7am News, Sports and Obits
Latest WGIL news
Click to play or
Right click and "Save Target As" to download
Click for Galesburg, Illinois Forecast
Home - Cancellations - Community Events - Contact Us - Mornings - News - Obituaries - Pictures - Programs - Special Events Audio - Sports - Weather
Moffitt: Cemetery Legislation Also Passed in Special Session
The one-day legislative session in Springfield this past week yielded more than just talk about pensions, budget, and possibly even gambling expansion.

That's according to 74th District State Representative Don Moffitt, who says lawmakers Tuesday passed revised legislation relating to oversight of cemeteries.

Moffitt says the previous legislation was burdensome on smaller, rural cemeteries, and his colleagues were right to change it.

Moffitt tells WGIL the original legislation was drafted and passed after the 2009 Burr Oak Cemetery scandal, but the new bill doesn't change the fact that consumers and the departed are protected.

"I think that's important to assure the public that will be the case," Moffitt said. "Of course, the problem was just up in the Chicago area, at the cemetery where -- probably everyone remembers -- the abuses that occurred up there. That simply is a case of the law being broken, or a law not being enforced. The new law will exempt a lot of small, rural cemeteries, to make it more practical."

Moffitt says under the previous law, reports came in from smaller cemeteries that trustees would resign rather than take expensive classes and seek licensure.

He calls it "a big improvement" that has the support of township officials, the Catholic Church, and the Illinois Farm Bureau.
12 04 11 by Newsroom
News management powered by Xpression News

Click here for the WGIL News Archive

Click here for national news

The following provision applies to all visitors (which shall include persons and representatives of legal entities, whether such representatives are persons or digital engines of a kind that crawls, indexes, scrapes, copies, stores or transmits digital content). By accessing this Web site or digital service, you specifically acknowledge and agree that: (i) Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium; (ii) No Associated Press materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use; (iii) The Associated Press will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing; (iv) The Associated Press is an intended third party beneficiary of these terms and conditions and it may exercise all rights and remedies available to it; and (v) The Associated Press reserves the right to audit possible unauthorized commercial use of AP materials or any portion thereof at any time.