BISMARCK, N.D. (KFGO-AM) The North Dakota Senate has unanimously approved bipartisan legislation that would fund burials for veterans' spouses at the state-owned cemetery near Mandan.
Senators voted 47-0 on Tuesday to send the bill to the House.
The measure sets aside $160,000 over the next two years to pay for burials for spouses and children of veterans under the age of 21.
Belcourt Democratic Sen. Richard Marcellais (MAR'-sel-ayz) is the bill's main sponsor. The Army veteran who served in Vietnam says the spouses of military veterans are deserving of the no-cost burials.
It currently costs $550 to bury a spouse at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery.
There are more than 6,400 veterans and family members of veterans buried at the cemetery. The cemetery opened in 1992 and averages approximately 450 burials per year.