Sunset Process - House Judiciary Committee. The bill
implements the recommendations of the department of regulatory
agencies, as contained in the department's sunset review of preneed funeral contracts, as follows:
•
Continues the regulation of preneed funeral contracts for 7 years, to September 1, 2029;
•
Removes from statute the surety bond or net worth requirements for an applicant for a license to sell preneed funeral contracts and requires the commissioner of insurance (commissioner) to establish the requirements in rule;
•
Allows the commissioner to investigate the books, records, and accounts of a contract seller without the requirement that the commissioner receive a complaint or indication of noncompliance;
•
Removes the fees for license renewal from statute and requires the commissioner to establish the fees in rule based on the cost of regulating the industry and the outstanding preneed contract obligations of the contract sellers;
•
Requires money held in trust for a preneed contract that is unclaimed after a reasonable amount of time to be reported to the state treasurer for deposit into the unclaimed property trust fund; and
•
Requires each funeral establishment, at the time of registration renewal, to attest to whether the funeral establishment sells preneed contracts and requires the director of the division of professions and occupations to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the commissioner to share information on funeral establishments that sell preneed contracts.
