Optometry board urges expanded scope; lawmaker questions board lobbying role

Bridal Heglin, executive director of the Minnesota Board of Optometry, told the Health Finance and Policy Committee on March 3 that Minnesota’s optometry scope is narrower than neighboring states and that past legislation to expand procedural authority failed to advance. She said the proposals would align Minnesota with peer states and noted many graduates decline to practice in Minnesota because of scope limits.

Nut graf: The board emphasized public safety through licensure and said proposed scope changes are not controversial among optometrists, describing the requests as bringing Minnesota to the ‘‘bare minimum’’ of permitted optometry procedures used elsewhere. Heglin said the board receives very few complaints and meets quarterly to review operations and enforcement.

Lawmaker response: Representative Liebling told the hearing she found it “inappropriate” for a licensing board to press lawmakers for scope-of-practice changes, stating the board’s mission is to regulate and protect the public rather than to lobby for statutory scope expansion. Other members asked about rural access, training pipelines and whether Minnesota tracks the schools where optometrists graduated.

Ending: Heglin said she would provide additional data on schools from which Minnesota licensees graduate. No board-specific fee or appropriation request was made at the hearing for the optometry board; the discussion focused on scope and workforce recruitment.