Committee amends House Bill 34 to remove 'hardship' language, approves online continuing-education tracking requirement

House Bill 34, carried by Representative Washburn, cleared the Professional License and Subdivision Committee on a motion to pass after members amended the bill to strike the word "hardship" from a subsection that addresses waivers.

The bill would authorize the Secretary of State's Office to implement an online solution for tracking continuing education (CE) and require licensees to use that system when applying to renew professional licenses. "This is a bill that assists the Secretary of State's office in our licensing process," Representative Washburn said in opening remarks.

Committee members said the change was intended to avoid creating a contested definition of "hardship" at the board level. The bill originally included language stating nothing in the subsection "shall prohibit a professional licensing board from granting a hardship waiver or imposing additional penalties as otherwise provided by law, rules, etc." One committee member moved to strike the word "hardship," and the motion passed. The chair announced that the bill, as amended, will go to the full committee.

Representatives of stakeholders told the committee they support the online tracking system. Gabe Sterling of the Secretary of State's Office described how the system would reduce manual work for analysts and enable periodic audits of continuing-education records. "When you all pass this bill, which I'm prayerfully you will again, we will have a percent audit because it's being tracked internally and verified as they go," Sterling said, adding that the system frees staff to focus on issuing licenses.

Tim Davis, representing the Georgia Nurses Association, said nurses "overwhelmingly support this program" and that a centralized repository makes it easy for licensees to track CE hours over a two-year relicensure cycle. Other speakers representing professional associations urged discretion for licensing boards, arguing that boards commonly grant short grace periods and that removing board discretion could force licensees into lengthy reinstatement processes.

Committee discussion touched on existing practice: panelists said most trades have a 30-day late renewal period before a license must be reinstated, and that the tracking system is intended to provide automated reminders (for example at six months, three months and one month) to reduce last-minute lapses. The Secretary of State's Office said some boards already use CE tracking systems and that the bill would extend that capability to additional boards.

The committee amended the bill by striking the word "hardship" from the waiver language and then voted to pass House Bill 34 as amended to the full committee. The vote was announced by voice; no roll-call tally by name was recorded in the transcript.