Pub 2 2023 Issue 2

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR REPORT James Brown, Esq., Executive Director Welcome to the 2023 MFDA Annual Convention and Trade Show edition of the Directors Digest magazine. I am writing this article on a beautiful April day in Montana. April is always one of my favorite months. This is due to the fact that one day it can be snowing, and the next, it can be 50 degrees and sunny. And, to be able to say, “spring has sprung” is a welcomed opportunity after experiencing another very wintery weather season. The winter months were busy ones for the MFDA. In January, the 2023 Montana Legislature convened. As always, the Association has been up “on the hill” to represent Montana’s funeral industry. As of writing this, the Association has been successful in advancing its two major legislative bills for this session. The first bill, HB 505, raised the initial policy limit cap on funeral insurance from its current $15,000 to $25,000. The cap on funeral insurance has not been raised in Montana for over a decade and, thus, has not kept up with inflation. Further, Montana is the only state in the union to have a funeral insurance cap. The second bill is SB 244. This bill, sponsored by Senator Mike Cuffe, revises existing Montana law to allow mortuary science students to conduct their internship while they are in school. Prior to this bill, the required internship could only be performed after the student passes the examination. This resulted in Montana losing out to other states when attempting to recruit and employ recent mortuary science school graduates. Turning now to other matters, early in February, the Association hosted its biannual Mid-Winter Conference and Legislative Reception in Helena. I am pleased to write that the conference had the highest number of attendees during my tenure as MFDA’s Executive Director. I believe the Legislative Reception was successful Welcome to the 2023 MFDA Annual Convention and Trade Show 6 | Montana Funeral Directors Association

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