[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6285372,"mediaKeyId","2573097-997729b45da5bf1aca9a2ff51b7b3c63","parentId",2573097,"title","Subcommittee debates funeral profession regulation; central question is whether 'physical attendance' can include live online classes","audioSeconds",2510,"startMs",742805,"endMs",3252940,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2573097-997729b45da5bf1aca9a2ff51b7b3c63&start=742&end=3252","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2573097-997729b45da5bf1aca9a2ff51b7b3c63/thumbnail_742805.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6285372/South-Carolina/Subcommittee-debates-funeral-profession-regulation-central-question-is-whether-physical-attendance-can-include-live-online-classes","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6285372-370d01d8163092dca2088fb2281d263e/orig.mp4?Expires=1770437858&Signature=BYM4bmF9l-Xc54-EXPXtJE-siD7ibXk41RzdKhHFhdYIdbTXBFKJ9CO~0ZEv1zAM9J07yVdRknZzpuHkQg1mIXeclq9Gb0YoSSSCdLXusvCjuUu2gfa8G73DQayUbIhs4eCVaUtJuWHngKVFTiAbYmdNGXzXulwXbInkIi0JC8XZVkhJY6hhsiVIQrJKDYbu97iPgtZ8MnOckGhyLm46jh6gX3MogvWnxtU1v5NKpu1hQevmqCaPEmNWQyc0ACdeB~DKmT-Rc2dU~~jkDUEsxCu4qOygzpLs8vmCkR-EU3eJxwQ4RLT9FPjqr7tUhj~2g3n2RdJqCkc6FDsS5QWmFg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","South Carolina Legislature","date","2025-03-12T00:00:00Z","article","A Senate Labor, Commerce and Industry subcommittee reviewed proposed amendments to chapter 57 of the Code of Regulations that implement a 2024 statute affecting funeral service licensure, crematory requirements and continuing education for embalmers and funeral directors.

The regulation package updates definitions related to cremation, clarifies licensure-by-endorsement rules, removes blanket prohibitions on licensure for certain convictions, updates funeral establishment website requirements, and adds crematory requirements that reference alkaline hydrolysis. It also repeals older sections on crematory operator training and preceptor rules. The package was previously carried over because of disagreement over continuing-education language.

Regulation staff told the subcommittee the disputed language stems from the statute’s requirement that licensees complete a minimum number of continuing-education credits and that \"2 of the 4 hours\" require \"physical attendance\". Board staff and some industry witnesses said the statute’s phrasing is ambiguous in places, notably whether credits are counted annually or per renewal period and what \"physical attendance\" means in the era of live, interactive online (synchronous) classes.

Senator Williams and representatives of the South Carolina Funeral Directors Association (SCFDA) argued in favor of keeping an in‑person option. SCFDA President Shannon Dotson and other association representatives said in‑person instruction provides hands‑on training, networking and best practices sharing that matter for a profession that serves grieving families in person. Dotson said the industry has worked toward in‑person training for years and cited recent in‑person programs the industry offered, including a certified crematory operator program held the day before the SCFDA midwinter conference.

Board executive Natalie Mickens and agency staff noted prior practice allowed most continuing education to be completed online and that the board recently interpreted \"physical\" to include online synchronous instruction (live classes where attendees can interact with the instructor in real time). Speakers highlighted confusion caused by mixed wording in the statute — alternating references to annual and biannual renewal cycles, and to correspondence courses — and several members urged clarifying legislation.

Committee members discussed options: (1) allow the agency to proceed with a regulation that explicitly defines online synchronous learning as satisfying the physical attendance requirement (the House subcommittee had directed withdrawal and resubmission with such language); (2) ask the agency to withdraw the continuing-education portion from regulation and rely on the statute until the legislature cleans the law; or (3) hold the regulation and seek a statutory cleanup. Several senators said the statute as written appears poorly worded and will require legislative clarification regardless of the immediate regulatory path.

