Veterans: Governor's Memorial Certificate.

Existing law establishes the Department of Veterans Affairs within state government and sets forth its powers and duties, including, but not limited to, the administration of various programs providing benefits to veterans. Existing law authorizes the department to design, develop, and construct state-owned and state-operated veterans cemeteries, as specified, in northern, southern, and central California. This bill would require the Department of Veterans Affairs, in consultation with the Governor, to establish a Governor's Memorial Certificate Program to honor the memory of deceased veterans. The bill would require the program to send a Governor's Memorial Certificate to the survivors of any deceased veteran eligible for burial in a national or state veterans' cemetery, and would require that certificate to be accompanied by information directing survivors to county veteran service offices.