| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to establishing a grant program for junior reserve officer |
|
|
training programs to provide military funeral honors for veterans. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 434, Government Code, is |
|
|
amended by adding Section 434.0073 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 434.0073. GRANT PROGRAM FOR VETERAN FUNERAL SERVICES |
|
|
IN CIVILIAN CEMETERY. (a) In this section: |
|
|
(1) "JROTC program" means a junior reserve officer |
|
|
training corps program for students in grades 6 through 12 |
|
|
established under 10 U.S.C. Section 2031. |
|
|
(2) "Military funeral honors" means the services |
|
|
described by 10 U.S.C. Sections 1491(b) and (c). |
|
|
(3) "ROTC program" means a reserve officer training |
|
|
corps program established under 10 U.S.C. Section 2101. |
|
|
(4) "Veteran" means a person who has served in: |
|
|
(A) the army, navy, air force, coast guard, or |
|
|
marine corps of the United States; or |
|
|
(B) the Texas national guard as defined by |
|
|
Section 437.001. |
|
|
(b) The commission shall establish a grant program for JROTC |
|
|
programs to provide military funeral honors at funeral services for |
|
|
veterans being buried in a cemetery other than a national military |
|
|
cemetery or other military cemetery in this state. |
|
|
(c) A JROTC program may receive training on the requirements |
|
|
and performance of military funeral honors at funerals of veterans |
|
|
from a local organization that has the necessary training to |
|
|
perform military funeral honors, including: |
|
|
(1) an ROTC program; |
|
|
(2) a military honor guard; |
|
|
(3) a Veterans of Foreign Wars post; |
|
|
(4) a law enforcement agency; |
|
|
(5) a fire department; or |
|
|
(6) another nonprofit organization that is composed of |
|
|
or serves veterans and is qualified to provide training on the |
|
|
requirements and performance of military funeral honors. |
|
|
(d) To be eligible for a grant under this section, a JROTC |
|
|
program must submit an application on the form prescribed by the |
|
|
commission. The commission shall make the application form |
|
|
available on the commission's publicly available Internet website. |
|
|
An application for a grant under this section must include: |
|
|
(1) the name of the local organization that trained |
|
|
the JROTC program in the performance of military honors at veteran |
|
|
funerals or, if the JROTC program was not able to obtain training |
|
|
from a local organization, the names of the organizations the JROTC |
|
|
program contacted to obtain training; and |
|
|
(2) a detailed plan for how the JROTC program will |
|
|
spend grant money awarded under this section, including, if the |
|
|
program intends to purchase air rifles, details on whether the |
|
|
JROTC program is authorized to make the purchase and a plan for the |
|
|
safe use and storage of the air rifles. |
|
|
(e) A JROTC program awarded a grant under this section shall |
|
|
work with local organizations in the community to spread awareness |
|
|
among veterans and the families of veterans of the program's |
|
|
availability to perform military funeral honors in the community. |
|
|
(f) Grant money awarded under this section may be used for: |
|
|
(1) uniforms; |
|
|
(2) air rifles, if: |
|
|
(A) the purchase and use of air rifles is |
|
|
approved by the school district in which the JROTC program is |
|
|
located; and |
|
|
(B) the JROTC program includes in the grant |
|
|
application a safe storage and use plan that is approved by the |
|
|
school district; |
|
|
(3) American flags in a size approved for the purpose |
|
|
of providing military honors, if one has not been provided to a |
|
|
veteran's family free of charge; |
|
|
(4) bugles; |
|
|
(5) audio recordings of and equipment to play TAPS; or |
|
|
(6) tuition and fees for a JROTC program instructor to |
|
|
enroll in a training course offered by an honor guard academy, if |
|
|
the program is unable to receive training from a local |
|
|
organization. |
|
|
(g) A grant awarded under this section may not exceed |
|
|
$3,500. |
|
|
(h) The commission and the Veterans' Land Board may |
|
|
publicize a JROTC program that received a grant under this section |
|
|
as a resource to perform military funeral honors at the funeral of a |
|
|
veteran in the community in which the JROTC program is located and |
|
|
the JROTC program shall make its best effort to perform military |
|
|
funeral honors when requested. |
|
|
(i) The commission may accept gifts, grants, and donations |
|
|
from any source to administer the grant program established under |
|
|
this section. |
|
|
SECTION 2. As soon as practicable after the effective date |
|
|
of this Act, the commission shall adopt rules to implement the grant |
|
|
program established under Section 434.0073, Government Code, as |
|
|
added by this Act. |
|
|
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |