Colorado to Relicense Funeral Workers After Abuse Cases
10 reported
A 2017 study by Brandon Pizzola and Alex Tabarrok found that Colorado’s 1983 decision to delicense funeral service workers reduced wages, reduced prices, and shifted demand toward cremation. In 2023, a series of abuses involving the sale of body parts and rotting bodies came to light, and newspapers noted Colorado was the only state not to license funeral workers. As a result, Colorado is relicensing funeral service workers as of 2027. The authors argue there is no evidence that abuses were worse in Colorado, citing similar abuses in states with heavy licensing. They also note that a 2015 U.S. government review found no large improvements in quality or safety from more stringent licensing. A 1990 Colorado sunrise review found no widespread pattern of abuse and no verifiable evidence of significant threats to public health from the delicensing. The authors contend that licensing requirements have little to do with the types of abuses that generated public support for relicensing.
What’s reported
About a quarter of the U.S. workforce now requires a license to work, up from 5 percent in 1950.
Colorado delicensed funeral service workers in 1983, an unusual move against the trend of adding licensing.
A 2017 paper by Brandon Pizzola and Alex Tabarrok found that delicensing reduced wages, reduced prices, and caused a shift toward cremation.
In 2023, a series of abuses involving the sale of body parts and rotting bodies came to light in Colorado.
Newspapers noted Colorado was the only state not to license funeral service workers.
Colorado is relicensing funeral service workers as of 2027.
The authors state there is no evidence that abuses were worse in Colorado, citing similar abuses in states with heavy licensing.
A 2015 U.S. government review concluded that “the empirical research does not find large improvements in quality or health and safety from more stringent licensing.”
A 1990 Colorado sunrise review found no widespread pattern of abuse and no verifiable evidence of significant threats to public health from the delicensing.
The funeral director in the worst Colorado case was sentenced to 40 years in jail.
Key figures
Brandon Pizzola (co-author of 2017 paper)
Alex Tabarrok (co-author of 2017 paper, author of the article)
Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (conducted 1990 sunrise review)
Sources: marginalrevolution.com
