State veterans cemetery legislation close to passage

The Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs is one step closer to providing a new benefit to Alabama’s veterans –- a state owned and operated veterans cemetery.

This week the House unanimously passed HB 301, sponsored by Rep. Randy Davis of Daphne.

The Senate’s version of the state veterans cemetery bill, SB 389, carried by Sen. Hank Sanders of Selma, is ready for a floor vote.

The ADVA needs to the authority, that would be granted in the bill, to move forward with plans to establish Alabama's first state veterans cemetery.

The authority would also allow the state VA to obtain a federal grant from the National Cemetery Administration -- about $7.6 million for the construction of the cemetery. The grant covers all construction costs and the state would only be tasked with funding the operations and maintenance of the cemetery.

Land has already been identified for the cemetery in south Alabama, in Baldwin County, near Fort Blakeley State Park. The proposed cemetery would serve the veteran population in that area -- an estimated 71,000 -- for the next two decades.