[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6277789,"mediaKeyId","2646331-e3dbb6b00448691a983774c7ee0cfa79","parentId",2646331,"title","Subcommittee flags ambiguity in funeral-board continuing-education rule; regulators told to coordinate with House","audioSeconds",1592,"startMs",733000,"endMs",2325000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2646331-e3dbb6b00448691a983774c7ee0cfa79&start=733&end=2325","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2646331-e3dbb6b00448691a983774c7ee0cfa79/thumbnail_733000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6277789/South-Carolina/Subcommittee-flags-ambiguity-in-funeral-board-continuing-education-rule-regulators-told-to-coordinate-with-House","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6277789-9894679ba6e52d9b6a713a5f44f2138d/orig.mp4?Expires=1771164841&Signature=S-TarvJZsjsDCySZ~gylRdP8dHed-5IGlqrLdCSENwyouZAl~MD0PPRM~QjHEGDagEuI-bHkFky5MzvIVRsGnksL7YSqsW5X~aWC~zO29GTXn0~seY4jFTsvuOLN7KFxM5CuEahHtoOyqK6o0thEe4mfsfD~AuuYIqnf9CzvUsDdvY-WvErflCK4FNGO7sW48hf1kSn647aY4EE6jOiYYgzg5XQtlzjnGRWFLg0AKk2ZtLsSJ9sdnpLtL20dsa~rY4l5NPUHmU~ckhcCXXZviu5o-PeoypRzzofDvdrOxVcXoY7y7erQsvEGiZ-TbtwCykGBgiOelmCLjV6fvGpGmQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","South Carolina Legislature","date","2025-03-12T00:00:00Z","article","The Labor, Commerce and Industry Subcommittee discussed proposed amendments to Chapter 57 of the state Code of Regulations that would implement a 2024 law changing licensure and continuing-education requirements for embalmers and funeral directors.

The regulation, presented by committee staff, would add definitions related to cremation, clarify licensure and endorsement provisions, update funeral-establishment requirements and address continuing-education and ethics standards. A central point of contention was one statutory phrase requiring that 2 of the required hours of continuing education be completed through \"physical attendance,\" and whether that language permits interactive online (synchronous) courses.

Rebecca (committee staff) summarized the regulation and said it aligns the chapter with the 2024 law. \"The proposed regulation seeks to amend various sections of chapter 57 of the Code of Regulations to conform with a bill that was passed in the 2024 legislative session,\" she said. She also noted the dispute over whether the term \"in person\" or \"physical\" attendance can be interpreted to include online, synchronous courses.

Senator Williams argued for allowing licensees an option between virtual or in-person attendance to ease burdens on small, single-location funeral homes. Senator York, reading the statute aloud, emphasized a \"plain reading\" that the legislature intended a physical, in-person presence: \"I don't see how physical attendance can be interpreted as online,\" he said.

Industry representatives and the board's staff testified. Shannon Dotson, president of the South Carolina Funeral Directors Association and owner of a Landrum funeral home, said the profession supports at least some in-person training because it provides hands-on instruction and networking. Dotson said the two in-person hours were meant to ensure practical, high-quality training and that the funeral profession had worked on the law for years. She offered a list of continuing-education opportunities and said about 11 in-person offerings are available within South Carolina, plus additional out-of-state conferences.

Natalie Mickens, the board executive, said prior to the new law the requirement had been three hours per year and those credits could be met through correspondence or online courses. Holly, representing the regulatory agency, said the House subcommittee directed the agency to withdraw and resubmit the regulation with language allowing interactive online synchronous learning to count as \"in person.\" Holly said the board had voted in December to interpret \"physical\" as including online synchronous learning (live interactive courses where attendees can interact with the instructor).

Members debated how to proceed. Some senators urged standing firm on a literal \"physical\" reading and requiring in-person attendance; others said the statute is poorly written and recommended working with the House or revising the statute to provide clarity. One practical suggestion from a subcommittee member was to ask the agency to strike the continuing-education section from the regulation until the statute is clarified, leaving the statute as the controlling authority in the interim.

