Committee adopts amendments and reports substitute House Bills 1104 and 1066 out with due‑pass recommendations

The Consumer Protection & Business Committee voted to advance two substitute bills following amendment votes during its Jan. 29 session.

Representative Reeves moved and the committee considered House Bill 1104, which the committee amended (amendment "CLOG 293") to remove a U.S. citizenship requirement from the professional licensing language and to retain state residency requirements. Representative Santos supported the amendment on grounds that removing the citizenship requirement would allow internationally educated engineers to contribute to the practice; Representative Dufeau said he would recommend a no vote until the board could further explain the original rationale for the requirement. The amendment was adopted. Following incorporation of adopted amendments, the committee reported substitute House Bill 1104 out of committee with a due‑pass recommendation. Staff read a roll call and announced the final tally as 12 ayes, 2 nays and 1 excused.

Representative Reeves then moved substitute House Bill 1066 and the committee adopted Amendment Claude 295, which clarified LCB and Department of Health roles for a proposed public dashboard and directed agencies to notify the Legislature if requested data do not exist rather than trying to duplicate existing reporting. After adopting the amendment and incorporating it into the substitute, the committee reported substitute House Bill 1066 out of committee with a due‑pass recommendation. Staff announced the final tally as 13 ayes, 1 nay and 1 excused.

Recorded roll‑call entries and the staff announcements were read into the record during the meeting for both bills; the committee otherwise provided limited floor debate on the motions beyond the amendment discussions.