Each Thursday, we put one of our local newsmakers On The Spot. This week: Assemblyman Gary Finch.
Legislation to require cemeteries to carry out burials year-round has again been introduced in Albany. You have said that you supported the bill and would vote in favor of it. As the owner of a funeral home, why is this not a conflict of interest?
It has been a common practice in the Northeast, and other cold weather-sections of the United States, to postpone a burial in the winter because of frost present in the ground and the possibility of inclement weather. The casket is then placed in an above-ground receiving vault and stored until spring.
This practice is based on outdated tradition. At a time when our winters are much milder than they were 100 years ago, and when we have modern equipment to open a grave, there is no reason not to make interments.
This outdated practice puts a grieving family through a painful ordeal. Experts like Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, the founder of the Hospice movement, said a funeral and burial are very important factors in the grieving process. Until interments are made, many people cannot move on.
In addition to affecting the way we grieve, there can be enormous inconvenience to postponing burial. Out-of-state family members and friends may have to travel thousands of miles, at a substantial cost, to attend committal services which should have taken place at the time of the funeral.
It seems astounding to me that we would need to pass legislation in this state that would require cemeteries to make interments year-round. However, last year, RoAnn M. Destito sponsored a bill that would do just that.
The bill did not come to the floor for a vote, but it will be introduced again this year in a modified form. Although the specific number is still being negotiated, I am confident that small, rural cemeteries that do less than 40-50 interments a year will be exempt.
This would exempt all the rural cemeteries in my Assembly district.
The three largest cemeteries in Cayuga County, which are located in or near the city of Auburn, currently make every attempt to honor a family's request to make interments at any time of the year.
Still, there are many large cemeteries which arbitrarily shut down in the fall and winter, and the “Winter Burial Bill” is designed to prevent that from happening.
If this piece of legislation should come to the floor for a vote, it will most likely pass. In order to avoid the appearance of a conflict because I am a practicing funeral director, I am planning on voting neither for, nor against, this bill.
It has been a common practice in the Northeast, and other cold weather-sections of the United States, to postpone a burial in the winter because of frost present in the ground and the possibility of inclement weather. The casket is then placed in an above-ground receiving vault and stored until spring.
This practice is based on outdated tradition. At a time when our winters are much milder than they were 100 years ago, and when we have modern equipment to open a grave, there is no reason not to make interments.
This outdated practice puts a grieving family through a painful ordeal. Experts like Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, the founder of the Hospice movement, said a funeral and burial are very important factors in the grieving process. Until interments are made, many people cannot move on.
In addition to affecting the way we grieve, there can be enormous inconvenience to postponing burial. Out-of-state family members and friends may have to travel thousands of miles, at a substantial cost, to attend committal services which should have taken place at the time of the funeral.
It seems astounding to me that we would need to pass legislation in this state that would require cemeteries to make interments year-round. However, last year, RoAnn M. Destito sponsored a bill that would do just that.
The bill did not come to the floor for a vote, but it will be introduced again this year in a modified form. Although the specific number is still being negotiated, I am confident that small, rural cemeteries that do less than 40-50 interments a year will be exempt.
This would exempt all the rural cemeteries in my Assembly district.
The three largest cemeteries in Cayuga County, which are located in or near the city of Auburn, currently make every attempt to honor a family's request to make interments at any time of the year.
Still, there are many large cemeteries which arbitrarily shut down in the fall and winter, and the “Winter Burial Bill” is designed to prevent that from happening.
If this piece of legislation should come to the floor for a vote, it will most likely pass. In order to avoid the appearance of a conflict because I am a practicing funeral director, I am planning on voting neither for, nor against, this bill.
