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Committee approves occupational-licensing docket after debate over genetic counselors' code of ethics
Summary
The House Health and Welfare Committee approved an occupational-licensing docket after a sustained committee discussion about striking an incorporation-by-reference of the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC) Code of Ethics; members deferred detailed final-rule changes for a future meeting.
The House Health and Welfare Committee approved a docket of rule changes for the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses after extended debate over whether to remove an incorporation-by-reference to the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC) Code of Ethics.
John Price, bureau chief for the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses, told the committee that the language at issue had long existed in the chapter and “merely got moved.” Price said the department was open to narrowly removing a sentence in the incorporation that referred to required counseling guidance tied to race and religion and urged the committee to consider striking that specific portion rather than discarding the entire ethical-code provision.
Several lawmakers asked whether the committee had authority to strike a portion of an incorporated external document. Brad Hunt, Office of the Administrative Rules Coordinator within the Department of Finance and Administration, explained that the incorporated 2017 version had already been finalized and that, if the committee wanted to remove language from the already-final incorporated document, the committee would have to reject that final rule as part of the process.
Representative Raizer moved to approve the docket with an exception that would have struck section 200 (practice standards), subsection 1 (unprofessional and unethical conduct). Representative Furman offered a substitute motion to approve the full docket as written and asked the department to work with the committee afterward to address the incorporation language. Following procedural discussion and a brief legal consultation, the committee withdrew earlier motions and approved the docket as presented by voice vote.
Transcript discussion named the specific provision under consideration as Section 200, "practice standards," subsection 1, and the incorporation by reference to the NSGC Code of Ethics, described in the transcript as Section 2, subsection 3. The committee agreed to address the final-rule status of the incorporated document at a later meeting rather than remove the language during this docket vote.
The committee recorded the motion and final voice vote as approving the docket; no roll-call vote tally was recorded in the transcript.
