Ashley Hinson

MARSHALLTOWN — Veterans and local officials discussed funding for construction projects at VA facilities, veterans' mental health and duplicative requirements at a roundtable with Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins and U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson on Aug. 18.

The discussion at the Iowa Veterans Home was part of a multi-day trip to Iowa for Collins, a former congressman who was confirmed to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs in 2025. On Aug. 17, Collins and Hinson attended the Veterans Day Parade at the Iowa State Fair.

Todd Jacobus, commandant of the Iowa Veterans Home and leader of the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs, urged Collins to make sure the VA's construction project program is fully funded. He pointed to one project that has been approved at the Iowa Veterans Cemetery and one that is awaiting approval to renovate the kitchen at the Iowa Veterans Home.

"I don’t know if we have food service staff here but when our dishwashing equipment breaks down they are taking all of the dishes for 400 people down to the basement, manually," he said. "It’s a heavy grind."

Collins said the program is funded by Congress and the Department of Veterans Affairs hands out the grants to those who apply.

"How much money Congress lets us have, we’ll spend it," he said. "It’s just a matter of getting it through that process."

Hinson, who serves on the House Appropriations Committee, praised the military construction and veterans affairs budget that passed the House in May on a bipartisan basis. She said the bill contains a funding boost for construction projects.

"I think when you speak about the funding that we’re sending the secretary to then deploy, we want to make sure it gets to places like the Iowa Veterans Home because at the end of the day everybody agrees we need to be taking better care of those veterans and the backlogs that exist so they get better care," she said.

Speaking with reporters after the event, Collins said he's been "very pleased" with the funding level the Department of Veterans Affairs has received from Congress and in President Donald Trump's budget requests.

But he said "there's always needs that we have" as the department works to modernize, including by implementing an electronic health records management system, which he called "something we should have done years ago."

Collins and Hinson praised the level of cooperation between Congress and the Trump administration on veterans issues.

"We're listening to the secretary about what needs they have, whether that's for technology, which we talked about today, or construction facilities and maintenance," Hinson said. "Those are all continuing to be priorities, because we need to be taking care of our active duty personnel, and we need to be taken care of our veterans."