Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Utah committee advances OPLER-backed changes to health‑profession regulation after amendments
Summary
After hours of public testimony from audiologists, nurse practitioners and physician groups, the interim Business & Labor Committee amended and moved forward a bill implementing many recommendations from the Office of Professional Licensure Review (OPLER) that shift some professions toward mandatory certification, while removing contested audiology/hearing-instrument language for separate consideration.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Legislature’s interim Business and Labor Committee on Tuesday advanced a broad package of scope‑of‑practice changes for several health professions that reflects recommendations from the Office of Professional Licensure Review (OPLER), but lawmakers trimmed contentious audiology provisions after extensive public comment.
Tyler Moore of the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel said the bill incorporates OPLER recommendations and “modifies the scope of practice requirements for health professions,” and that it takes OPLER’s research into account. OPLER staffer Jeff Shemway told the committee the draft preserves core public‑safety protections: “the education requirement of a doctorate for audiologists and a master's for SLPs stays exactly the same,” and clinical experience, standardized exams, background checks and investigatory authority remain in place.
The policy at issue — moving certain occupations from licensure to a mandatory certification model — prompted sharply divided public testimony.…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
