S 1116119th CongressIn Committee

Ensuring Veterans’ Final Resting Place Act of 2025

Introduced: Mar 25, 2025

Sponsor: Sen. Banks, Jim [R-IN] (R-Indiana)

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

The Ensuring Veterans’ Final Resting Place Act of 2025 aims to expand burial benefits under the VA burial program when an urn or a plaque is furnished for a deceased veteran or eligible person. By reorganizing and updating the language in 38 U.S.C. § 2306(h), the bill shifts from a framework that treated urns or plaques as potentially substituting for a headstone or marker to a framework that allows additional memorial benefits to be provided in cases where an urn or plaque is used. The change is retroactive to deaths occurring on or after January 5, 2021. In short, the bill is designed to ensure more comprehensive and possibly additional memorial options for those whose cremated remains or memorials involve an urn or plaque.

Key Points

1The bill is titled the “Ensuring Veterans’ Final Resting Place Act of 2025” and is introduced in the Senate (S. 1116) by Senators Banks and Collins.
2It amends 38 U.S.C. § 2306(h) to change how headstones/markers relate to urns and plaques, removing the substitution language that previously appeared to limit options when an urn or plaque is furnished.
3The current revision moves away from “in lieu of furnishing a headstone or marker” to language that supports providing additional memorial benefits in cases where an urn or plaque is used.
4It eliminates the previous paragraph (2) and reindexes the remaining provisions, effectively broadening the set of benefits that can be provided alongside an urn or plaque.
5The amendments apply specifically to deaths occurring on or after January 5, 2021.

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected: Veterans and eligible individuals, and their families, who rely on VA burial benefits (including urns, plaques, headstones, or markers) for final memorial arrangements.Secondary group/area affected: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), cemeteries/who administer VA burial benefits, and funeral service providers working with VA benefits.Additional impacts: The change could entail new or broader memorial benefit options beyond an urn/plaque, potentially affecting program costs and administrative processes within VA. The bill does not specify funding levels or exact benefit values, focusing instead on authorizing the provision of “additional burial benefits” when an urn/plaque is furnished. As introduced, it has only been placed before the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and has not yet become law.

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