House Bill 08-1123, regarding licensure and registration for funeral directors died in the Colorado Senate this legislative session.

For 7 years the Colorado Funeral Directors Association with varied levels of support and assistance from funeral home owners and industry leaders has introduced a bill on registration and/or licensure of funeral service personnel. Although Colorado has a lot of laws regarding funeral service; burial, cremation, embalming, and standards of practice, what we haven’t had since 1982 is licensure or registration of those people responsible for knowing and carrying out the laws. 

It is important to note the bills introduced through the years had a licensure component simply for those who had chosen (or would choose in the future) to voluntarily go to mortuary school and pass their National Board Exam; all others in the industry would simply have registered with the State.

So, after 7 years of trying to bring individual accountability why did the bills continue to fail year after year? Here are some of the arguments I heard from the lawmakers themselves through the years. These are all quotes I heard with my own ears; some of them are accurate statements, others are just plain silly.

1. •  “There was licensure in Noble, Georgia and that didn’t stop crematory operators from breaking the law.”
   

2. •  “Colorado has not made national news with any horror stories on our funeral industry.”
   

3. •  “The funeral bill would raise the cost of funerals for consumers.”
   

4. •  “I don’t want to allow the industry to be taken from no regulation to licensure in one year.”
   

5. •  “Funeral directors in rural Colorado won’t be able to take vacations.”
   

6. •  “We already have pre-need and insurance laws in Colorado.”
   

7. •  “We already have Federal OSHA standards to regulate the embalming room, and the Federal Trade Commission, FTC Rule to regulate pricing.”
   

8. •  “The Mortuary Science Code was updated in 2004, that’s good enough.”
   

9. •  “This bill would over-regulate an industry that has done a fine job regulating itself since 1982.”
   

10. •  “There aren’t enough consumer complaints.”
    

11. •  “This bill would restrict competition in the industry.”
    

Having entered the funeral business in 1988, six years after the funeral licensing laws expired; I have never worked with a license in Colorado. After I graduated from Mortuary School in 1991, I earned my voluntary Mortuary Science Practitioner (MSP) certification through the Colorado Funeral Service Board by passing my National Board Exam and serving a voluntary one year internship under a registered MSP.

At the end of the day the passage of this bill wouldn’t have done anything for me personally other than perhaps provided an additional layer of respect by my peers outside of Colorado. Despite not having a license, I have contributed to the funeral industry on a national level in a variety of ways.

At the end of day the passage of this bill would have formalized a place for consumers to register their complaints with the State, however they can still file law-suits, contact the media, and tell all of their friends, “Don’t use ABC Funeral Home.”

At the end of day, the graduates of the Mortuary Science Program at Arapahoe Community College in Colorado can still pursue a license in 49 other states. 

I am privileged to have worked for 20 years with some of the most professional people I know, the funeral directors and embalmers in Colorado.