Posted on 08/23/2008 10:21:53 AM PDT by SmithL
NASHVILLE -- State Sen. Ophelia Ford -- already a YouTube star for her snarling "what you're saying ain't hittin' on nothin' with me" speech last year -- was back at it last week, berating regulators about new state fees on the funeral industry.
Acknowledging that she's a licensed funeral director, Ford complained in a legislative hearing Aug. 13 that fees are going to "eat us up and put us out of business."
She demanded regulators disclose who imposed a new $150 biannual registration fee on preneed funeral sales agents and what it's for.
Turns out that Ford and her legislative colleagues imposed the fee.
Ford voted twice in favor of the 2007 Prepaid Funeral Benefits Act, which placed preneed funeral contracts and their sales agents under regulatory oversight by the state Department of Commerce and Insurance and required DCI to levy fees to pay for the regulation so that taxpayers wouldn't have to.
The act was adopted by the legislature in 2007 after more than 13,000 people were almost left holding worthless preneed policies sold through Forest Hill Funeral Homes of Memphis.
Last week's hearing by the Government Operations Committee was held to review rules drafted by state agencies to carry out new laws. DCI staff attorney Adrian Chick and Robert Gribble, staff director of the Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers, presented the draft rules to the committee, which delayed approving the rules after Ford and other members asked for a list of all state fees on funeral homes.
In addition to the new $150 fee on sales agents, the rules raised an annual $300 fee on preneed sellers -- usually funeral home operators -- to $750 every two years. It was last increased in 2003.
One of the committee's functions is to ensure that rules proposed by state agencies are reasonable and follow the legislature's intent. Ford indicated she did not believe the fees are reasonable at all.
"My livelihood is funeral service, prearranged funerals. I have an insurance license and I also have a funeral director license. I can tell you that what Mr. Gribble and Mr. Chick are proposing is going to create, and has already though, a tremendous burden in funeral service," she said.
Ford gained fame last year for an angry outburst against state Department of Children's Services employees in a meeting of the same committee. Video of her declaring "What you're sayin' ain't hittin' on nothin' with Senator Ford" has been viewed more than 32,000 times on YouTube, an Internet video site.
Video of last week's meeting is archived on the state legislature's Web site.
Ford crossed paths with Gribble earlier this summer when the funeral board required her to pass a new test before reinstating her lapsed funeral director's license.
In last week's meeting, she said some funeral directors "can't hardly afford to be a member of the professional associations and here we're going to let state fees eat us up and put us out of business.
"It's not fair, colleagues, just as it wouldn't be with you all's license. We've got to look out for those that are not quite as honest and have as much as the little bit we do have ourselves. But what about the little people? Where's this money going to? Who ate it up? Why is there a deficit there, Mr. Gribble? Tell me!"
Gribble and Chick said the investigation and audit of Forest Hill and other cemeteries were charged to the program, which the department wants to be self-supporting.
Hearing excerpts
State Sen. Ophelia Ford complained bitterly during a legislative committee hearing last week about new state fees and increased fees on funeral homes, directors and pre-need funeral sales agents.
"In addition to my insurance license and my funeral director's license, now you're saying I've got to pay you another $150 in order to be able sell anything. That doesn't make any sense to me when I'm already fee'd to death."
"I believe that there should be another way of getting money instead of from the little bitty funeral directors. See, you've got the big conglomerates paying the same thing that the little bitty funeral director that's barely making it is having to pay to keep our license up. It just doesn't make sense for us to allow this to continue to happen, not with a person's livelihood and their license. Now, I can pay mine. I can. Whether that board thinks I can or not."
"I just detest it. I'm sorry, my colleagues, I detest what they are doing. If anything, it needs to be reduced so that the poor people in the state of Tennessee can be buried."
Another Ophelia Rant
Are you telling me that these legislators — all of them, from local governments all the way up to The Dome — don’t read the bills or appropriation ordinanced that they vote for?
If they rely on their aides to read the legislation and probably even write it, then let’s start electing their aides!
Term limits!
ordinanced = ordinances
Sorry
I wish we could grab that snippet of Auntie’s drunken stupor line, “That’s just dummmmmmmmmmmmmb !!!” and intercut it with video of Obie picking Biden last night. I still love that, it’s the money shot.
Thought you’d be interested.
“I wish we could grab that snippet of Auntie’s drunken stupor line,”
Interesting that you should bring this up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr65cTyxxkk
That’s just classic. Bad Black soap opera. My State Senator, Thelma Harper (in the hat), was chairing that committee. I think even ole Thelma thought Auntie had just gone to never-neverland.
I see our dear Ophelia has emerged from a very long rehab (unmentioned by the press) just to spout more foolishness and unmerited accusations. Memphis deserves far better legislative representation.
Unfortunately, until Republicans go flooding back into Memphis, better representation won’t be forthcoming...
Is this a problem in Tn?
Yes, there’s dead bodies piling up everywhere, especially in Memphis.
Oh! The humanity!
Yes, there’s dead bodies piling up everywhere, especially in Memphis.But they all vote for Ophelia.
Stiffs do make the best Democrats.
She missed the deadline to file and must start over. The Fords don’t get it when big bro ISN’T on your side. Stupid Liberals
Nashville is stacking bodies up as well. How 20/20 misses this I’ll never know.
But is she right on this?!
If she is, it would be by accident. You can’t take Sterno drinkers seriously. She probably sees unicorns coming out of her butt.
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