Appropriations committee backs amendment to HB 472 that removes early-childhood licensure provisions

The House Appropriations Committee on May 28 conducted a straw poll to favorably support an amendment to House Bill 472, a measure involving regulation of professions and occupations that the committee has been calling the "OPR bill." The amendment converts a proposed executive officer for regulation of mental health professions from an exempt to a classified position and removes the bill's sections establishing licensure and related funding for early‑childhood educators.

Legislative Council attorney Tim Depp told the committee the amendment before members was draft 1.2 dated May 28 and came from members of the House Government Operations Committee. "This would actually change that to 1 new permanent full time and classified position," Depp said, describing the change to the executive officer position in section 12 of the bill. He also said, "The second instance of amendment removes the latter half of the bill having to do with early childhood educators."

The committee discussed why the early‑childhood provisions were being removed. The committee chair said the sections had not been vetted on the House side and would have normally gone through House Human Services and Government Operations committees. "It was a lot of money, a lot of positions in a tough year when this body had never seen anything about it," the chair said, referring to funding and staffing originally proposed for early‑childhood educator licensure. Depp and other members noted the bill previously included a one‑time appropriation of about $170,000 for a mental health executive officer; Depp said that amount was included in the budget as one‑time because OPR fees are expected to cover the position in the future.

Committee members and staff recited figures from the version of the bill that included early‑childhood licensure: the transcript records references to two positions estimated at roughly $320,000, a licensure line of about $262,000, a request for three permanent positions costing roughly $628,000, and an additional roughly $1,400,000 to cover renewal and licensure fees for a subsequent year. Committee members said those sums were drawn from the general fund and had not been the subject of prior testimony to this appropriations body; one member noted uncertainty over whether child‑care‑related funds could be used for licensure. Those numeric figures are reported as stated in the committee discussion and were not adopted as part of a formal committee appropriation in this meeting.

By voice roll, the committee conducted a straw poll on the amendment. The clerk recorded votes of yes from John Lilly, Harris, Representative Roche and Representative Reich; the clerk's roll included additional affirmative responses that were not fully captured in the meeting transcript. The committee characterized the vote as a straw poll to register support; it is nonbinding and the bill will still need floor action and any required review by other fiscal or legislative committees. The chair said the measure is expected on the floor at approximately 4:30 and that the panel was awaiting action by Ways and Means.

The amendment also renumbers sections and corrects effective dates left over after removing the early‑childhood educator provisions, Depp said. Committee members emphasized that because the early‑childhood program language had not been vetted in the House, it was appropriate to remove those sections and revisit the policy in a future session after public testimony and committee review.

Next steps identified in the meeting: the amendment was to be reported out of committee by straw poll for floor consideration, and the bill's further progress may depend on action by Ways and Means and the full House. The committee did not take a formal, binding roll‑call vote to adopt the amendment as final; the straw poll reflects committee support but is not the final legislative action.