BHEC: Legislature funds NPDB checks, psychology exam design and Spanish LMSW exam; multiple bills affect licensure and practice

Daryl Spinks, executive director of the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council, and Patrick Hyde, general counsel, summarized the 2025 legislative session and what it means for the agency and licensees.

Budget and agency funding: Spinks said the conference version of SB1, the state budget bill, provided BHEC with its baseline appropriations and additional, directed funds. The legislature appropriated about $400,000 to subscribe to the National Practitioner Data Bank continuous query service so the agency can run NPDB checks on renewal; Spinks said continuous queries were previously a practical impossibility without funding. The conference budget gave $125,000 to design an alternate psychology licensing exam and provided partial funding for agency staffing: the legislature funded roughly half of the six FTEs BHEC requested and directed the agency to hire attorneys first to reduce current caseloads in enforcement.

Spinks said the budget also included a surprise $200,000 rider…