Governor Andy Beshear signed House Bill 29 in Frankfort Friday which removes the residency requirement for burial at veteran cemeteries in Kentucky.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Derek Lewis of London, will allow Kentucky to meet the United States Department of Veterans Affairs deadline of Jan. 1, 2025, by which states are required to remove residency as a requirement for veterans to be buried in state cemeteries.
Beshear said the bill does more.
click to download audioBeshear said it’s another measure of a state that he said is already serving its veterans as well as anyone else in the nation.
click to download audioThe governor said the law took on added meaning with the recent loss of nine Fort Campbell soldiers in a helicopter training crash in western Trigg County on March 29.
click to download audioUnder the old law, in order to be eligible for burial within one of Kentucky’s five-state veterans’ cemeteries, the person had to be a Kentucky veteran who held a place of residence in the state, was born in Kentucky, or held substantial family ties to the state.
