“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 demanding that funeral home prices be listed on all funeral home websites. They want to clarify misleading language. They wanted heavier penalties for funeral homes cited for failure to disclose 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-party 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 how many 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 recently 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 Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs. It states, in part, “whenever an executive department or agency publicly proposes for notice and comment otherwise promulgates a new regulation, it shall identify at least two existing regulations to be repealed.”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 Federal 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 agency explains the other duties they have assumed over the years: “unfair and deceptive acts or practices. Since then, the commission also has been directed to administer a wide variety of other consumer protection laws, including the Telemarketing Sales Rule, the Pay-Per-Call Rule and the Equal Credit Opportunity 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 commissioners 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 commission. Trump has appointed Maureen K. Ohlhausen as chairman. 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 responsibility of the FTC? She told the Heritage Foundation:
“Although well intentioned, the majority Commission under President Obama at times pursued an antitrust agenda that disregarded sound economics. It imposed unnecessary cost on businesses, and substituted rigorous analysis of competitive effects for conclusory assertions of ‘unfair competition.’”
Trump himself has faced the FTC twice. Once when he reportedly 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 administration, especially the Trump administration which has promises 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