Committee approves docket on professional-licensing rules after debate over genetic counselors' code of ethics

The House Health and Welfare Committee considered Docket 242401, a package of rule changes from the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses that includes language adopting professional standards for genetic counseling by incorporation of an external code of ethics.

John Price, bureau chief for the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses, told the committee the rule chapter already contained the contested language and that the department was prepared to work with legislators to address specific lines. “In my research I discovered that this particular section of the rule requires a potential counselor to violate their conscience … pursuant to … sincerely held principles,” Price said, explaining the department understood concerns and was willing to stand by the committee’s decision.

Committee members debated whether the panel has authority to strike portions of an incorporated document. Representative Furman and others sought clarity; Brad Hunt, administrative rules coordinator in the Department of Financial Management, advised that the legislature can reject parts of a final, incorporated document but that the 2017 final rule at issue is already finalized and would need to be specifically rejected if the committee wished to remove language from the incorporated document.

Several motions followed. Representative Raizer moved to approve the docket while striking the specific subsection of section 200 that incorporates the National Society of Genetic Counselors Code of Ethics (section 2, subsection 3). Representative Furman offered a substitute motion to approve the full docket as written and to work with the department afterward. Representative Razor later offered an amended substitute that would accept the docket while striking the incorporation by reference language; that motion was withdrawn after the committee sought procedural clarification.

After consultation with legal and administrative staff, the committee accepted Representative Furman’s substitute motion to approve the docket as written. The chair called for a voice vote; members signified assent and the motion carried. The chair said the committee will address the incorporation-by-reference language when the committee considers the final rule document at a later meeting.

Why it matters: The dispute centers on whether ethical guidance from the National Society of Genetic Counselors can be incorporated by reference into state licensing rules and whether the legislature may excise specific lines it views as problematic. The outcome keeps the docket moving forward while reserving the committee’s right to act on the finalized incorporated document later.