H.R. 3657, a bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide certain burial benefits for spouses and children of veterans who are buried in tribal cemeteries, and for other purposes
Cost Estimate
As ordered reported by the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on October 12, 2017
H.R. 3657 would authorize the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide a headstone upon request for the graves of spouses, surviving spouses, and dependent children of veterans who are interred in a tribal veterans’ cemetery. Currently, that benefit is extended only to those same beneficiaries who are interred in national cemeteries or state veterans’ cemeteries.
Because burial benefits are paid from mandatory appropriations, enacting H.R. 3657 would increase direct spending; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. However, CBO estimates that those increases would be insignificant for each year and would total less than $500,000 over the 2018-2027 period. Based on data from VA, CBO estimates that fewer than 10 additional headstones would be provided by VA each year under H.R. 3657, at an average cost of about $200 per headstone. Enacting H.R. 3657 would not affect revenues.