Posted March 7, 2011

At NFDA's request, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) reintroduced the "Bereaved Consumers Bill of Rights Act" (H.R. 900) in the House last week Thursday.

The bill would require the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to adopt a rule that would regulate all cemeteries, crematories and third-party sellers of funeral or burial services or merchandise to the public. VA cemeteries, cemeteries that conduct fewer than 25 burials per year, and cemeteries that are owned, managed and operated by a religious organization would be exempt from the rule. Religious cemeteries that are operated or managed by a for-profit funeral company and state and municipal cemeteries would not be exempt from the new rule. The requirements of the new rule would be similar to those that funeral homes must adhere to under the FTC Funeral Rule.

NFDA has long supported federal regulation of cemeteries, crematories and other sellers of funeral or burial goods or services because state laws are haphazard and inconsistent at best, and non-existent at worst. Moreover, the marketplace for funeral and burial goods and services has changed, giving consumers more choices than ever before. Consumers risk being subjected to the very practices that the FTC sought to prohibit when it promulgated the Funeral Rule in 1984.

The introduction of H.R. 900 could not have come at a better time because funeral directors from around the country will gather this week in Washington, D.C. for the 2011 NFDA Advocacy Summit. NFDA members will be joined by their colleagues from the Cremation Association of North America, National Funeral Directors & Morticians Association, International Order of the Golden Rule, Selected Independent Funeral Homes, and KAVOD – Independent Jewish Funeral Chapels. Attendees will play a particularly important role in helping to educate new members of Congress about issues of concern to the profession.

Look for further analysis of and reaction to the reintroduction of H.R. 900 in this week's issue of Memorial Business Journal.

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