Senate advances H.472 to adjust OPR fees, create early-childhood educator licensure and strip appropriations

The Vermont Senate moved H.472, an Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) bill for immediate action and ordered a third reading after floor debate on fee changes, new licensure for early childhood educators and several regulatory adjustments.

The bill, reported by Senator White (Windsor District) and amended by the Committee on Appropriations, aims to correct omitted fee provisions, add charges for services OPR now provides for free, create a disciplinary surcharge, deregulate motor vehicle racing and establish a multi-tier licensure for early childhood educators. Senator White said, “OPR is responsible for the regulation of over 53 professions in Vermont.”

Why this matters: Sponsors and committee reports say the OPR special fund is operating at a projected deficit (reported on the floor as about $1,500,000), and the bill’s mix of restored fees, new fees and disciplinary surcharges is intended to reduce that shortfall while expanding or changing regulatory authority in several fields. The bill also creates a phased professional licensure path for early childhood educators, with an implementation timeline discussed on the floor that stretches as long as eight years for full licensure for incumbents.

Key provisions and debate - Fees and revenue: The bill would reestablish fees unintentionally dropped from statute and add modest charges for services OPR already provides. Examples discussed on the floor include increasing the license verification fee from $20 to $30, reinstating an electrology shop fee at $200, a $50 apprenticeship application fee and a $250 disciplinary-action surcharge assessed when enforcement actions occur. Senator Hardy (Addison District) and the finance report described these as modest charges for services OPR currently provides at no cost. The bill’s sponsors acknowledged the fee changes do not fully eliminate the reported OPR deficit but represent a step toward fiscal balance.

- Disciplinary and enforcement changes: The bill raises the maximum administrative penalty for unauthorized practice to $5,000 (aligned with superior court maximums) and establishes the $250 disciplinary surcharge intended to offset enforcement costs. It also removes a modest $25 refund for “second chance determinations” and reinstates OPR authority to retain certain professional boards rather than allowing automatic five‑year terminations under the cited statutory sunset provisions.

- Deregulation of motor vehicle racing: A sunset review recommended removing motor vehicle racing from state regulation because insurance and other nonstate mechanisms provide oversight. The chamber was told that deregulation would reduce revenue by roughly $14,000.

- Early childhood educator licensure (section 14): The bill creates a three-level ECE licensure ladder (ECE 1, ECE 2, ECE 3) to regulate individual early childhood educators who work in family and center-based care rather than only regulating facilities. Senator White said the sunrise review found “a danger to the public when we don't regulate that profession,” and sponsors argued the licensure structure would establish uniform practice standards, improve mobility and could support higher wages for credentialed individuals. The floor discussion emphasized long transition periods for incumbents: committee members and the bill sponsor described a runway as long as eight years (multiple extensions) to allow existing home‑based providers time to meet new credentials. Appropriations recommended striking section 18 (the immediate appropriation/position-creation language) and attaching effective-date contingencies so implementation funding would be considered in next year’s budget process.

- Other profession-specific changes: The bill includes statutory edits covering barbers and cosmetology (including required training on textured hair), adjustments for nursing assistants (clarifying competency testing after prolonged absence), changes to massage therapy establishment regulation intended to help address human trafficking, and edits related to funeral services escrow agents where enforcement proved impractical.

Floor actions and procedure - The Senate voted to suspend the rules to take up H.472 for immediate action (motion moved by the Senator from Chittenden; voice vote; “the ayes have it” recorded). The Senate subsequently adopted the committee reports and amendments as recommended by Government Operations and amended by Appropriations, and the Senate ordered the bill read a third time (voice votes were used; exact tallies were not specified on the floor). The Committee on Government Operations reported the bill out unanimously (5–0–0), Finance reported a favorable recommendation (7–0–0), and Appropriations recommended passage with two amendments (7–0–0).

What was not decided or remains pending - Appropriations removed immediate implementation funding and positions for the early childhood licensure program, setting effective dates contingent on a future fiscal-year 2027 appropriation. The Senate ordered third reading rather than transmittal for final passage to the House on the same day; final enactment, appropriations and implementation timing remain subject to later legislative steps.

Ending note: Senators on the floor characterized the bill as a combination of technical fixes, fee restorations and policy changes that aim to stabilize OPR’s special fund and add new professional regulation for early childhood educators, while delaying appropriation decisions to next year’s budget process.