Committee backs first funeral‑directors fee increase since 2002 to restore board solvency

The Joint Government Operations Committee on June 17 recommended that the Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers adopt a package of fee increases designed to return the board to a financially self‑sufficient position.

Reid Witcher, assistant commissioner for regulatory boards at the Department of Commerce and Insurance, told the committee the proposed increase is the board’s first since 2002 and that prior decreases (including one in 2018) underscored the need to restore reserves. "The proposed fees will allow the board to remain self sufficient through at least 2032," Witcher said. The department set an effective date of July 1 to allow licensees to renew at the old rate before the change takes effect.

A committee member (speaker 5) asked whether a phased series of smaller increases would be more manageable for small businesses than a large one‑time jump; Witcher said committee guidance requires fee increases only after programs meet specific fiscal criteria — multiple years operating in the red and reserve balances below one year of expenditures — and that the board has now met those criteria, prompting a single increase projected across two licensure cycles.

The committee moved and seconded a motion for a positive recommendation. The transcript records roll‑call votes in the senate in which at least two senators registered no votes during numbered roll calls; the chair announced the committee had a positive recommendation to move the rule forward. The measure will proceed through the regular legislative process for final action.

The committee did not receive public comment during its consideration of the rule.