Deputy Secretary seeks doula certification, mental health executive officer and data-feed authority in OPR bill

Lauren Hibbert, Deputy Secretary of State, presented the Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) bill draft and asked the committee to consider several targeted amendments, outlining reasons and operational implications for each.

Hibbert asked that the doula bill (H79), which would establish voluntary certification for doulas, be attached to the OPR bill so it can make “significant progress” this session; she said the topic had broad stakeholder consensus and had been studied over the summer. She said certification is the proposed regulatory approach and that the senate side had indicated willingness to work with the House on crossover.

Hibbert also asked the committee to add a mental health executive officer position to OPR’s staff, funded as a one‑time general fund allotment in the current budget request. She said the request is rooted in an 18‑month mental health study that found OPR regulates 17 different mental health licenses and identified a need to consolidate boards and streamline licensure, supervision and alternative pathways for candidates. Hibbert testified that the one‑time fiscal ask in testimony is “a hundred and $70,000” (salary and benefits) to hire a…