Cemetery maintenance often comes to a standstill in a down economy
In a sign of the times a Funeral Director has gone before his City Council and pleaded for his city Cemetery. This all went down in Central Ohio. this is some interesting funeral news.
The City Cemetery appears to be be the causality of the recession and budget cuts.
“A local funeral director says the city of Marysville should reconsider a recommendation to scale back operations at Oakdale Cemetery.
Daryl Ingram of Ingram Funeral Home addressed city council members Thursday night, asking them to reconsider a proposal from the city administration to eliminate two full-time employees and one part-time employee who currently make up the city’s cemetery department.”-via www.thisweeknews.com
This city is considering running the cemetery with non professionals. When having a burial at a city, or private cemetery it is important to make inquiries about ownership and maintenance. This will help you come in under the average cost of a funeral.
It is also a lesson from the Burr Oak Cemetery Scandal: Check up on the maintenance an the owners of the cemetery of your choosing.
Burr Oak Cemetery has reopened (sort of). If want to check up on a loved one’s grave you can visit the cemetery before November 27th
Burr Oak Cemetery
You cannot drive there or walk in until November 27th 2009.Your ticket can be obtained from the owner of the Cemetery’s Burr Oak site, Perpetua, Inc at http://www.burroakalsip.com/
Burr Oak Cemetery is the site where Three Hundred Graves were desecrated and bones where piled up all over the Cemetery.Four people were arrested THERE IS MORE THAN A WORLD OF HURT THERE that still needs to still be resolved.
Part of the plan to keep traffic at the cemetery down is to open up on Black Friday the busiest shopping day of the Year.
In order to correct the Burr Oak Cemetery situation Illinois has proposed cemetery reform and the NATIONAL House of Representatives has proposed the Bereaved Consumers Bill of Rights Act.
The National Funeral Directors Association has sent a letter to Congressman’s Bobby Rush’s Office supporting the Bereaved Consumers Bill of Rights act- but there is a problem. There desire is sure enough, the National Funeral Directors wants cemeteries and some Third parties to come be brought by Congress into supporting H.R. 3655 but there is catch-their public statements in support of the funeral rule, do not match their public policy of Funeral Rule Elimination.
Congress Has proposed H.R.3655 Cemetery Reform
In other words they are all for the Funeral Rule applying to some one else but NOT to funeral Directors, who are their members.
(NFDA) is the major trade association to which
funeral directors belong.
Here are two quotes regarding The Funeral Rule
and NFDA’s public policy positions from the editor of
The Director, the official publication of NFDA, as
published in The Director in May, 2007.
“…this organization [NFDA] continues to
fight the FTC Funeral Rule through its public
policy positions.”
And,
“… it [NFDA] has also long had a Funeral
Rule elimination policy on the books.”
The comments on there facebook support this fact, funeral director a calling for Elimination of the Funeral Rule, a detriment to all funeral consumers in the consumers in the Land
Here is a partial quote from the letter:
“The letter states: “In our view, H.R. 3655 outlines for the FTC a rule which we have long argued was necessary, given a dramatically changed marketplace, with new and non-traditional sellers, many more choices for consumers to purchase funeral or burial goods or services, and the risks they take in dealing with them in a lightly, or even unregulated environment… We recognize that the most egregious scandals involving Burr Oak, Menorah Gardens and Tri-State Crematory would not necessarily have been prevented by such a rule. However, with uniform federal practice and disclosure standards, the regulatory and compliance bar will be raised for both state regulators and for cemetery and crematory owners and operators, as well as other sellers of funeral or burial goods or services… NFDA stands ready to support any and all efforts to have H.R. 3655 signed into law.”via www.facebook.com
Funeral Industry|Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy.
This bill will help the Consumer come in under the average cost of the Funeral.
The National Funeral Directors Association, NFDA, has given some support to the Bereaved Consumer Bill of Rights Act(also known as the Rush Bill, and the Bereaved Consumers Protection act) The bill which ends some funeral deceptions, and brings cemeteries under the funeral rule, contains much needed funeral and cemetery reform including some unbundling of funeral packages.
The extend of the NFDA’s Executive Board endorsement is not known at this time. It will be made available shortly.
“The NFDA Executive Board also voiced its support of the Bereaved Consumers Protection Act, referred to as the Rush Bill after U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) who introduced the bill on Sept. 22. Rush said the bill is designed to strengthen funeral home and cemetery regulation. Rush, who is chairman of the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection, said his bill is in response to the allegations made at Burr Oak Cemetery. In general, the bill calls on the FTC to “prescribe rules prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the provision of funeral services.”-MemorialBusinessJournal
A group of Independent Funeral directors have Reported on the Bereaved Consumers Bill of Rights Act. The Order of the Golden Rule (OGR) has reported on the new Cemetery Reform legislation in the Congress. The legislation was created in response to the Burr Oak Cemetery Scandal near Chicago, Illinois.
Burr Oak Cemetery
“U. S. Rep. Bobby Rush, Ill., introduced the Bereaved Consumer’s Bill of Rights Act, Oct. 3 in the wake of the Burrr Cemetery scandal in Chicago last summer when law enforcement officials charged four Burr Oak employees for moving buried bodies in order to re-sell the burial plots., Rush chairs the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection. In a written statement, Rush says his act would bring more regulations to the cemetery industry across the country. He says it would help prevent another Burr Oak from occurring. in late September a state panel investigating the matter also called on more government oversight of the cemetery industry. The four Burr Oak employees have pleaded not guilty. Following the Burr Oak discovery in July, Rush held hearings and promised to find some way to avoid another Burr Oak by protecting consumers. On Monday, he introduced a bill that gives more teeth to an already existing Federal Trade Commission rule that prohibits deceptive practices by the funeral industry. The bill will require cemeteries to keep clear records.”-Read more
Bill on 
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