As part of her annual 99 County Tour, US Senator Joni Ernst met with a group of funeral directors, other businessmen and community members at Powell Funeral Home in Keota on Friday, July 23.

Ernst prefaced the meeting by saying her best friends at home in Red Oak are funeral directors, who have shared the challenges of their field with Ernst on numerous occasions.

Many funeral directors told Ernst about difficulties holding funerals and other services throughout the pandemic. Many of the directors agreed that restrictions on gatherings, sometimes limited to 10 people, made the grieving process difficult for surviving loved ones, as well as requiring funeral home staff to get creative with how they planned and operated services.

The funeral directors commented that live streaming services was immensely popular during the pandemic, with some services hosting over 700 viewers online through Facebook and other sites. Many funeral homes plan to continue offering live streams of services.

“I would imagine that that was really helpful, the live streaming of funeral services,” Ernst said. “I can see that that would be very good for those who are shut ins or not able to get out but still want to view the service of a loved one. I hadn’t thought about that before.”

Others thanked Ernst for government support they received over the course of the pandemic.

“I think that Iowa has done a good job as funeral directors with helping families apply for funeral assistance for those cases where their loved has died due to COVID,” said Suzanne Gebel, Executive Director of the Iowa Funeral Directors Association.

Gebel said she has a lot of concern for the tax implications of the American Rescue Plan and how an increase in taxes on small businesses could affect funeral homes.

“Iowa as a state is always working on their tax policies. This would be more along the lines of capital gains tax and how it’s applied,” Ernst said. “The step-up in basis is something that our farmers are very concerned about… but it also applies to other types of small businesses that are handed down from generation to generation and how that capital gains tax is figured.”

Step-up in basis lets families leave certain assets to their heirs without having to pay capital gains tax.

“President Biden has proposed eliminating [the step-up in basis] and that would be a significant hit to our farmers… A lot of folks are not sure how to do their family planning right now, which is also something that might bleed over into areas of concern when people are losing a loved one. That would be very harmful.”