For Immediate Release
9/18/08

Pippy Bill Providing Honor Guards at National Cemetery of the Alleghenies Heads to Governor for Enactment

Also extends health coverage for returning soldiers enrolling in college.

Harrisburg – Legislation sponsored by Sen. John Pippy (R-37) to provide honor guards for burials at the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies received final approval today and was sent to the governor to be signed into law.

Under Senate Bill 180, the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs will contract with veterans service organizations to perform honor guard duties at the site. The 260-acre National Cemetery of the Alleghenies opened in 2005 in Cecil, Washington County.

“There are more than 323,000 veterans living in western Pennsylvania, and the purpose of this legislation is to ensure that those who choose to be laid to rest here be accorded the dignified tribute they have earned,” said Pippy. “The program will be similar to the one administered at the Fort Indiantown Gap National Cemetery in central Pennsylvania. It serves the mission of such sites, to treat veterans and their families with the utmost dignity, respect and compassion."

Senate Bill 180 was initially approved by the Senate last year and sent to the House of Representatives for consideration.

The measure was amended in the House to add eye and dental health plans to those covered under a current law that allows soldiers returning from military deployment to remain on their parents’ health insurance plans while enrolling in college. Coverage would last for a period equal to the amount of time they were deployed.

Contact:

Cheryl Schriner
(717) 787-5839

Additional Information:
Veterans

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