Press "Enter" to skip to content

HB 1066: Deelstra Wants Cremation Option for County Funerals for Indigents

By caheidelberger on 2012.01.20

Last updated on 2012.02.05

Rep. Bob Deelstra (R-9/Hartford) has filed HB 1066, his proposal to allow counties to cremate deceased indigents. Since my original post on Rep. Deelstra's proposal, I've not been able to think of any reason this bill is a bad idea. Plenty of Rep. Deelstra's colleagues in Pierre have come to a similar conclusion: he has a bipartisan mix of 30 co-sponsors in the House, just five shy of the votes he needs to get it through his chamber.

If passed, the bill may not have much effect in Lake County: funeral home director Robert Ellsworth says that Lake County has buried very few indigents during his 33 years in Madison. Ellsworth also notes that the rate Lake County pays for those rare burials hasn't increased in over thirty years.

Down the road, however, Minnehaha County is seeing dead people... and more of them! Minnehaha County Director of Human Services Carol Muller provides the following figures on her counties increasing indigent expenses:

year county funerals total cost cost per
2006 41 $73,107 $1,783.10
2007 53 $94,126 $1,775.96
2008 54 $53,732 $995.04
2009 77 $181,169 $2,352.84
2010 71 $178,413 $2,512.86
2011 85 $196,143* $2,335.04

The 2011 figure isn't complete; a few outstanding bills will likely raise the total above $200K. The average costs vary, since family members contribute varying amounts.

But given that cremation may cost $500 to $1000 less than burial, Deelstra's proposal could have saved Minnehaha County taxpayers something like five figures.

Note that Rep. Deelstra is not requiring counties to burn the poor; he's just giving them the option under statute, if there are no family or friends to express wishes to the contrary.

So I'm wondering: can anyone think of a reason not to pass this bill?

Update 2012.01.22 07:07 MST: According to Muller, in 2007, the average cost of cremation was $1,159, while the average cost of a traditional funeral with opening/closing was $2483. In 2010, these numbers were $1395 and $2563, respectively. When families are available to express their preference, more are choosing cremation, matching the general trend in funerals. Where the county has to make the call, allowing cremation as an option means saving almost $1200, or 45%. Muller also tells me that in 2011, 65% of those funerals were cremations.

Published in South Dakota

caheidelberger

10 Comments

  1. Nick Nemec 2012.01.20

    Why the big drop in cost per funeral for 2008?

  2. Clayton Halversn 2012.01.20

    This is pretty much the same bill that the Roberts County Commishiners had the District 1 Reps. introduce a few sessions ago. Sen. Gary Hanson got it through the Senate, but when it got over to the House it died along party line votes. Rhoden and Klaudt both spoke vehemently against it. Its a good bill and will probably pass since its sponsor has a R next to his name. Look for the funeral home directors to lobby against it.

  3. caheidelberger Post author | 2012.01.20

    Actually, Clayton, if you're talking about 2005's Senate Bill 151, that bill got creamed in the House on a 6–62 vote. Those six yeas were five Dems (including you, Rep. Halverson, thank you!) and one Republican, Gordon Howie. I was trying to figure out why that bill would have died so hard after getting such reasonably strong and bipartisan support in the Senate, including Republicans like Abdallah, Knudson, Schoenbeck, Tom Hansen, and Gant. What happened in the House?

  4. Bill Fleming 2012.01.21

    Nick asks "Why the big drop in cost per funeral for 2008?" Good question, Nick. Maybe that was rapture year and we all missed it. ;^)

  5. Clayton 2012.01.22

    Cory,The House was lobbied hard for 2 days and the R's took a caucus position against it. Floor debate centered around the "cruelty" of cremation!I recalled that during the debate I had to remind the majority party that we talking about deceased people.

  6. caheidelberger Post author | 2012.01.22

    "cruelty"—wow! Thanks for making a stand for common sense. Odd that such anti-cremation sentiment could prevail when cremation is becoming increasingly popular. Who did the lobbying then? Was it the funeral home directors? And how come so many Dems went along with the GOP caucus?

  7. LK 2012.01.22

    I guess it must be that cremation is too secular for the South Dakota legislature.

    Larry doesn't seem to be posting his tangentially related links today, so I'll pick you the slack.

    http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/01/the-rise-of-the-secular-funeral.html

    "If you don't want to hit the link, the key statement is And cremation numbers are up. Way up. In liberal, secular states, specifically in the Pacific Northwest, cremation rates have steadily increased to more than half of disposals, up from the low single digits in 1990."

  8. caheidelberger Post author | 2012.01.22

    Cremation is clearly a sign of creeping secular Euro-Seattle socialism. Let us not bury ourselves in the ash heap of history (or so we can expect certain GOP Tea Party scorecards to demand?).

Comments are closed.