by offering either a student loan repayment program or a master’s degree scholarship award program that is in compliance with the federal Edith Nourse Rogers STEM scholarship program. The bill establishes a national guard student loan repayment program to be administered by the college student aid commission and establishes requirements for applicants and for loan repayment awards. The bill also establishes requirements for the master’s degree scholarship program.