HONOR Act Mandates NCA Publish Burial Schedules Online, Boosting Transparency for Veterans' Families

The Honest Operations for National Cemetery Reporting Act of 2025, or the HONOR Act, aims to pull back the curtain on how long it takes to schedule a burial at national cemeteries. This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), through the National Cemetery Administration (NCA), to post a public spreadsheet on their website showing the most current burial availability for every operating national cemetery. The NCA must roll out this transparency measure within 120 days of the law passing and commit to updating that data every 30 days.

The Clock Starts Now: Defining 'Available'

For families planning a memorial service, the biggest stressor is often the wait time. The HONOR Act takes direct aim at this by requiring the VA to formally define “interment schedule availability” within 60 days. This definition isn't just bureaucratic jargon; it has to cover the actual number of business days between the initial request and the first possible burial date. Crucially, the VA must consider how well the NCA can meet a family’s preferred dates, times, and even days of the week when setting this definition. If you’re a family member trying to coordinate travel and services, knowing the real wait time versus the official one makes a huge difference in planning.

Keeping Score: Accountability Through Surveys and History

Beyond current scheduling, the bill focuses on long-term accountability. First, it requires the NCA to keep participating in the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) survey. This is important because the ACSI provides an independent, standardized way to measure how satisfied families and funeral homes are with the service they receive. If the NCA ever decides to drop this external check, they have to give Congress a 30-day heads-up.

Second, the NCA must continue running its own internal customer service surveys and publish the results so everyone can see them. If the NCA wants to change the scope or questions on their internal surveys—say, changing who they ask or what they ask about—they also have to notify Congress 30 days in advance. This prevents the NCA from quietly tweaking their survey methods to potentially improve their scores without public oversight. Finally, the VA must deliver a report to Congress detailing the interment schedule availability data for the five years leading up to the report, providing a crucial historical benchmark to measure future performance.