Committee supports SB 641 to permit fee waivers and deferrals for licensees affected by declared emergencies

The committee voted to recommend the full board support Senate Bill 641, a bill that would grant the Department of Consumer Affairs and boards the authority to waive or defer licensing fees, duplicate fees, examination fees and continuing‑education requirements for applicants and licensees whose homes or businesses are in declared federal, state or local disaster areas.

Miss Mancilla summarized the bill noting it parallels a prior executive order and would allow boards to provide fee waivers/deferrals and other regulatory flexibility to affected licensees. Staff said the bill also would require licensees to provide email addresses to their boards to facilitate communications.

Board staff described current operational practice under an executive order for recent wildfire‑affected areas: staff have approved roughly a dozen waivers or deferrals, most of which were not full fee waivers but administrative accommodations such as deferrals or CPD‑hour extensions. "With the executive order... we are having payments, licensees can defer payments, for up to a year," said staff; the executive officer said roughly 15 licensees had availed themselves of the deferral and that fiscal impact to the board had been limited so far.

Dr. Rogers moved and Dr. Cervantes seconded a recommendation that the full board support SB 641; the motion passed on a roll call.

Ending: The committee forwarded a support recommendation to the full board and staff will continue to monitor amendments and implementation details for the proposed authority in case broader disasters increase fiscal exposure in future incidents.