EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR REPORT James Brown, Executive Director, MFDA Now that the calendar has rolled over into another new year, I am reflecting on the importance of focusing on what members of MFDA do for a living and what the funeral profession does for Montana’s local communities. This is because, as the author E. Stanley Jones stated, “Whatever gets your attention . . . gets you.” For the last several years, Montana’s funeral providers have had to focus their attention on the fiscal and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Part of this focus was on protecting internal business operations and employee health. But, of course, part of this focus was helping grieving families navigate the most unprecedented societal disruption of the last 100 years. As I write this column in early January of 2023, I am optimistic that this year marks the year where MFDA’s members and associate members can put the pandemic crisis in the rear-view mirror and double down their attention on the one intangible that defines MFDA the best: serving the local communities and the people that live in them in the most compassionate manner they can. MFDA is proud of the way its membership stepped up to the plate and made a positive, if not vital, impact on public health during the pandemic. We are gratified that, with your continued membership in MFDA, we will jointly align our business and community values in 2023. As for the MFDA in the coming year, the Association will also be refocusing on its core mission — that mission being to serve our membership. One of the primary ways in which the Association serves its members is through legislative advocacy and promoting good public policy both at the state and federal level. Currently, the Montana Legislature is about two weeks into the 2023 legislative session, slated to end in late April. Some of the big issues for the session appear to be Governor Gianforte’s proposals to provide tax relief, both in terms of property and income tax, to fund state building repairs and improvements, to revise Montana’s system of licensing alcohol sales and ownership, and to improve telecommunications services and opportunities. The 2023 Legislature once again sees the Republican Party controlling both the State House and Senate chambers. Republicans have an unprecedented majority this session — holding 103 of the possible 150 legislative seats. Thus, as has been the case since the 2005 Montana legislative session, a Republican legislature will be driving the agenda and the policy-making decision process. MFDA has a somewhat busy agenda for the 2023 session. Much of the Association’s policy focus will be on its own bills to (1) lift the statutory 6 Montana Funeral Directors Association
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