Secondly, there is the Funeral Coverage Act (H.R. 2436), a forward-thinking bill that would help grieving families manage funeral costs by expanding how Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) can be used. The Funeral Coverage Act would classify funeral and burial expenses as qualified HSA expenses, allowing individuals to use tax-free HSA funds to help cover final arrangements. The NFDA is a strong supporter of this legislation. Third, we covered the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2025 (S. 587/H.R. 1301). Supported by more than 230 organizations, including NFDA, this bill seeks to repeal the estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes, which imposes an unfair and costly tax on the transfer of property, land and other assets from a deceased family member to heirs of family farms and small businesses, like funeral homes. There was also a trio of veteran bills: • Ensuring Veterans’ Final Resting Place Act of 2025 (S. 1116/H.R. 647): This legislation would allow families to enter their veteran loved ones in a Veteran Affairs (VA) national cemetery even if they previously opted for an urn or plaque, ensuring families can make the best decision for their loved one’s final resting place. This legislation provides a thoughtful solution to a problem that adds unnecessary stress and grief to veteran families. • The Dennis and Lois Krisfalusy Act (H.R. 1344): This bill corrects an injustice by allowing the Department of Veteran Affairs to provide memorial headstones or markers for veterans, their spouses and dependent children, regardless of when they passed away, ensuring military families are properly honored together. • Prioritizing Veterans’ Survivors Act (H.R. 1228): The Office of Survivor Assistance (OSA) is a crucial resource overseeing all benefits and services furnished by VA to survivors and dependents of deceased veterans. This bill would move the OSA from the Veterans Benefits Administration back to the Office of the VA Secretary, thus ensuring the OSA has direct access to the secretary to fix policy and program‑wide problems. No IRIS Act of 2025 (S. 623/H.R. 1415) was covered next. This bipartisan bill seeks to reduce undue red tape imposed by the EPA’s Integrated Risk Information System, ensuring that chemical risk assessments are based on sound science rather than political agendas in formaldehyde use and production. This is fully backed by the NFDA. We also brought to the attention of our legislators the inability to fly deceased loved ones out of Montana to various parts of the U.S. We asked if they could investigate this for our state and constituents and see what can be addressed with the major airlines. Fingers crossed. This pretty much wraps up what is on the docket with us and the NFDA. I hope to see all of you in Billings for the convention and maybe have an update on these issues. Until then, take care and God Bless. YOU WANT IT! (801) 676-9722 SALES@THENEWSLINKGROUP.COM ADVERTISE HERE! DON’T ROLL THE DICE CONTACT US TODAY Directors Digest | 21
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