This article by Cristina Stassis originally appeared on Military Times, the nation's largest independent newsroom dedicated to covering the military and veteran community.

Certain state veterans cemeteries across the country received a near total of $80 million in grants in fiscal 2025 for their improvement from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, officials recently announced.

The department granted 20 state veterans cemeteries over $77 million in fiscal 2025 for their improvement, expansion, reimbursements and the new establishment of one in Alaska, according to a VA statement released Dec. 30.

“Under President Trump, VA is committed to ensuring America’s Veterans cemeteries have the resources they need to provide excellent memorial benefits and services to our nation’s Veterans and their families, and these grants underscore that fact,” VA Secretary Doug Collins said in the release.

The cemeteries awarded grants include cemeteries in Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin, as well as the establishment of the Interior Alaska Veterans Cemetery in Fairbanks.

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VA’s National Cemetery Administration works to reimburse states for their state-run veterans cemeteries’ building, improvement or expansion costs.

The administered grants usually fund items such as improvements necessary for burials and operations and the construction of pre-placed crypts or columbaria, per the memo.

In fiscal 2025, more than 43,705 veterans and eligible family members were interred in VA grant-funded cemeteries, making up roughly 25% of the 174,705 total annual interments in all national and VA grant-funded veterans cemeteries.

The department has long strived to establish a veterans cemetery close to where almost every American veteran resides to improve burial options.

Currently, just under 94% of veterans nationwide have “reasonable access” to one, meaning about 77 million veterans live within 75 miles of a national, state or tribal veterans cemetery, according to the VA.

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Since 2023, VA officials have set the goal to 95%, but the task requires a mix of federal and local funding as well as a commitment from regional leaders for preservation of the cemeteries.

The VA has awarded a total of over $1.1 billion in grants since 1980 to 124 veterans cemeteries in 47 states, 14 tribal nations and three territories, working in tandem with the VA’s 157 national cemeteries to provide more access for veterans.

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