ST. PAUL — Benjamin Franklin once said that nothing in the world is certain but death and taxes. The Legislature talks a lot about taxes, and on March 23, the discussion turned to death.
Rep. John Huot, DFL-Rosemount, brought bills to a House committee concerning mortuary science and natural burials.
Last year the state passed a law that allows for “natural organic reduction” as an alternative to cremation or burial. The process transforms a deceased human body into soil through accelerated biological decomposition, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.
But a flaw in last year’s language allowed organic reduction facilities to hold a non-enbalmed body for only 24 hours, which makes it hard for them to offer the reduction service.
A proposal by Huot would extend that time limit to 30 days. If a body is held past the 30-day limit and reduction has not begun, the body must be embalmed, according to the bill.
Huot said natural organic reduction is most often chosen by farmers.
“They want to be returned to the soil that they have been planting for years,” Huot said.
A problem facing rural Minnesota is a lack of morticians, Huot said.
The University of Minnesota is the only college in Minnesota that offers a mortuary science degree and it requires four years of study. Most other schools in the country require only a two-year degree.
To increase the number of morticians in Minnesota, Huot wants to offer reciprocal licenses to morticians in other states to come here.
Under his proposal, morticians could work in Minnesota if they are able to demonstrate three years of work or practice in another jurisdiction with at least 25 embalmings, 25 funeral arrangements and 25 services in addition to completion of required state and national exams.
Rep. Tina Liebling, DFL-Rochester, questioned the rationale behind the bill. She asked if it would be more beneficial to lower Minnesota’s education requirements rather than extending reciprocity to morticians from other states.
“I wonder if people who are already licensed in Minnesota, are they going to feel like we’re undermining them by letting in people who have less training?” Liebling said.
Jordan McReavy Seitz, president of the Minnesota Funeral Directors Association, said the bill maintains high standards while still addressing the workforce needs.
Minnesota law requires mortuary science students to complete 2,080 internship hours. However, they can not begin their field work until they have passed state and national exams.
Another proposal from Huot would give students the opportunity to begin field work earlier. Huot said the prep room, where bodies are prepared, can be a make-or-break situation for some students in mortuary science.
Huot said he wants to give students the opportunity to enter and view a prep room before they finish their mortuary science degree so they know if they can handle it.
“If you’re going to go into this, you’ve really got to know what this is,” Huot said.
All three bills were laid over for possible inclusion in a larger bill later in the session.
Report for Minnesota is a project of the University of Minnesota’s Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication to support local news across the state.
