Senator Honig Leads Passage of Legislation to Ensure Veterans’ Graves Are Maintained

HARTFORD — Senator Paul Honig (D-Harwinton), Senate Chair of the Veterans’ and Military Affairs Committee, voted Thursday to pass Senate Bill 282, legislation which will set aside $100,000 to be used as grants to municipalities to care for and maintain graves for veterans who served in a time of war.

“The upkeep of veterans’ gravesites has depended on the goodwill of private individuals, and their efforts have honored many of those who have served our country,” Senator Honig said. “But when that goodwill falls short, there has been no reliable backstop, and some gravesites have suffered for it. This bill ensures the state can fill that gap so the resting places of all our veterans receive the care and maintenance they deserve.”

By law, the Office of Policy and Management may, from the neglected cemetery account, make grants to municipalities for maintaining neglected burial grounds and cemeteries with more than six places of interment. The municipal selectmen may use the funds to clear vegetation, mow lawn areas, repair fences or walls, and fix memorial stones.

Under existing law, municipalities are responsible for the cost of caring for and maintaining graves of those who served in wartime if the services are not paid for by private individuals or the cemetery trustees.

The bill allows municipalities to apply for money available in the neglected cemetery account for grants for these maintenance purposes.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Hugh McQuaid | hugh.mcquaid@cga.ct.gov |