The House Health and Human Services Committee on [date not specified] amended and approved House Bill 76, clarifying that the legislation establishes a certification category for family peer support specialists rather than a license, and advanced the bill to the House floor.

Committee staff described House Bill 76 as legislation to revise laws related to the Board of Behavioral Health, provide certification and regulation for family peer support specialists, and provide a licensure exemption for religious officials. The amendments submitted and adopted replaced references to “licensure” with “certification” to reflect the bill’s intent and the Department of Labor’s input that certification better matches the policy goal.

Vice Chair Howell (who moved the amendment) told committee members the change was intended to be technical and to avoid creating a new license category. Committee members adopted the amendment by voice vote. Later, after accounting for proxy votes, the committee moved House Bill 76 as amended for a due-pass recommendation to the floor. The record shows several no votes by proxy (Representative Regier and Representative Veil) and at least one recorded no vote in-person (Representative Love).

No fiscal note, implementation timeline, or detailed certification standards were discussed on the record during committee action; committee staff indicated the packet contained one amendment (76.1.1) that made the licensure-to-certification changes. The committee chair announced that House Bill 76 will move to the floor.

Votes at a glance
• Amendment 76.1.1 (replace licensure language with certification): adopted by voice vote.
• House Bill 76 as amended: passed in committee and moved to the House floor; several no votes noted (Representative Veil and Representative Regier by proxy; Representative Love in person).

What happens next
The bill was reported out of committee to the House floor. The transcript did not record a final House floor date or detailed certification standards.