S.B. 61 Funeral Services Licensing Amendments: transcript

Senate Business and Labor Committee, Jan 21, 2026

1. Committee chair2:24:40

   to the first item on the agenda. Senate Bill 61 funeral service licensing amendments. And I understand that you had a have a substitute on that, is that correct?

2. Sen. Jen Plumb2:24:51

   I do. Early Bird and the worm, there's a thing they say about that. Careful what you wish for. You end up with seven bills in a day. I appreciate everyone's patience on the committee.

3. Committee chair2:25:02

   Do you want to try to move the sub now, or, Um, Do you wanna discuss the bill and then move the sub?

4. Sen. Jen Plumb2:25:09

   Let's go ahead and move the sub and I'll just explain what the context of the changes are.

5. Committee chair2:25:13

   Okay. Why don't you do that? Why don't you go ahead and propose

6. Sen. Don L. Ipson2:25:16speaker not certain

   Oh, yeah, I'd, uh, move that we delete and,

7. Committee chair2:25:20

   No, why don't you go ahead and discuss the Oh, discuss it before you accept it.

8. Sen. Jen Plumb2:25:23

   So, um, there has been interesting conversations in the funeral spaces as some of, uh, related to some of the other bills that I've run. And so, Senate Bill 61 is addressing a piece about what disposition means. So when there's some, uh, transactional piece about what happens when somebody passes, uh, what the next step for them is, but then also what happens between, say, a funeral home and a family when they acquire the remains. That's what this bill is addressing. This is, uh, essentially a little bit of a cleanup bill from working with some people in the industry funeral industry space. And there, as we had more and more conversations were some bits of clarity that were requested. And so the language in the sub is just going a bit further to help clarify what disposition means and, and that kind of piece. So it, it's really just going further towards clarity on that.

9. Committee chair2:26:25

   Thank you. Uh, we'll go to Senator Ipson for a motion.

10. Sen. Don L. Ipson2:26:35

    So I make a motion that we delete entitled Body Senate Bill 61 and replaced it, replace it with first substitute Senate bill 61 funeral service licensing amendments.

11. Committee chair2:26:48

    Okay. The motion before us is to substitute the bill. Any discussion to that motion? Seeing none.

12. Sen. Jen Plumb2:26:54

    Do you have any further summation? Senator Plumb? No. That, that about sums it up.

13. Committee chair2:26:59

    Okay. And we'll place the motion. Uh, all in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Say nay. Thank you. I saw a hand go up in the audience just to kind of clarification the way the process works is as legislators when we substitute a bill. We'll, we'll now discuss the bill and if, and when we get to public comment, if you have a comment on the bill, you can come forward, but say thanks. Uh, okay. The substitute bill is before US Senator Plumb.

14. Sen. Jen Plumb2:27:23

    Thank you, Mr. Chair. And members of the committee. Folks who've joined us today, as I mentioned, um, perhaps an unexpected, uh, foray into policy space since I was elected, was looking at some of the pieces of policy around funeral policies and funeral options that people have. And this bill came out of conversations around advocates for people in this space as consumers, as well as providers. And it seems that there's been some discussion back and forth about, you know, what actually happens in the ends of, of someone's time. And there's been pieces and transactions that have happened in the funeral homes, um, uh, between the families or the loved ones and, and the deceased. And there's certain things that happen after that. For example, you may be picking up remains. You may be having a burial in a cemetery. You may have these sort of different options. And there's pieces about that, one of which is about getting a, a receipt on it. That felt a little, I don't know, the way it was described to me, it felt a little too transactional, right? Like a receipt for picking up your loved one fills off. Um, there was also some requirements that, uh, you would have to perhaps tell the funeral entity what you were going to do with those remains within the next 60 days. That also, you know, there's just some pieces there that, that didn't feel supportive of the industry as well as of the consumers. And so this is on some level, a bit of a cleanup bill that is, um, addressing some of that language and also adding, um, some clarity around what that means. Um, not a big change in policy, not a big movement as some of the other bills that I've looked into are. This is, um, a bit of a cleanup. And that's it about it for me. Okay.

15. Committee chair2:29:23

    Come back to committee for, uh, questions. Senator Water.

16. Unidentified senator (called Senator Water)2:29:27speaker not certain

    Yeah, so I'm, I'm just curious, um, what stakeholders you've been working with and if there's a general buy-in from the funeral home community, um, of stakeholders for these changes.

17. Sen. Jen Plumb2:29:39

    Yes, and I, I am hopeful that perhaps there'll be, uh, some voices here worked with, uh, I've heard there's people dying to testify. Oh, somehow I should have known that it would come. You started It. I did two years ago. And what was I, um, the, from the, the first contact was made to me by, uh, a bit, uh, of an advocate in the consumer industry space, and then have spoken as well with, um, the lobbyist for the industry, and they have since connected as well. So there's been a, a bit of a full circle there on that. I, I would not purport to be an industry specialist, but I, I have really come to appreciate the work that these folks do in caring for us and for our loved ones in these really challenging times. And so I'd like to help.

18. Committee chair2:30:29

    Thank you. Any other questions from the committee? Okay. Let's go to the public then. Uh, those, and then the public, we've got a couple that'd like to testify. Please come up as you come up. Just, um, state your name, who you represent, if anyone, and then, uh, please, uh, as you leave, you don't have to do it first, but sign in before you leave.

19. Joyce Mitchell, Funeral Consumers Alliance of Utah2:30:50

    My name is Joyce Mitchell and I'm with the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Utah. And I am fully supportive of this bill. I love it. Lots of great changes that are really important. And, um, I, I just have another amendment, and I don't even know the substitute might have covered this, the, those definitions, but I have some suggested wording for the definitions. And I wonder if I might, uh, hand out this flyer. I did email you all last night, but this includes the definitions because I saw a need.

