Posted May 5, 2010

This morning, the House Energy and Commerce Committee met to consider and vote on the "Bereaved Consumer's Bill of Rights Act of 2009" (H.R. 3655). The bill was pulled from consideration at the request of its primary sponsor, Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., because of his concern and opposition to an amendment, co-sponsored by Representatives Phil Gingrey, R-Ga., and Jane Harmon, D-Calif., to exempt non-profit religious cemeteries from the bill. Rush was concerned that for-profit cemetery operators could use the exemption to escape the requirements of the rule.

While there was bipartisan support for the bill, and it most likely would have passed had the amendment not been introduced, it was pulled so committee staff could draft language that would address the concerns of Rush, Gingrey and Harmon. The committee will bring H.R 3655 back up for consideration when agreement on an acceptable amendment has be drafted, which is expected to in the next few weeks. It is, therefore, vital that you contact your representatives to demonstrate your support for this important legislation. The coming weeks will be critical to passage of this bill in the House.

What is H.R. 3655?
H.R. 3655 would require the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to initiate a separate rule covering all sellers of funeral or burial goods or services, including cemeteries, crematories and third-party sellers of funeral or burial goods or services.

Why support H.R. 3655?

• If passed, H.R. 3655 would require the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to initiate a separate rule covering all sellers of funeral or burial goods or services.
• If passed, this bill would protect families by requiring cemeteries, crematories and third-party providers to provide the same minimum disclosures you are required to provide under the FTC Funeral Rule.
• H.R. 3655 would not impose new fines or penalties on funeral homes. The fines that would apply to other providers under H.R. 3655 are the same that apply to you under the Funeral Rule. Few, if any, funeral homes have ever received the maximum fine, and no funeral home has been put out of business because of a fine.

What will happen if H.R. 3655 does not pass?
If H.R. 3655 does not pass, it would leave a critical part of funeral service lacking federal regulation. In a dramatically changed marketplace, with new and non-traditional sellers offering many more choices for purchasing funeral or burial goods or services, consumers take a risk in dealing with these providers in a lightly, and sometimes even unregulated, environment.

What can I do to support passage of H.R. 3655?
For years, NFDA members have asked the association, their legislators and the FTC to elevate professional practices for all sellers of funeral or burial goods or services by expanding the Funeral Rule. This is your chance to make this happen! Tomorrow may be too late!

NFDA needs you to take the following action immediately:

1. Use NFDA's Congress-at-Click tool to send a pre-written email to your representative. Go to www.nfda.org/congressataclick and click on "Take Action."
2. Call the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee at 202-225-2927 and 202-225-3641 to express your support of H.R. 3655 – you need to call BOTH numbers.
3. Call your member of Congress and tell him/her to contact the Energy and Commerce Committee to express support for H.R. 3655. (Contact info for your congressman is easily found using Congress-at-a-Click, www.nfda.org/congressataclick.)
4. Tell your funeral service friends, colleagues and employees and ask them to take action in support of H.R. 3655 today! If your friends and colleagues are not NFDA members and, therefore, cannot access Congress-at-a-Click, but they still want to urge their representatives to support H.R. 3655, tell them to visit http://house.gov/ and use the "Find Your Representative" tool in the upper left-hand corner of the page.

I have questions about this bill; who can I contact?
If you have questions about H.R. 3655, please call NFDA at 800-228-6332 and ask to speak to a member of the Advocacy Division staff.