The subcommittee decided to send the regulation forward to the full committee for awareness and further consideration, and members discussed seeking a cleanup amendment to the statute. No final regulatory adoption occurred; members instructed staff to brief the full committee on the House direction and the outstanding interpretive questions.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","March 12, 2025 9:00 am Senate Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee -- L.C.I. Regulatory and Local Government Subcommittee","oneSentenceSummary","A proposed regulation to implement a 2024 law on embalmer and funeral-director continuing education drew disagreement over whether \"physical attendance\" can include online synchronous classes; the subcommittee agreed to notify the full committee while seeking statute clarification.","taxTitle","Labor, Commerce and Industry, Standing, Senate, Committees, Legislative, South Carolina","taxId",17642,"location","South Carolina","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6277796,"Subcommittee pauses bill that would let nonprofits list leaders’ demographics in incorporation records",3279,1000,3280000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2646331-e3dbb6b00448691a983774c7ee0cfa79&start=1&end=3280","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2646331-e3dbb6b00448691a983774c7ee0cfa79/thumbnail_1000.jpg","/articles/6277796/South-Carolina/Subcommittee-pauses-bill-that-would-let-nonprofits-list-leaders-demographics-in-incorporation-records","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6277796-da1d1c1f3ba1a6d00d114d4c75864016/orig.mp4?Expires=1771164841&Signature=buPuNvWHnagtAolvp-aOb-v6kSIkKmDarUEm-yaQZsZUWD0EPnYYp8Y7meW5Gntb48cD29ZNHsomBP2DcZ9TDSdiSzRxFG4oZGULaw3Mu9FKclIEckcnMwDWXzMX7FNZ1ZH1dX8-XrENJ75dkD6OmswMuVLy7xL1F~bx8RaC~zYwN1d5~9jWXSMmVwq4SfNwW-ucB~BjrvCSCk~q3nKizONy0SRvkMpxd0uQBOmWEyxnZ14R~QUyKmzCWU0m4oDS42XfuxQHc7iRkTZzRsQsVLL5q5G439r8ymQKqZ5XVcFI~6h9L62~r6KiJq12X0ak3m37iQ05qyZuL0BP2cSJ9g__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Labor, Commerce and Industry Subcommittee carried over a bill Tuesday that would allow nonprofits and other charitable solicitants to include demographic details about top leaders in articles of incorporation and in charity registration filings.

The bill would permit organizations to add items such as age, education, ethnicity, gender, race, salary, disability status, military service and branch, first language and years of leadership for an executive director, chief operating officer, president or founder to incorporation documents and charity registrations. The Secretary of State's office urged caution, saying the change would create privacy, identity-theft and fiscal risks if the agency had to collect and store that personally identifying information.

Deputy Secretary of State and chief counsel Melissa Dunlap told the subcommittee the office enforces charity solicitations and currently does not collect this demographic information in its searchable databases. \"We only collect and have listed on those forms what is required by statute,\" Dunlap said, adding the office follows the state's privacy policy under the South Carolina \"Bridal\" Protection Act and that collecting the proposed fields would require encryption and other system changes. She also warned the data set would be incomplete because some organizations would submit the fields and others would not, which could limit the value of any research drawn from the records.

Dunlap provided counts to illustrate scale: she said the office now has about 90,568 nonprofits on file and more than 17,600 charities registered. She said adding the demographic fields would require major system changes to both the charities online database and the business entities filings system, and would raise questions about what the Secretary of State's office would use the data for.

Subcommittee members expressed uncertainty about the bill's purpose. The senator from York noted the statute list of allowable article provisions and asked why the additional fields would need to be stored in searchable form rather than simply remain in document images. Several senators said they wanted an explanation from the bill's sponsor before acting. Senator Pickens said it \"don't make good sense to me\" to add optional demographic fields if submissions would be inconsistent across organizations. Senator Charleston suggested carrying the bill over and asking the senator from Richland to explain the intent.

The subcommittee agreed to carry the bill over so the sponsor can explain the policy goal and so members can weigh the privacy and fiscal concerns raised by the Secretary of State's office. No formal vote on the bill was taken at the hearing.

The subcommittee also noted alternatives: Dunlap said the data might be better collected by nonprofits'trade groups or research organizations rather than being added to state-maintained, searchable records. She cautioned that anyone who uses personally identifying information in South Carolina for commercial purposes could be subject to a misdemeanor under state privacy law.

The bill was carried over pending further explanation from the sponsor and additional analysis of privacy, security and cost implications.","A subcommittee carried over a bill after the Secretary of State's office warned adding age, race, military service and other demographics to nonprofit filings raises privacy, identity-theft and fiscal concerns.","actionData","errors"]

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Subcommittee flags ambiguity in funeral-board continuing-education rule; regulators told to coordinate with House

Subcommittee pauses bill that would let nonprofits list leaders’ demographics in incorporation records