Legislative Update

By Joe Sellwood, Cook Girard Associates

The 2022 legislative session began with significant action on issues involving funeral service. In the second week of session, legislators looked to pass certain waivers that were in place during the Governor’s Peacetime Emergency. The waivers, focusing on hospitals, long-term care, childcare, and mortuary science, had expired in August of 2021, and the new legislation would re-implement the measures through June of 2022. Following discussions with the Department of Health and legislators, the mortuary science waivers were not included in the legislation. This was the ideal outcome specifically on unlicensed removals, as policymakers wanted the issue dealt with in legislation rather than making a significant but very temporary change. On Monday, March 7th, the House Health Finance & Policy Committee heard House File 1888 from Representative John Huot (DFL – Rosemount). MFDA’s current Treasurer and Legislative Committee Chair, Brian Dingmann, spoke on behalf of the Minnesota Funeral Directors Association against the original HF1888 language. Dingmann did note that MFDA would continue to work with the bill’s author to try and find a solution. After much work from MFDA, lawmakers and other stakeholders, an agreement was reached on permitting removals by individuals other than licensed funeral directors. On Tuesday, March 22nd, the House Health Finance & Policy committee again took up HF1888, but this time it included new language only dealing with removals by unlicensed individuals. Following MFDA’s work on the legislation, and the commitment to achieving consensus among stakeholders and legislators – the new language of HF 1888 builds on MFDA’s proposal for registered Transfer Care Specialists. The legislation now includes oversight by the Department of Health, requires supervision by a licensed mortician, and includes required training for the Transfer Care Specialist. HF 1888, now amended with the new language, passed the committee unanimously. The following day, the Senate Health and Human Services Finance & Policy committee took up the companion bill, Senate File 1847 from Senator Mark Koran (R – North Branch) and amended it with the compromise language. The bill also extends the storage timeline for refrigerated remains and permits the cremation of limbs. The committee passed the bill with unanimous support. The bills now await action in the House Ways and Means committee and the Senate Finance committee. The bill’s authors, Representative Huot and Senator Koran, as well as Representative Joe Schomacker (R – Luverne) who authored MFDA’s Transfer Care Specialist proposal, worked hard to gain agreement among stakeholders while finding a solution that helps the funeral profession. MFDA is thankful to these legislators for their work on this important and challenging issue. Much remains unknown about how the 2022 session will play out. There is significant disagreement on substantial legislation dealing with the unemployment insurance trust fund, bonus pay to frontline workers, and how to spend or not spend the state’s $9.3 billion projected surplus. The legislature must complete its work by May 23rd, and the Minnesota Funeral Directors Association will continue to guide impactful policies through the remainder of the 2022 session.

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