Hello, I have been watching the progress of Senate Bill 1952 because a portion of it was a reaction to what had occurred in Georgia at the crematory where the owner stacked and stored bodies rather than perform the service he was paid to perform. As originally written SB 1952 would have allowed the Dept. of Consumer Affairs Cemetery and Funeral Bureau to review whether there was also a need to regulate cemetery and funeral salespersons of religious corporations or entities - a group that has historically been with ANY regulation in California. In my opinion, after six years of researching cemeteries and cemetery operators in California, oversight of these entities would have been a good thing. Today's notice of an amendment shows me that this Bill has been all but completely gutted. It has been reduced to nothing more than a lip service bill and was probably heavily fought by those in the cemetery industry. Once again, California is going to miss the boat and consumers will pay for it. Perhaps not in dollar losses, but in terms of not having the peace of mind that those who they put their trust in (funeral directors and cemetery operators) will face no regulation and no penalties if they choose to underperform or worse. I am including the text of the amended bill. I will be writing to the authors as well as my state representatives. If you feel it's time to take this industry to task so that those who would defile or desecrate the dead will be held accountable, I would ask that you do the same. Those not interested, please ignore this posting. Sue Silver El Dorado County, CA **************************************************************** BILL NUMBER: SB 1952 AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 18, 2002 AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 2, 2002 INTRODUCED BY Senator Figueroa (Coauthors: Senators Johannessen and Polanco) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Aanestad, Correa, and Thomson) FEBRUARY 22, 2002 An act to amend Sections 144, 473.1, 9663, 9731, 9747, 9765, and 9786 of, and to add Sections 7612, 7746, 9610, 9750.5, 9764.1, and 9764.2 to, the Business and Professions Code, relating to professions and vocations. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1952, as amended, Figueroa. Cemetery and Funeral Bureau. Existing law creates a Joint Legislative Sunset Review Committee and authorizes it to review and evaluate various boards and commissions having duties and responsibilities relating to professions and occupations. This bill would provide for the committee review and evaluations of the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau in the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law provides for the regulation of funeral establishments, embalmers, cemeteries, and crematories by the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau in the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law requires a cemetery authority to display and make available to certain consumers , a copy of the consumer guide for funeral and cemetery purchases. The bill would require a cemetery authority or a cemetery licensee to provide a copy of the consumer guide to a consumer prior to drafting a contract for cemetery goods or services. Existing law requires a person who is delinquent in renewing a cemetery license or a crematory license or a cremated remains disposer registration to pay the fee plus an additional 50% of the renewal fee, but no more than the renewal fee plus $25. This bill would set the delinquency fee at 150% of the timely fee, but not less than the renewal fee plus $25. Existing law regulates preneed contracts for funeral services, and requires a funeral establishment to file an annual report with the bureau. This bill would require a funeral establishment that is exempt from filing an annual report or whose preneed trust funds are reported in a combined preneed trust report, to file a declaration of nonreporting status each year. The bill would require the bureau to conduct certain studies a study on the need to regulate 3rd-party casket retailers and report to the department and the Joint Legislative Sunset Review Committee on or before September 1, 2004. Existing law provides for the examination of applicants for a cemetery license or a crematory license by the bureau. The bill would provide that the fee for a crematory manager examination and reexamination shall be the actual cost to the bureau no more than $500, and that the fee for a cemetery manager examination and reexamination shall be no more than $900 . Because a violation of the provisions regulating funeral establishments is a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 144 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 144. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an agency designated in subdivision (b) shall require an applicant to furnish to the agency a full set of fingerprints for purposes of conducting criminal history record checks. Any agency designated in subdivision (b) may obtain and receive, at its discretion, criminal history information from the Department of Justice and the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation. (b) Subdivision (a) applies to the following boards or committees: (1) California Board of Accountancy. (2) State Athletic Commission. (3) Board of Behavioral Sciences. (4) Court Reporters Board of California. (5) State Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind. (6) California State Board of Pharmacy. (7) Board of Registered Nursing. (8) Veterinary Medical Board. (9) Registered Veterinary Technician Committee. (10) Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians. (11) Respiratory Care Board of California. (12) Hearing Aid Dispensers Advisory Commission. (13) Physical Therapy Board of California. (14) Physician Assistant Committee of the Medical Board of California. (15) Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Board. (16) Medical Board of California. (17) State Board of Optometry. (18) Acupuncture Board. (19) Cemetery and Funeral Bureau. (20) Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. (21) Division of Investigation. (22) Board of Psychology. (23) The California Board of Occupational Therapy. SEC. 2. Section 473.1 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 473.1. This division shall apply to all of the following: (a) Every board, as defined in Section 22, that is scheduled to become inoperative and to be repealed on a specified date as provided by the specific act relating to the board. (b) The Bureau for Postsecondary and Vocational Education. For purposes of this division, "board" includes the bureau. (c) The Cemetery and Funeral Bureau. SEC. 3. Section 7612 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read: 7612. The bureau shall do all of the following: (a) Conduct a comprehensive study of the need for the regulation of proprietary employees of religious corporations, churches, religious societies, and religious denominations. (b) Perform a market assessment to determine the number of third-party casket retailers and research the number of consumer complaints filed with the bureau and other government entities. to regulate third-party casket retailers. (c) (b) Report to the department and the Joint Legislative Sunset Review Committee on or before September 1, 2004, on the matters specified in subdivisions (a) and (b). matter. SEC. 4. Section 7746 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read: 7746. