Committee reviews H.588 to broaden OPR enforcement, create academic dental license and new registration powers for massage establishments

On Jan. 16 the Vermont House Government Operations & Military Affairs Committee reviewed H.588, a multi-part Office of Professional Regulation bill designed to change how the state licenses and oversees many professions. Legislative counsel and OPR staff described changes ranging from new administrative tools for OPR to a registration regime for massage establishments intended to help identify illicit activity.

The bill covers broad administrative changes in Title 3 and profession-specific amendments in Title 26. The changes would authorize the Office of Professional Regulation to rescind credentials in certain administrative circumstances and adopt a voluntary diversion program for licensees with substance-use disorders, clarify reporting duties for health-care facilities, add attempted fraudulent procurement or use of credentials to unprofessional-conduct statutes, and require board members to be adults. It also includes a collection of profession-specific provisions: a limited academic dentist license, a registration and inspection regime for massage establishments, removal of duplicative midwife reporting, expanded authority for pharmacist vaccination protocols, an explicit…