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.