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Committee advances bill requiring detailed licensing-board reporting to Legislature
Summary
House Bill 151 would require licensing boards to provide annual, itemized reports to the Legislature including counts of licensees, new licenses, denials, renewals and disciplinary actions. The committee approved the bill after testimony from a licensing-policy expert.
The House Business Committee on Feb. 17 voted to send House Bill 151 to the full House with a do-pass recommendation. The bill, sponsored by Representative Jaren Crane, would require licensing agencies to include detailed, standardized counts in annual reports to the Legislature.
Representative Jaren Crane (R., Nampa) said HB 151 would add specific reporting items to agencies' annual performance reports—examples he cited include "the total number of licensees as of the last day of the fiscal year, total number of new licenses issued during the fiscal year, the number of new applicants for licensure who were denied, the number of licenses renewed and the number of licenses not renewed." Crane said the objective is to improve transparency and legislative oversight of licensing boards.
The committee heard virtual testimony from Mr. Norris, who identified himself as the director of labor policy at the "Knee Regulatory Research Center at West Virginia University" (as stated in testimony). Norris told the committee that licensing does not reliably improve quality and that the bill would supply the Legislature with data to distinguish boards that provide effective oversight from those that do not.
Representative Palmer moved the committee recommendation to send HB 151 to the floor with a do-pass recommendation. The committee approved the motion by voice vote; the transcript records the action as carrying without a roll-call tally.
Key details: the bill requires agencies to report standardized counts (licensees, new licenses, denials, renewals, disciplinary actions) to the Legislature annually; a witness appearing remotely argued the data would help identify which professions present consumer risk and which boards exercise oversight effectively. Committee members requested documentary support for a statistic cited by the witness concerning the share of workers who require a license.
Committee action: HB 151 was advanced to the House floor with a do-pass recommendation by voice vote.
