Orange County's 84,000-plus veterans are a step closer to having a dedicated state cemetery after California's newly enacted budget directed $19 million toward the long-delayed Southern California Veterans Cemetery in Anaheim.
The funding, announced by Gov. Gavin Newsom's office on Monday, July 21, breaks down into two pieces: $9 million to build an access road to the Gypsum Canyon site and $10 million in expenditure authority for preliminary plans, working drawings, and Phase I construction. The cemetery is planned for a 283-acre former quarry on Anaheim's eastern edge.
"We are continuing that commitment by helping more veterans access the benefits they've earned, remain safely housed, and ensuring Southern California veterans finally have the state veterans cemetery they've long deserved," Newsom said in the announcement.
The $19 million is part of a broader $34 million veterans services package in the state budget, which Newsom signed in late June. The package also includes $6 million for County Veterans Service Offices, $7 million for housing programs serving veterans 55 and older at risk of homelessness, and $2 million for legal services to help veterans obtain discharge upgrades.
More than a decade in the making
The project has been in development since 2014, when the Legislature first authorized a Southern California Veterans Cemetery at the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in Irvine. Site disputes, voter referendums, and lawsuits pushed the project through years of delays before Gypsum Canyon emerged as the preferred location.
The Orange County Board of Supervisors voted in July 2021 to allocate $20 million toward the Gypsum Canyon site. The Anaheim City Council unanimously approved the location on Monday, July 22, 2024. A legal challenge filed in August 2024 effectively ended in March 2025 when a court sustained a demurrer without leave to amend.
On October 1, 2025, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs moved Gypsum Canyon onto its conforming list for the Veterans Cemetery Grants Program. The same day, Newsom signed AB 571, granting a CEQA exemption that removed the project's final environmental barrier.
What it means locally
Orange County is home to approximately 84,235 veterans, about 7.3% of California's total veteran population, according to the county's fiscal year 2023-24 veterans report released in September 2025. Nearly three in ten OC veterans are 75 or older.
Phase I of the cemetery will include 11,000 burial plots and more than 4,000 columbarium niches. The first phase was estimated at $66 million as of November 2025, according to the Assembly Budget Subcommittee 5. The total project cost is approximately $86 million, according to state leaders cited by Military.com.
CalVet Secretary Lindsey Sin said the funding will translate into "continued progress on a long-awaited veterans cemetery in Southern California."
An Assembly background document from November 2025 projected construction beginning in 2026 and a potential opening for burials in 2027, though no specific groundbreaking date has been confirmed following the budget allocation.
