The Oklahoma state legislature approved a bill to keep the state's funeral board open for the next four years without the governor's signature on Tuesday.
House Bill 2286 recreates and sustains the Oklahoma Funeral Board until July 2029.
The bill was sent to Gov. Kevin Stitt's desk on May 19, but he didn't sign or veto it within five days. This means the bill will become law regardless, according to state law.
Earlier this month, Stitt vetoed a bill that would have extended the board's sunset period to July 2026. He wrote it was preserving "outdated regulations" and should be consolidated elsewhere.
"For too long, the Funeral Board has shielded the funeral industry from meaningful competition in the sale of caskets, urns, and other funeral related merchandise and services." Stitt wrote.
It also lets the board license assistant funeral directors. Applicants must be older than 18 years and have more than 60 credit hours from an accredited higher education institution.
College hours can be from any field of study, according to Tyler Stiles, executive director of the funeral board. He said the additional support will alleviate funeral directors.
"That gives more help for funeral homes to have more staff to meet with families," Stiles said. "There needs to be more help at the funeral home to meet with families and honestly, to allow funeral directors maybe to take a vacation once in a while."
The board consists of seven members appointed by the governor to five-year terms. They must be licensed in funeral services and are required to have at least seven years of experience with embalming and funeral directing.
The Oklahoma House of Representatives approved HB 2286 72-15, while the Senate approved it 43-2.
Last week, Stiles said there was uncertainty regarding the board's future. Now, he believes the passage of the bill alleviates it "considerably."
"After the veto on House Bill 1029, we were unsure what would take place. If the governor was going to veto a one-year extension, then we anticipated that he would veto a five-year extension," Stiles said. "I think we addressed a lot of concerns that might have been going around, and so we were pleased to see no action and especially not a veto."
Stitt also vetoed House Bill 1030. It would have preserved the State Board of Cosmetology and Barbering until July 2028. That board's future has now been worked into Senate Bill 676, which aims to preserve it until July 2025, allowing the legislature to workshop other solutions.
The Senate and House of Representatives approved SB 676 on Wednesday.
House Bill 2286 will become effective on July 1.
Copyright 2025 KOSU
