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Legislative counsel outlines sweeping professional-licensing bill; new massage-establishment fees and a $0 academic dental license included
Summary
Legislative counsel and the Office of Professional Regulation outlined H.5.88, an omnibus update that adds administrative rescission authority, creates a zero-fee academic dental teaching license, expands pharmacist prescribing, and establishes new registration fees for massage/bodywork establishments; the Finance Committee voted 7-0 to report the bill favorably.
Tim Medwin, legislative counsel, told the Senate Finance Committee on May 1 that H.5.88 is a broad set of updates to the Office of Professional Regulation's statutes that reorganizes fee language and adds new authorities. "There's a new fee structure for massage therapy establishments and some additional fees there," Medwin said, and noted the bill "reorganizes some existing piece[s] so that the language itself will appear" more clearly.
The bill adds an administrative rescission power distinct from license revocation for limited circumstances, Medwin said, and lays out expedited and longer due-process procedures depending on how long a credential has been held. Jennifer Coleman, director of the Office of Professional Regulation, summarized the change: "We're adding rescission to the authority of OPR," noting a rescission would typically address administrative errors such as an inadvertently issued credential.
H.5.88 contains multiple profession-specific provisions. Medwin said the measure creates a limited academic dental license for full-time instructors at a potential state dental program and expressly sets its application fee at zero: "We have an academic dentist fee, which is actually $0," he said. The purpose, he added, is clarity so prospective instructors and the public know there is no charge for that credential.
The bill expands pharmacist authority in two ways: it allows pharmacists and trained pharmacy technicians to test for influenza, COVID-19 and strep and, under a state protocol developed with the Department of Health and OPR, permits pharmacists to prescribe pre-exposure and post-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP and PEP) for adults. Medwin said these sections reflect work already under way in the House and Health & Welfare committees.
One of the most-discussed fiscal items is a new registration regime for massage and bodywork establishments intended in part to strengthen tools against trafficking and related misconduct. Under the bill solo practitioners would not be required to register as an establishment; two-person practices would qualify for a reduced initial registration fee ($50) and a reduced renewal ($75); larger establishments would pay an initial registration fee of $100 and a renewal of $275. Fiscal staff told the committee that the graded schedule could generate roughly $15,000 in the first year from registration and about $40,000 from biannual renewals once the program matures.
Medwin and OPR staff also described a range of other changes: updated paths to CPA licensure, clarified reporting and background-check procedures for boards, and new administrative authority to create alternative-to-discipline programs and to treat attempted fraudulent license procurement as unprofessional conduct.
After section-by-section questions from members, the committee voted by voice to report H.5.88 favorably; the clerk recorded the vote as 7-0 in favor. The bill will be reported out of Senate Finance and proceed to the next procedural step.
The director and legislative counsel said most provisions would take effect on passage, while dental provisions would become effective Sept. 1 and massage-establishment rules would go into effect Dec. 1.
