As we had suggested in a prior post, the Missouri State Board of Embalmers is acting to facilitate the directives of Executive Order No. 17-03 before the Board’s member vacancies are addressed.  Public hearings have been scheduled for Augusts 14th and 15th at the Division of Professional Registration.  The State Board will also accept comments online, or in writing via email, US mail or fax.

To facilitate online comments, the State Board has expanded their website.  Licensees who take advantage of this online opportunity can click the ‘offending’ regulation and provide their comments.  When doing so, licensees should tailor their comments to the standard that the State Board must follow (whether the burdens of the rule outweigh its benefits or protections).  For example, we have submitted comments regarding 20 CSR 2120-2.070(9).  The first sentence of that rule reads as follows:

 The establishment license issued by the board is effective for a fixed place or establishment and for a specific name of a person or entity authorized to conduct business in Missouri and may include one (1) “doing business as” name.

In our letter to the State Board, we acknowledge the protections afforded by public by requiring licensees to register ‘doing business as’ names with the Secretary of State and the State Board.  However, the State Board has refused to articulate any protections or benefits from restricting licensees to a single DBA.  As the Missouri industry consolidates, operators that buy out a neighboring competitor will find it difficult to capitalize on that firm’s goodwill when limited to a single DBA.  In the absence of any protections or benefits, the State Board faces an easy cost/benefit analysis.  With other regulations, the cost/benefit analysis will prove more challenging.  Accordingly, licensees will want to consider both sides of the analysis.