Subcommittee favors fixing background‑check language and continues dietitian licensure compact bill

The Executive Departments and Administration subcommittee recommended amending background‑check language in House Bill 145, a measure to adopt a dietitian licensure compact and set criminal-history check requirements, and continued further action so drafters can provide language acceptable to the Department of Safety and the FBI’s background-check rules.

Representative Grotta, sponsor of HB145, said dietitians urged passage and stressed that credentialed dietitians "work in hospitals" and should not be conflated with uncredentialed nutrition advisers. Kate Feiffel, a dietitian who said she represents the New Hampshire chapter of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, told the subcommittee there is an incentive for early adopters of the compact: "There is an incentive to be 1 of the first 7 states to pass the compact licensure. It gets you a seat at the commission to form the commission and be part of the rule making process."

The hearing focused on three items: the compact text itself, how background checks are described in the bill (paragraph 3), and whether the statute names an individual or office that can receive FBI criminal-history results. Department of Safety staff and OPLC expressed concern that the FBI will not permit unrestricted dissemination of background-check results to an unspecified "office." Committee members and staff discussed naming a specific officer — for example the OPLC director — or consolidating background-check provisions into a single cleanup bill so language is uniform across many profession-specific bills.

OPLC staff advised the subcommittee that the background-check paragraph is separate from the compact clause and suggested removing the background-check language from HB145 and placing it into a planned amendment in HB82 (or related cleanup legislation) that would standardize the state’s background-check procedure across licensing acts. Staff also said the statute should be explicit about who may receive FBI report data because the FBI limits secondary dissemination and requires a specific authorized recipient.

Committee direction: the subcommittee agreed to request model language from OPLC and Department of Safety, to separate the criminal history/background-check text from the compact clause, and to continue HB145 to the next subcommittee meeting so counsel can draft amendments. No formal vote on adoption of the compact occurred in this hearing.