SSB 3168

Topics:Veterans & military

Same legislation: SF 2307, SF 2399

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Official bill page Lobbyist declarations One-pager to print

Where it is now

Done: IntroducedFebruary 12, 2020
Done: SubcommitteeFebruary 12, 2020
Done: Senate committeeFebruary 18, 2020
Skipped: Passes the SenateContinued as SF 2307
Next: House committee
Next: Passes the House
Next: To the Governor
Next: Signed into law

Became SF 2307 → Its progress continues under the new number. Go to SF 2307 What’s a funnel?

What’s in it

This bill provides that moneys appropriated to the veterans affairs commission from the veterans trust fund in a fiscal year that remain unobligated or unexpended at the close of the fiscal year shall not revert to the trust fund but shall be appropriated to the Iowa finance authority to provide grants to veterans to participate in the home ownership assistance program established under Code section 16.54.

Full bill text¹

Senate subcommittee

Named February 12, 2020. On February 17, 2020 it recommended passage.

Three legislators hear a bill first and recommend what the committee should do; it’s the best time to weigh in. How to take part

Fiscal note

AI summary This bill transfers any leftover money from the Veterans Trust Fund to the Iowa Finance Authority to support the Veterans Home Ownership Program. It is estimated to result in an appropriation of $785,000 to the program in fiscal year 2021. For fiscal year 2022 and beyond, an estimated $240,000 could be transferred to the program.²

Read the fiscal note

Description

Senate File 2307 amends the Veterans Trust Fund (VTF) to appropriate any unobligated or unexpended funds from the spendable portion of the VTF at the end of the fiscal year to the Iowa Finance Authority for the Veterans Home Ownership Program in the succeeding fiscal year.

Background

The Veterans Home Ownership Program provides a $5,000 grant to a service member for a down payment and closing costs toward the purchase of a new home in the State of Iowa. Iowa Code section 35A.13(4)(a) appropriates $500,000 from the Lottery Fund transfer of $2.5 million to the VTF, and any interest earned on the VTF to the Commission for services specified in Iowa Code section 35A.13(6). The appropriation requires that funds unexpended or unobligated at the end of the fiscal year revert to the VTF.

Assumptions

The full amount of the lottery transfer is spent annually on services. Once that amount is spent, the Commission then spends the interest earned.
Monthly reports and the State accounting system indicate that the interest has not reverted to the principal of the VTF and has remained in the spendable portion of the Fund to be spent on awards in succeeding fiscal years. Approximately $568,000 of interest income was brought forward into FY 2020.
The VTF has earned $279,000 in interest income through the first seven months of FY 2020. There will likely be another $200,000 earned by the end of FY 2020.
The Commission has not yet made any awards from the interest in the VTF in FY 2020. Based on previous fiscal year averages, an estimated $262,000 will be awarded from the interest in FY 2020.

Fiscal Impact

Senate File 2307 will result in the appropriation of an estimated $785,000 from the VTF to the Home Ownership Assistance Program in FY 2021.

Due to the variability of interest earned on the VTF, and the practice of retaining interest earned each fiscal year, increasing the spending power from the VTF, estimating a future appropriation to the Home Ownership Assistance Program is difficult. For FY 2022 and years thereafter, based on three-year averages of spending and interest, an estimated $240,000 could be transferred.