House Business Committee adopts multiple board rule changes, holds complex logging and electrical rule dockets

The House Business Committee approved several pending administrative rule dockets affecting licensing, rule structure and fees across multiple professions and boards, and deferred two complex rule packages for further review.

Amy Lorenzo, Bureau Chief at the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL), said the damage prevention board rules (docket number provided in the committee packet) are primarily a reorganization that removes duplicative or burdensome language, streamlines the complaint process so staff determine statutory references, and drops prescriptive technology requirements. Lorenzo told the committee the board held multiple public hearings and trainings with stakeholders and "issued just over 40 notices of violation" during the prior year as part of its outreach efforts.

Michelle Byrd, investigations program manager for the Building, Construction and Real Estate Bureau, presented a short contractor-registration chapter (Idaho State Board of Contractor Registration) that renumbers and removes language duplicative of statute. Byrd asked the committee to approve the pending rule as final; the committee did so. Byrd also presented Real Estate Commission rules and said the board reduced broker and salesperson license fees from $160 to $135 to comply with legislative direction to lower cash balances; the committee approved the Real Estate rules with the exception of rule 150.02(a).

Public comment came from Joe Prynne, a retired registered contractor and host of the Home Fix radio show, who urged more proactive education for registered contractors and consumers to prevent misuse of the term "licensed." Prynne showed committee members examples he had collected of contractors advertising themselves as "licensed and insured" despite being registered, and urged DOPL to devote more resources to education to reduce downstream disciplinary cases.

The board of registration for professional geologists sought and received approval for a fee increase: the annual renewal fee rising from $60 to $100, the maximum allowed by Idaho code, to reduce a projected annual deficit of roughly $21,000. Byrd said that only Wyoming among neighboring states had a lower renewal fee and that the increase was proposed after the board found long-term expenses exceeded revenue.

The committee voted to hold two complex dockets for later action: a multi-part logging safety rules package and separate electrical rule dockets, both described at length by staff as large and likely to require more time. The committee set those items to be taken up at the call of the chair.

Taken together, the committee's actions adjust fees, delete rules duplicative of statute, simplify investigative processes, and emphasize education and outreach in certain board programs; more complex technical packages (logging and electrical) were deferred for additional work.