State legislators approved a construction budget of $19 million to fund new infrastructure at Orange County’s first veterans’ cemetery on July 2. The project includes the construction of two separate cemeteries: the Southern California State Veterans Cemetery, and an unnamed public cemetery dedicated for “allied veterans and first responders.” City officials originally began discussing plans of building a veterans cemetery as early as 2014, with locations set in Irvine. “As [a] Marine veteran, the new Orange County Veterans Cemetery means a great deal to me,” Pagano told New University. “It represents a promise kept to the men and women who served our great nation and chose to make Orange County their home.”