My Two Cents Worth

From the Desk of the Executive Secretary:

My Two Cents Worth--

images/Coffeeholder.jpg

Last Updated: Saturday, February 6, 2010

The 2010 Kansas Legislature Updated 2-6-2010

The 2009-2010 Kansas Legislature convened for year two of the two year 2009-2010 Legislative Session on Monday, January 11, 2010.

Senate Bill 391 Anatomical Gifts; First person donor registry. SB 391 Fiscal Note SB 391 Supplemental Note The bill would amend two sections of the Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act enacted in 2007. It passed the Senate, 39-0 and has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.

Senate Bill 475 A bill introduced at the request of the Kansas Funeral Directors Association (KFDA) defining funeral services, for the purpose of regulating funeral directors. The bill would amend KSA 2009 Supp. 65-1713 and would repeal the existing section. SB 475 Fiscal Note A hearing is scheduled for 1:30 pm on Thursday, February 11, 2010 at the State Capitol in Room 546-S with the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee.

Senate Bill 506 A bill introduced at the request of the Kansas State Board of Mortuary Arts (KSBMA) that would set up licensure of individual crematory operators and increase the fee maximums of the KSBMA. It would amend KSA 65-1760, 65-1763, 65-1764, 65-1765, 65-1766, 65-1767 and KSA 2009 Supp. 65-1727 and 65-1762 and would repeal the existing sections. The bill was referred to the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee.

House Bill 2588 A bill introduced at the request of the KFDA that would increase the maximum limitation on irrevocable prefinanced funeral agreement funds from $5,000 to $7,000. The bill would amend KSA 16-303 and repeal the existing section. The bill was referred to the House Health and Human Services Committee.

House Bill 2589 A bill introduced at the request of the KFDA that add disclosures on prefinanced funeral agreements. The bill was referred to the House Health and Human Services Committee where a hearing will be held on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 1:30 p.m. in the Docking State Office Building (DSOB), Room 784 (due to construction in the State Capitol Building.)

Some of the above files are pdf documents. If you do not already have Adobe Acrobat Reader already installed on your computer, please visit their site to download it.

To see the full text of the bills, simply click on the bill numbers provided above. To view the legislative history of any bill, please select Kansas Legislature and go down to the bottom right side of the Legislative website and enter the bill number under Track a Bill.

Some previous legislation affecting the KSBMA can be found on the Legislative Page of this website.

An informal Attorney General Opinion requested by the KSBMA for the Kansas Funeral Directors Association (KFDA) involving if a person who acts as an agent for families in securing cremation services (direct cremation provider) is practicing the business of funeral directing without a license in violation of K.S.A. 65-1714. ADDED 1-25-2010

Embalming Reports I know you've heard this from me in the past, but everyone should be using them--for a number of reasons! Kansas law doesn't require them, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be using them. It helps if a family asks questions after disposition or if remains are shipped via public transportation, and you are unable to recall the condition of the deceased prior to embalming, type/amont ot fluid used . . . Some examples of reports that I discovered searching the internet, include: Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 Example 4 to just list a few. I suggest you contact your fluid salesperson or do some searching yourself for the one that fits your needs--or even put one together yourself, but require a signature, date and time.

The December 2009 Mortuary Management has an interesting editorial entitled The Effect of Costco and Wal-Mart on Funeral Service . . . written by Ron Hast. To subscribe, you can go to the Abbott and Hast website for pricing information.

Web Site Activity There were 98,250 successful requests for access to the KSBMA web site in the month of January. UPDATED 2-1-2010

Rule Book Update We've updated our rule book with laws current as of October 15, 2009. The rule book can be printed off at no cost to your from our website or you can purchase a copy by sending $5.00 to our office. If you have a good quality printer that will print both back and fronts, then free is a good price. Otherwise, with a total of approximately 50 pages, $5.00 may be the way to go. The rule book is saved in Adobe Acrobat Reader (pdf) format. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader already installed on your computer, please visit their site to download it at no cost.

The American Society of Embalmers (ASE) If you're a licensed embalmer and haven't yet taken a look at joining the ASE, I suggest you checkout the ASE Website for membership information. Their quarterly newsletter is worth the price of membership which is currently only $75 for the initial year and $45 per year thereafter. Student membership is available, also. You can join with a credit card online or you can print off a membership application, and pay via check. ASE Co-Founder Bob Mayer, CFSP, was Recognized by the National Funeral Directors Association at their 2009 Annual Convention in Boston. The ASE Executive Director is Melissa Johnson Williams, CFSP, who is also a Co-Founder of the ASE. Kansas licensee Mark McDonald from Beloit is on the ASE's Board of Directors.

UPDATED 1-13-2010 Effective January 15, 2010, all certified copies of Kansas death certificates ordered through the KDHE/Office of Vital Statistics will cost $15 each instead of $13 for the first certified copy and $8 for each additional copy per order. A copy of the regulations addressing the new cost can be found in the December 31, 2009 edition of the Kansas Register, Vol. 28, No. 53, on page 1809.

PLEASE NOTE that some of the information on our web site is in pdf/Adobe Acrobat Reader format. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader already installed on your computer, please visit their site to download it.

KSBMA License Fees Look for our license fees to remain the same for the upcoming two-year biennial licensing period of January 1, 2010 until December 31, 2011. This will mean that fees will have remained the same for six (6) consecutive years, three (3) biennial licensure period. We do our best to not raise fees unless we absolutely have to. Fee increases have occurred in 1994, 2000 and 2006.

Questions, Thoughts, Suggestions??? Please let me know if there is anything else you would like to see us include on this page or anywhere on our website. Constructive criticism is always appreciated. Our contact information is listed below. My direct email address is: mack.smith@ksbma.ks.gov Happy Holidays to you and yours! UPDATED 12-30-2009

KSBMA Executive Secretary
Mack Smith

700 SW Jackson Street, Suite 904 - Topeka, Kansas 66603-3733
phone:(785) 296-3980 - fax:(785) 296-0891 - email: boma1@ksbma.ks.gov

Business Hours: 8 a.m.-12 noon & 12:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday - Friday
Please leave us a message on our voice mail if we are unable to answer your call or send us an email at: boma1@ksbma.ks.gov

***Due to the State of Kansas changing over to a new financial management system (FMS), attendance at meetings by our office staff (Mary and Mack) will require that our telephones be placed on voice mail from time to time. I apologize for this, but we will return all phone calls and emails just as soon as possible.***