Fiscal office: H.472 will fund one mental‑health regulator position; fee changes add about $220,000 a year

The Ways & Means Committee heard a fiscal briefing on H.472, described in the meeting as the “OTR bill,” and was told a fiscal note posted on the committee page reflects Senate changes that remove early‑childhood educator licensure language and leave a single position to regulate certain mental‑health professions.

Chris Roop, Joint Fiscal staff, told the committee the amendment coming from the Senate strips the early‑childhood educator licensure provisions because that section is not funded in the budget signed into law. "The amendment ... removes the pieces that spoke to the early childhood educator licensure because that section is not funded in the budget that was passed and signed into law," Roop said.

Why it matters: the remaining provisions create one position initially funded from the general fund while the regulatory system is established; in later years the position’s cost would be shifted to the professional regulation fund. The Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) requested several fee changes; the Senate kept those changes, and Roop said the resulting impact to the professional regulation fund is about $220,000 a year.

Roop explained that the position is funded with a general fund appropriation in the first year, and "in future years, the cost of that position would move over to the professional regulation fund." He also said that fee changes requested by OPR were not altered by the Senate and that their combined impact is roughly $220,000 annually.

The committee was told that the budget construct accounts for the position even though the line is outside the budget, and that the posted fiscal note reflects the Senate version. Roop noted the committee does not prepare fiscal notes for floor amendments; an updated fiscal note will be posted after the House floor acts on any amendments so the committee can see the as‑passed‑by‑House numbers.

Discussion: committee members asked whether House Government Operations had approved the amendment and sought confirmation about budgeting and whether testimony had been heard on removal of the position. Roop and other staff clarified the fiscal treatment and the timing for a revised fiscal note; there was no detailed debate about programmatic implementation in the recorded segment.

Next steps: staff said a new fiscal note will be posted once the House floor amendment is final; no formal committee action on H.472 was recorded in the provided transcript segment.

Less critical detail: Roop summarized that, beyond the one‑time shift for the initial year and the fee changes, there are no other large fiscal impacts identified in the posted note.