BILL ANALYSIS

S.B. 755

By: Van de Putte

Public Health

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

A public postsecondary school that provides a funeral services educational program is not allowed to establish on-campus embalming facilities because state law does not permit funeral establishments on tax-exempt property.

That law hinders students trying to complete the 10 embalmings required as part of a funeral services educational program. The current practice for obtaining the required embalming experience involves mortuary science faculty contacting private funeral establishments to schedule training for their students.  This practice requires that the private establishment obtain permission from the family of the deceased to allow a student to work on a family member's remains.  Faculty members often find it difficult to schedule embalming at these facilities.  Often there are no bodies available to train with during the hours that a class is scheduled to meet.  With an increasing enrollment roster, these schools need the ability to accommodate the growing demand for funeral services education.  This bill would help address that need and provide consistent comprehensive training of embalming procedures.

S.B. 755 exempts from certain licensing requirements a funeral establishment located on the real property of a public junior college and operated in connection with an accredited educational program in funeral services offered by the junior college. 

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.

ANALYSIS

S.B. 755 amends the Occupations Code to exempt a funeral establishment located on the real property of a public junior college and operated in connection with an accredited educational program in funeral services offered by the junior college from the licensing requirement that a funeral establishment be located at a fixed place that is neither a tax-exempt property nor a cemetery.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the act does not receive the necessary vote, the act takes effect September 1, 2009.