20. Committee chair2:31:29

    Yeah, if you can bring it up to our staff, we'll, we'll pass that out.

21. Joyce Mitchell, Funeral Consumers Alliance of Utah2:31:32

    And this, And to Mr. Chair that, uh, Ronan and I have spoken today a little bit about this. So we are, there is a dialogue. Uh, I, let's see. This proposal resolves inconsistencies between paragraph one and two when families stating what they will do with the remains and definitions sections of the code. Code currently, paragraph one allows a family to list the ultimate disposition as unknown, yet paragraph two grants the funeral home the right to dispose of those remains if the family doesn't specify a destination within 60 days. The purpose of the original language is to prevent improper disposition, though no guidance is given as to what is proper and there is no reporting. So the law should protect businesses by documenting exactly who walked out the door with the remains. And you see there, I wrote a little, um, note with my pen that 58 9 6 0 8 and recording already asked for the identify of the person and, um, what for them to state what they'll do with the remains, but to go overboard that the funeral home can now take those cremated remains and dispose of them for the family is just overboard. Um, this is relevant right now because the natural organic reduction bill later in the session copies the same poor logic and confusing terminology. So if we fix it now, a lot helps. That must be a bill we don't have in the committee. Is that correct? I know what bill that is. You do. It's an HHS you do. In Utah, we trust our citizens with a private transfer of firearms without requiring the state to track the final disposition or ultimate destination of that weapon. Currently, SB 61 attempts to micromanage the de well, not sb, not the bill. The actual wording of the law has been micromanaging the destination of cremated remains, which pose zero public health or safety risk more strictly than we manage the private transfer of a firearm. My amendment actually encodes recording. Who? Well, no, I, it won't record encode who picks up the remains because record keeping does that, I realize Grok told me.

22. Committee chair2:34:05

    I think maybe the pro, the prudent thing to do Joyce, is, uh, work with Senator Plumb. Uh, you know, we've got some, you know, you got some suggested language we sounds like we need to compare within the substitute bill. So if, if the bill passes out committee today, you know, you can continue to work with her that moves forward. And if it stays in committee, we can, you know, you can continue to work in the committee depending on what the committee decides to do.

23. Joyce Mitchell, Funeral Consumers Alliance of Utah2:34:28

    Thank you so much. Yeah.

24. Committee chair2:34:33

    Onward we go. Yes,

25. Kevin Daly, Utah Funeral Directors Association2:34:35

    That other bill, uh, Senator Plumb and I have, uh, Dewey, uh, nicknamed the Rose Bowl bill. We have in fact the Rose Bowl Bill. Hi, my name is, uh, Kevin Daley. I'm here representing the Utah Funeral Directors Association. Um, we have, we have worked with Senator Plumb on a certain part of this bill. Uh, the, the line about the oral pre-need contracts to remove the, the ability to do an oral pre-need contract doesn't make a lot of sense. Um, uh, however, the new, the new substitute stuff is new to us. We haven't had a chance to review that. Um, we would like to essentially offer two, two proposals for this one, one, given this, this new substitute and some of the changes that, uh, Ms. Mitchell is proposing, um, hold the bill and committee give us a chance to talk about that and, and massage that one. Or, um, this is a section of code that has, or, you know, this is a profession that has not yet been reviewed by the LER process, but is, uh, due to happen in the, in the near future. And we feel like that would be a good opportunity to, to do a full thorough review of how this whole process works with funeral homes, funeral directors, and uh, uh, the regulations regarding that. And so let us, let us go through that process and fix a lot of this stuff and that process when that comes about. So, um, yeah, one way or another, we would, we would encourage the committee to, to hold onto this bill. Give us a chance to, to go through some other processes first. Thanks.

26. Committee chair2:36:06

    Okay, thanks. Is there other others in the audience that'd like testify on this bill? Anyone on the line? Okay. No one, no one on line. We'll come back to the committee for further discussion or action. Senator Weiler?

27. Sen. Todd Weiler2:36:20

    Yeah, I've been waiting to ask this question for a while. It's been killing me. Um, so I'm just curious if there's any, uh, restrictions right now where like grandma's, uh, ashes can be, um, distributed after cremation?

28. Unknown speaker2:36:35speaker not certain

    Not that I'm aware of, but I am admittedly not a funeral, um, expert and I will not be coming one.

29. Sen. Todd Weiler2:36:45

    Okay, thank you. I'm done. So sorry, I can't help, but you're welcome to ask the others if you'd like. All Right. I was just dying to find out.

30. Committee chair2:36:51

    Okay. Thank you. Other discussion or, uh, motions? Senator McKay,

31. Sen. Daniel McCay2:37:02

    I'll move the house that Senate Bill 61, uh, be recommended to the full body Senate with a favorable recommendation.

32. Committee chair2:37:09

    Okay. Uh, the motion before us is to favorably recommends, uh, first substitute Senate bill 61, I think think with the understanding that there'll be some additional, uh, work on it before we see it on the floor. Um, any further discussion to that motion?

33. Sen. Jen Plumb2:37:25

    Senator Plumps? Any further summation? No. Thank you. I appreciate that, that we will continue, um, work to the extent that it is possible. Okay.

34. Committee chair2:37:32

    We'll place the motion. All in favor of that motion please say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Say nay rule. That pass unanimously. Thank you. Okay, one more item on the agenda Number item number two, Senate bill one 11