WFDA Goes to Washington

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

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In early March WFDA board officers and staff, along with funeral directors from all over the country, went to Washington D.C. to participate in NFDA’s Advocacy Summit. President Michelle Rinehart, President-Elect Kris Piehl, Past President and NFDA Policy Board Representative Paul Andrus met with members of the Wisconsin congressional delegation to discuss the federal issues facing U.S. funeral homes.

Currently, monies invested by individuals in irrevocable funeral trusts are not counted as assets when determining Social Security eligibility. These rules are important at the state level because they also govern the state Medicaid programs. In the year 2000 the administration misinterpreted some changes Congress passed to Social Security and erroneously thought the changes repealed this provision. Although this error was corrected, it showed the vulnerability of these rules to different interpretations by different administrations. NFDA is seeking a change to the law to make sure the mechanism for establishing irrevocable funeral trust becomes permanent.

As every funeral director knows, the Federal Trade Commission regulates funeral homes and their prices. However, changes in the funeral service industry mean there are other players entering the marketplace such third-party casket dealers. These companies are not subject to the same regulation as funeral homes when it comes to pricing and trusting. NFDA is supporting a bill that would extend regulation by the FTC to these other suppliers and retailers similar to the regulation placed on funeral homes.

In addition to the above proposals, WFDA members lobbied for improvements to the estate tax which will probably be addressed by Congress this year. Technically, there is no death tax for 2010 because Congress failed to act before the law expired at the end of last year. However, if Congress doesn’t act, the death tax comes back in 2011 but with very low asset levels which makes more of one’s estate subject to taxes. Funeral Directors are lobbying for permanent, higher thresholds that would exempt $10 million of personal assets from the tax. In addition, the threshold should be indexed for inflation so it would continue to rise without the need for Congress to set the levels.

WFDA members met with Senators Feingold and Kohl and visited with the staff and members of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation. This worthwhile experience trained WFDA members as advocates for funeral service issues at both the state and federal levels, helping WFDA accomplish its public policy mission.

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