Revises provisions relating to veterans. (BDR 37-1046)
Summary
SB399 revises Nevada law governing interment in state veterans’ cemeteries. Under current law, eligible veterans may be buried without charge, while the Director of the Department of Veterans Services may charge a fee for the interment of certain family members, limited to the actual cost of interment. This bill creates a specific exemption for the spouse of a veteran by prohibiting the Director from charging any fee for the spouse’s interment in a veterans’ cemetery.
The bill leaves the broader structure of veterans’ cemetery eligibility and plot assignment intact. It continues to allow eligible veterans and immediate family members to apply for burial, preserves the rule that plots are assigned in order of application, and maintains the existing definition of “immediate family,” which includes a spouse, minor child, and in some cases an unmarried adult child. The practical effect is a targeted benefit for surviving spouses of veterans and a corresponding reduction in fee revenue to the Department of Veterans Services.
Impact
SB399 amends NRS 417.210, the statute governing eligibility, plot assignment, and fees for interment in Nevada veterans’ cemeteries. The bill narrows the Director’s authority to charge interment fees by carving out spouses of veterans from the family-member fee provision, while leaving the fee cap for other family members unchanged at actual cost. It affects the Department of Veterans Services, veterans’ cemetery operations, and families of eligible veterans, and it has a fiscal impact on the state because the bill reduces fee collections.
Sentiment
The available record shows no committee transcript, recorded votes, or formal opposition, so there is no documented debate to indicate strong controversy. Based on the bill’s text, the measure appears generally favorable to veterans and their families because it expands a burial-related benefit for spouses of veterans. The absence of recorded votes or hearing testimony suggests the bill was, at minimum, not publicly contentious in the materials provided.
Contention
The main policy issue is fiscal rather than ideological: SB399 eliminates fees for the interment of veterans’ spouses, which benefits surviving spouses but reduces revenue available to offset cemetery interment costs. Any concern would likely come from the Department of Veterans Services or budget-focused stakeholders regarding lost fee income and the state’s obligation to absorb those costs. There is no evidence in the provided materials of organized opposition, amendments, or disputes over eligibility definitions, plot allocation, or the broader veterans’ cemetery framework.