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House Business Committee approves updated mortician licensing rules, raises fees to address shortfall
Summary
The House Business Committee on Jan. 21 approved a rewrite of the State Board of Morticians rules that clarifies training and practice standards and raises fees to address a Board cash shortfall.
The House Business Committee approved a rewrite of the Idaho State Board of Morticians administrative rules on Jan. 21, 2025, adopting changes the board says remove duplicative statute language, clarify trainee supervision and practice standards, adjust continuing education timing, require inspections before initial licensure, and increase licensing fees to improve the board’s cash balance.
John Price, Bureau Chief for the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses, told the committee the rewrite organizes the chapter by legal authority, scope, licensure, approved examinations, practice standards, discipline and fees. He said the rules remove duplicative language, clarify what “immediately available” supervision means (in person or remote), and change continuing education from eight annual hours to 10 hours every two years.
"This allows a trainee to take time off for holidays or possible vacations without interfering with their ability to complete licensure," Mr. Price said describing a change that requires 12 months of supervised training within a three‑year training period rather than 50 consecutive weeks in a single year.
Price also reported that the board is proposing a roughly 20% fee increase and a move to a biennial fee cycle to meet a division directive from last year’s budget language requiring boards to maintain a cash balance target. Under the example he gave, an annual funeral director license that cost $85 would convert to a $170 biennial fee and with the 20% increase be $200 under the new schedule. Price told the committee the board was operating “just under $60,000 in the red” as of Sept. 30, 2024, and that a single 20% increase would not immediately reach the division’s desired cash balance target.
Committee members asked about rationale and fiscal timing. Price said the change to biennial licensing and the 20% increase are intended “to bring them closer to that 30% of operating expenses” target set out in the division’s guidance tied to Senate Bill 1442. He told members it would take a substantially larger increase (about 135%) to hit the 30% target by 2029.
The committee vote to approve the docket was by voice and recorded as approved.
No public testimony was recorded at the meeting on this docket. Committee members said further technical questions could be addressed at subsequent rulemaking steps if necessary.
