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Committee advances bill requiring licensing boards to report detailed metrics to Legislature
Summary
House Bill 151 was advanced to the House floor. The bill would require agencies and licensing boards to include detailed annual metrics—such as total licensees, new licenses, denials, renewals and discipline counts—in reports to the Legislature to improve oversight and transparency.
The House Business Committee voted Feb. 17 to advance House Bill 151 to the House floor with a do-pass recommendation. The bill would require state agencies and licensing boards to provide specified annual metrics to the Legislature to enhance transparency and oversight.
Representative Jaren Crane, sponsor of the bill, described the reporting requirements beginning at a specified line in the bill and said agencies would be required to report items including the total number of licensees as of the last day of the fiscal year, the number of new licenses issued, the number of applicants denied, renewals, nonrenewals and similar performance metrics. "We're asking for... the total number of licensees... the number of new licenses issued during the fiscal year... the number of new applicants for licensure who were denied," Crane said.
The committee heard virtual testimony from Mr. Norris, identified as director of labor policy at the Knee Regulatory Research Center at West Virginia University, who said consistent reporting would improve legislative oversight by identifying which professions present consumer risk and which boards actively provide oversight. Norris said licensing requirements do not reliably improve service quality in every case and that better data would help identify where boards are or are not providing consumer protection.
Representative Palmer moved to send the bill to the floor with a do-pass recommendation; the committee approved the motion by voice vote.
Sponsors said the bill is intended to help the Legislature distinguish professions that warrant licensing from those that do not and to provide regular oversight. The committee recorded the motion as approved by voice vote; no roll-call tally appears in the transcript.