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a funeral establishment that is otherwise exempt from the requirement of filing an annual preneed trust report or whose preneed trust funds are reported in a combined preneed annual preneed trust report, shall annually file a declaration of nonreporting status with the bureau. (b) The declaration shall be filed on or before May 1 of each year and shall also be filed upon the transfer of ownership or the cessation of business. (c) The declaration shall be filed on a form provided by the bureau and shall include, but shall not be limited to, both of the following: (1) The basis upon which the funeral establishment is exempt from the annual trust reporting requirement. (2) The specific kind and nature of the exempt preneed arrangements, if any, in which the funeral establishment engages. (d) The declaration shall be verified by the funeral establishment' s owner, a partner, or in the case of a corporation, by the president or vice president. SEC. 5. Section 9610 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read: 9610. The bureau shall do both of the following: (a) Conduct a comprehensive study of the need for the regulation of proprietary employees of religious corporations, churches, religious societies, and religious denominations. (b) Report to the department and the Joint Legislative Sunset Review Committee on or before September 1, 2004, on the matter specified in subdivision (a). SEC. 6. Section 9663 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 9663. (a) The bureau shall make available to funeral establishments and cemetery authorities a copy of a consumer guide for funeral and cemetery purchases for purposes of reproduction and distribution. The funeral and cemetery guide that is approved by the bureau, in consultation with the funeral and cemetery industries and any other interested parties, shall be made available in printed form and electronically through the Internet. (b) A cemetery authority shall prominently display and make available to any individual who, in person, inquires about funeral or cemetery purchases, a copy of the consumer guide for funeral and cemetery purchases, reproduced as specified in subdivision (a). (c) Prior to drafting a contract for cemetery goods or services, the cemetery authority or cemetery licensee shall provide to the consumer, for retention, a copy of the consumer guide for funeral and cemetery purchases specified. SEC. 6. SEC. 7. Section 9731 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 9731. If a person fails to apply for a license renewal, no renewal license shall be issued except upon payment of the delinquent renewal fee required under Section 9750.5. No person who fails to renew his or her license within one year of the expiration date can engage in any of the activities authorized by such a license unless he or she first files the application required for an original license, pays the original license fee, and otherwise complies with all of the provisions of this act pertaining to the issuance of an original license. SEC. 7. SEC. 8. Section 9747 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 9747. If a person fails to apply for renewal of his or her cremated remains disposer registration prior to midnight of September 30th of the year for which the registration was issued, no renewal shall be issued except upon payment of the delinquent renewal fee required under Section 9750.5. SEC. 8. SEC. 9. Section 9750.5 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read: 9750.5. The delinquent renewal fee for a license, registration, or certificate of authority under this chapter shall be 150 percent of the timely fee, but not less than the renewal fee plus twenty-five dollars ($25). SEC. 9. SEC. 10. Section 9764.1 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read: 9764.1. The fees fee for a crematory manager examination shall be the actual cost to the bureau for developing, purchasing, grading, and administering the examination. and reexamination may not exceed five hundred dollars ($500). SEC. 10. SEC. 11. Section 9764.2 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read: 9764.2. The fee for a cemetery manager examination shall be the actual cost to the bureau for developing, purchasing, grading, and administering the examination. and reexamination may not exceed nine hundred dollars ($900). SEC. 11. SEC. 12. Section 9765 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 9765. Every cemetery authority operating a cemetery shall pay an annual regulatory charge for each cemetery to be fixed by the bureau at not more than four hundred dollars ($400). In addition to an annual regulatory charge for each cemetery, an additional quarterly charge of not more than eight dollars and fifty cents ($8.50) for each burial, entombment, or inurnment, and not more than eight dollars and fifty cents ($8.50) for each cremation made during the preceding quarter shall be paid to the department and these charges shall be deposited in the Cemetery Fund. If the cemetery authority performed the cremation and either the burial, entombment, or inurnment, the total of all additional charges shall be not more than eight dollars and fifty cents ($8.50). SEC. 12. SEC. 13. Section 9786 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 9786. Every crematory licensee operating a crematory pursuant to a license issued in compliance with this article shall pay an annual regulatory charge for each crematory, to be fixed by the bureau at not more than four hundred dollars ($400). In addition to an annual regulatory charge for each crematory, every licensee operating a crematory pursuant to a license issued pursuant to this article shall pay an additional charge of not more than eight dollars and fifty cents ($8.50) per cremation made during the preceding quarter, which charges shall be deposited in the Cemetery Fund. SEC. 13. SEC. 14. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.