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Senate committee approves plan to peg Arkansas veterans' dependent burial fee to federal VA rate
Summary
The Senate State Agencies committee approved SB411 to allow the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs to charge dependents the federal VA interment allowance (currently $807), raising the state-dependent fee from $300; ADVA officials said cemeteries are operating at a loss and the bill also authorizes a fee for disinterments.
Senators on the State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee approved SB411 after ADVA officials said state veteran cemeteries are operating at a loss. Senator Dave Wallace introduced the measure and Austin Booth, chief of staff and CFO for the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs, told the committee the bill would peg the fee for an eligible dependent’s interment at the federal VA allowance rather than the current state fee of $300.
"We're losing money there," Booth said, adding the agency's average cost per interment is about $1,700. Booth said the federal allowance is $807 and that tying the state fee to the VA rate brings parity with the federal benefit and better aligns the agency’s revenue stream with private-sector comparables. He also said the bill would authorize a statutory fee for disinterments — complex moves families sometimes request — to recover agency costs.
Committee members pressed ADVA on how often the VA rate changes and whether indexing the fee could create instability. Booth said the VA allowance is updated for inflation each fiscal year and emphasized the bill grants authority to charge up to the federal rate rather than requiring full collection of the allowance in every case.
Senator Wallace noted the agency’s work maintaining veteran gravesites and closed by urging passage. The committee moved SB411 with a do-pass motion from Senator Ballenger and a second from Senator Hester; the motion carried and the bill passed in committee.
The measure now moves forward with committee approval; the transcript records no amendment to the bill text and no further conditions were specified in committee.
