BATON ROUGE (AP) — Gov. Bobby Jindal says federal budget cuts will nearly eliminate the free military funeral ceremonies provided to families of veterans.
The Republican governor, considering a 2016 presidential campaign, sent a letter Tuesday to the White House, seeking a reversal of cuts to the military funeral program run by each state's National Guard.
The burial ceremonies can include anything from a two-man flag folding ceremony and the playing of "Taps" to a full gun salute, with no cost to the veteran's family.
Jindal says the Louisiana National Guard performed more than 1,100 such funeral ceremonies last year. He says budget cuts will reduce that to 285 this year.
The cuts stem from across-the-board reductions enacted by Congress. But Jindal's office says the Obama administration chose how to allocate the cuts.