Rep. Fishbein Proposes Bill to Eliminate Fee for Cremation of Minor Children

State Representative Craig Fishbein (R-90) today announced that he proposed legislation to eliminate the state fee assessed when a minor child is cremated.

Currently, the state charges a fee of $150 for the issuance of a cremation certificate regardless of age of the deceased individual. Rep. Fishbein’s proposal – An Act Concerning the Exemption from the Fee for Issuance of a Cremation Certificate for the Cremation of the Body of a Minor – would eliminate the fee whenever a minor child was cremated, but leave the fee structure in place for adults.

As part of his recent budget proposal, Governor Lamont proposed increasing the fee from $150 to $175.

“The compassionate thing to do for families struggling with the death of their minor child is to eliminate this $150 fee, not increase it to balance the budget” Rep. Fishbein said. “I find it difficult to believe that the state adds to the hurt families face with the loss of a minor child by charging another hefty fee. Eliminating this fee will hardly be a detriment to the overall state budget and will provide at least a small amount of comfort to these families.”

This fee was originally instituted as a result of costs incurred by the Department of Public Health in issuing a cremation permit. Over the years, the Department of Public Health has apparently stopped doing the work they were previously doing in this regard, thereby rendering this fee as merely a way to raise revenue. While the fee should, more than likely, be eliminated in its entirety, Rep. Fishbein believes that eliminating the fee for the issuance of a permit for cremation of a child is a good step in that direction

The proposal has been forwarded to the Public Health Committee, but as of now no public hearing date has been scheduled.