Making appropriations to the department of transportation to award grants for infrastructure improvement projects at national cemeteries located within certain communities, and including effective date provisions

This bill appropriates $1 million from the general fund of the state to the department of transportation (DOT) for FY 2023-2024 to award grants to support infrastructure improvement projects for the benefit of cemeteries within Iowa designated as a national cemetery by the national cemetery administration (NCA) of the United States department of veterans affairs and located in a county with a population of less than 40,000, including constructing and resurfacing roads, maintaining and constructing sidewalks, implementing and improving sewer systems and storm water drainage systems, and enhancing access to the cemetery for persons with disabilities. A recipient of the awarded moneys may use the moneys to support infrastructure projects within a national cemetery, and to improve infrastructure leading to or otherwise connecting to the infrastructure at a national cemetery. The NCA is responsible for the administration of national cemeteries, and is authorized to designate a cemetery as a national cemetery. The administration operates 155 national cemeteries and soldiers’ lots and monument sites in states and Puerto Rico.