Committee previews H.472: fee increases, new surcharges and enforcement changes for professional licensing

For the record, my name is Tim Devlin, local state's council, said Tim Devlin as he introduced H.472, a miscellaneous Office of Professional Regulation bill, to the House Ways & Means Committee, describing several fee and enforcement changes the office plans to present in full at a later session.

The bill would authorize the secretary of state to collect revenues for optional services, add or raise several license application and renewal fees, create a $250 disciplinary-action surcharge, increase a civil penalty for unauthorized practice to $5,000 and remove an explicit prohibition against charging renewal fees for years a license lapsed, Devlin told committee members.

H.472 matters because the changes would affect the cost and enforcement of professional licensure across multiple trades and professions in the state and shift how OPR and the secretary of state manage certain revenue streams.

Devlin walked the committee through specific provisions…