The subcommittee agreed to send the regulation to the full committee with an explanatory note and to carry other pending bills; members emphasized the need for a statutory cleanup to remove ambiguity about annual versus renewal‑period counting and the definition of \"physical attendance.\" No final regulatory adoption occurred at the hearing.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Senate Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee -- L.C.I. Regulatory and Local Government Subcommittee Wednesday, March 12, 2025 9:00 am ","oneSentenceSummary","A Senate subcommittee reviewed proposed amendments to chapter 57 of the Code of Regulations affecting funeral directors and embalmers, focusing on whether the statute’s \"physical attendance\" continuing-education requirement can include live online instruction.","taxTitle","Labor, Commerce and Industry, Standing, Senate, Committees, Legislative, South Carolina","taxId",17642,"location","South Carolina","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6285377,"Subcommittee pauses bill that would let nonprofits list detailed demographics in incorporation filings",371,1440,372450,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2573097-997729b45da5bf1aca9a2ff51b7b3c63&start=1&end=372","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2573097-997729b45da5bf1aca9a2ff51b7b3c63/thumbnail_1440.jpg","/articles/6285377/South-Carolina/Subcommittee-pauses-bill-that-would-let-nonprofits-list-detailed-demographics-in-incorporation-filings","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6285377-c00e9817441648480d2e004b7f18f616/orig.mp4?Expires=1770437858&Signature=gYz~QbJO3965mFve~uEtvW2wf1zEM8N1Es1dOT2R1lee4u0UaZgm1oe2b0DP3-p83ONpmbWs3wi7p4YycsXUnxIE8C4z4lcCML7of6z8BI3nmrvcyPOQ5RVVpIqiekoT3doZZZBY9GA3fenyrI8myUCOUssQtMlRunWCrYmevYTdA8CpZ-Ot1nFC6r1Ygz7Jtl~dLK37l76ddYhcJFzkMCY9AQLwV2F9MF8g81em2R0n~BLD~2haw2CZXh0MFLbmCDi1839-UWqXCav3SCWyi3lIu77wac27PqSsc2elQKHiAPdsRQJgxbu4NhD8trcj9mt7QuFMFGziEl0QwIg2BQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","A Senate Labor, Commerce and Industry subcommittee heard testimony on a bill that would allow a nonprofit or other entity soliciting charitable funds to include demographic details — age, education, ethnicity, gender, race, salary, disability status, military service and branch, first language and years of leadership — for its executive director, chief operating officer, president and founder in articles of incorporation and charity registration forms.

The bill’s language was outlined by a staff presenter at the start of the meeting. Melissa Dunlap, deputy secretary of state and chief counsel, told the subcommittee the Secretary of State’s office enforces charity solicitation registration and has concerns about the proposed data collection and retention.

Dunlap said the office currently holds basic entity data (name, type, status) and that the new demographic fields would be considered personally identifying information. She noted the office’s privacy policy follows what she described as the “South Carolina Bridal Protection Act” and warned that the proposed change could create privacy risks, increase exposure to identity theft and require major system changes and encryption for both online and paper filings. Dunlap also pointed out filing practices vary: not every one of the roughly “90,568 nonprofits” and “over 17,600 charities” on file would necessarily supply the optional fields, which would limit the usefulness of any resulting dataset.

Senators on the subcommittee asked whether the Secretary of State would merely store the filed document image or also index and make the added fields searchable. Dunlap replied that the office’s online filing system stores entered data and that paper submissions are imaged and then manually entered by staff; she said the office lacks fields and reporting tools to reliably pull aggregated reports of the new demographic elements without reworking databases and processes.

Committee members said they were unclear about the underlying policy goal of the bill and suggested the sponsor from Richland be asked to explain the need before the subcommittee acts. One senator said the data could be found on nonprofit websites and questioned why it should be made a state-record requirement. Another member asked staff to consider whether data collectors such as TogetherSC or nonprofit councils might be better sources for researchers.

The subcommittee agreed to carry the bill over to seek clarification from the bill sponsor and to allow more information about purpose, scope and system impacts to be provided to members prior to further action. No formal vote on adoption was recorded.

The matter will be re‑listed only after the sponsor or other proponents explain the statutory purpose and how privacy, identity‑theft risk and fiscal impacts would be addressed.","A Senate Labor, Commerce and Industry subcommittee heard testimony on a bill that would allow nonprofits to include demographic details of executives in incorporation and charity registration documents.","actionData","errors"]

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Subcommittee debates funeral profession regulation; central question is whether 'physical attendance' can include live online classes

Subcommittee pauses bill that would let nonprofits list detailed demographics in incorporation filings