LSL H.B. 1672 75(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


PUBLIC HEALTH
H.B. 1672
By: Janek
3-19-97
Committee Report (Unamended)


BACKGROUND 

Since 1984, federal regulation of the funeral industry in this country has
been vested with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).  In 1992, the FTC
proposed a series of sweeping changes designed to better inform consumers
of their various rights and options when arranging a funeral. Included in
the proposal was a stipulation that any state which adopted rules and
regulations at least as stringent as the FTC specified requirements could
petition to be excluded from FTC regulations. 

Beginning in 1993, the Texas Funeral Service Commission and the Texas
Legislature went about the task of adopting and implementing the changes
necessary to meet the federal guidelines. However, only one state in the
entire country, Arizona, has been issued an FTC exemption, and the FTC
has since declined to grant other state petitions. 

A problem, that currently needs correcting, is that both state and federal
law in Texas require that nearly identical disclosures be printed verbatim
on the same documents.  This duplication has proven to be very confusing
to families making funeral arrangements.   

PURPOSE

HB 1672 eliminates unnecessary statutory language regarding printed notice
requirements since the federal government mandates a nearly identical
notice on the same documents. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any
additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency or
institution. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Subsections S and T, Section 1, Chapter 251, Acts of the
53rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1953 (Article 4582b, Vernon's Texas
Civil Statutes) by deleting the printed notice requirements found in these
subsections.  

SECTION 2. Effective date is September 1, 1997.

SECTION 3. Emergency Clause.