July 2017

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Page A12 JULY 2017 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS S ec t i on A
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sion. Trump has appointed Maureen K. Ohlhausen as chair-
man. She was appointed to the board in 2012, term ending in
2018. The other commission member is Terrell McSweeny, a
Democrat, whose term ends in December 2017. Immediately,
the president needs to appoint two Republicans and one more
Democrat.
What is Acting Chairman Ohlhausen’s view on the responsi-
bility of the FTC? She told the Heritage Foundation:
“Although well intentioned, the majority Commission un-
der President Obama at times pursued an antitrust agenda that
disregarded sound economics. It imposed unnecessary cost on
businesses, and substituted rigorous analysis of competitive ef-
fects for conclusory assertions of ‘unfair competition.’”
Trump himself has faced the FTC twice. Once when he re-
portedly failed to disclose a stock purchase in a merger and
when the agency heard complaints about Trump University.
The Federal Trade Commission has already announced it had
no intention to expand its scope to affiliated businesses such as
cemeteries, crematories, monument dealers and casket sellers.
Budget and government spending are big items in any admin-
istration, especially the Trump administration which has prom-
ises to keep. Congress also knows that unnecessary spending
will lead to voter upheaval. Is this review of the Funeral Rule
needed and necessary for the protection of the public (despite
what the consumer groups bark)?
Nothing is certain in Washington except for contention. The
can that contains this review just got kicked way down the
road.
“Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly,
while bad people will find a way around the laws.” –Plato
Observations
Funeral Rule
Rain Check
“Never blame a legislative body for not doing something.
When they do nothing, that don’t hurt anybody. When they
do something is when they become more dangerous.”
–Will Rogers
What a difference an election makes.
Prior to November 2016, all in funeral service were preparing
for Congressional hearings as the Federal Trade Commission
appeared to be poised for a review of the funeral rule. Their
website stated a 2019 review. This was moved up to 2017.
Consumer groups were putting pressure on the agency de-
manding that funeral home prices be listed on all funeral home
websites. They want to clarify misleading language. They want-
ed heavier penalties for funeral homes cited for failure to dis-
close prices.
Cremation, with its ever growing popularity, gives consumer
groups another complaint. These groups claim that the funeral
rule does not require funeral homes to include the third-par-
ty crematory fee in its advertised price. The FTC allows this
charge to be listed as a “cash advance.” Consumer groups were
not assuaged with that ruling. Urn price lists were also on their
list of demands.
The FTC concluded in their last review, effective 3/14/2008,
“On the basis of the commentary received, the Commission
has determined that the Rule continues to serve its intended
purposes.” The law endured without any major modifications,
which angered the consumer groups and was a considered a
waste of tax payer dollars by watchdog groups. There has
been unease over howmany of the consumer group’s wish list
items would be fulfilled.
A Hillary Clinton victory would probably be welcome
ground for this type of review. As Secretary Clinton said re-
cently in her Wellesley College commencement address,
“You may have heard that things didn’t exactly go the way I
planned.”
A Donald Trump victory has put many expected events on
hold and has added a few unexpected ones.
Trump issued an executive order in January 2017 for Re-
ducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs. It
states, in part, “whenever an executive department or agen-
cy publicly proposes for notice and comment otherwise pro-
mulgates a new regulation, it shall identify at least two exist-
ing regulations to be repealed.”
At this time, we have no way of knowing for sure, what the
Trump administration or the Congress or the Federal Trade
Commission will do. However we can try to read the tea
leaves by known facts and a little history.
The Federal Trade Commission was formed under the Fed-
eral Trade Commission Act of 1914, where it assumed all of
the staff and duties of the former Bureau of Corporations.
President Woodrow Wilson wanted to end unfair trade
practices, but mostly to break monopolies and trusts (a
movement started by President Teddy Roosevelt). The agen-
cy explains the other duties they have assumed over the years:
“unfair and deceptive acts or practices. Since then, the com-
mission also has been directed to administer a wide variety of
other consumer protection laws, including theTelemarketing
Sales Rule, the Pay-Per-Call Rule and the Equal Credit Op-
portunity Act.”
There are five commissioners for the agency, nominated by
the president (and subject to the confirmation of the Senate).
It is a bipartisan group that can only accept three commis-
sioners from one party. Their terms are seven years and their
terms are staggered to keep multiple appointments occurring
in the short term.
Unless there are several vacancies that now need to be filled.
As of this writing, there are three vacancies on the commis-
By Steven Palmer
Steven Palmer entered funeral service in 1971. He is an honors grad-
uate of the New England Institute of Applied Arts & Sciences. He has
been licensed on both coasts, he owns the Westcott Funeral Homes of
Cottonwood and Camp Verde, AZ. Steve offers his observations on cur-
rent funeral service issues. He may be reached by mail at PO Box 352,
Cottonwood, AZ 86326, by phone at (928)634-9566, by fax at (928)634-
5156, by e-mail at or through his web-
site at or on Facebook.
Allen Dave Funeral Directors and Cremation
Tribute Center of Houston Received their
Benchmark 1000th Death Service
Allen and Micca Dave
HOUSTON,TX— Allen Dave Funeral Directors and Cre-
mation Tribute Center Of Houston, Texas received their
benchmark one thousandth death service on May 8, 2017.
First generation funeral director Allen Dave established the
firm in 2009. “We are honored to serve the residents of Hous-
ton and surrounding communities. We look forward to the
next one thousand families for future growth. We should be
able to achieve the next lev-
el in less than five years,” said
Dave, a National Board Cer-
tified Funeral Director and
Cremation Specialist. Allen
Dave graduated from the
Commonwealth Institute of
Funeral Services in 2003 with
high honors and received
Todd W. Van Beck Presi-
dent’s Award in Funeral Ser-
vice Management as well as
the Most Impressive Perfor-
mance Student Award.
Allen completed the
educational programs of
International Cemetery
Cremation Funeral Asso-
ciation University (IC-
CFAU) at the Fogelman
College of Business and
Economics at the Uni-
versity of Memphis. In
2003, College of Sales &
Marketing, 2004 College
of Funeral Home Man-
agement, 2005 College of
Cremation Services and 2006 College of Cemetery Adminis-
tration and Management. Allen graduated as class valedicto-
rian in 2006 and continued completing the master’s program
in 2007, becoming a Certified Crematory Administrator and
Certified Crematory Counselor. In 2008, he attended the
College of 21st Century Services and In-Sight Institute Funer-
al Celebrant Training becoming a certified celebrant. In 2009,
he completed the College of Cemetery & Land Management
and in 2010 he accomplished final academic requirements in
death care education, the CEO program. He then joined the
educational staff, becoming a professor at ICCFA University.
Allen Dave served as ICCFA Allied Industry Chairman
from 2009-2011, was appointed Secretary of the Board of
Directors of ICCFA under President Mark Krause and
was elected to the Board twice from 2011-2016. ICCFA
awarded Allen his certification accreditation as a Certified
Funeral Executive at their 2014 national convention.
In 2014 Allen became a Texas Certified Crematory Op-
erator and is a Louisiana and Texas life insurance agent,
and became a featured speaker across the country. In Jan-
uary 2016 he received his approval from the Louisiana
State Board of Embalmers & Funeral Directors to prac-
tice in the State of Louisiana.
Allen is one of few funeral directors in the nation who
completed this level of death care management education.
Therefore, he strongly believes he is of great value to con-
sumers and the death care industry. He promises to conduct
business at the highest level of professional standards.
He and his wife Micca have three young adult children in
college; Barrington (Baylor University), Jasmine (Texas Tech
University and Alexandria (University of Houston).