Senate Government Operations committee hears overview of omnibus OPR licensing bill affecting multiple professions

On March 18, 2026, the Senate Committee on Government Operations heard a briefing on a House-passed omnibus licensing bill that would change how the Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) licenses and regulates a wide range of professions. Tim Dublin, legislative staff, gave the committee a six-page overview and answered members’ questions; the committee took no formal action and adjourned.

The bill would expand OPR’s authority over licensing processes and enforcement. Dublin told the committee the measure would allow OPR to rescind or extend licenses in limited circumstances—administrative error, nonpayment of fees and withdrawal of an interstate compact—and would strengthen enforcement around deceptive procurement or use of a license. He said the bill “creates pathways and provide[s] due process for rescission of licenses” and described different procedural timelines depending on how long a licensee has been licensed.

The package includes profession-specific changes. It would: 1) create additional combinations of education and experience for accountant licensure; 2) create a limited academic dentist license for instructors in accredited dental programs with a $0 fee; 3) broaden the statutory definition of funeral services to expressly include cremation, alkaline hydrolysis and natural organic reduction; 4) remove a renewal documentation requirement for advanced practice registered nurses; 5) authorize pharmacists to prescribe, order or administer tests consistent with protocols for COVID-19 and influenza and to provide subsequent treatment under those protocols; and 6) permit OPR to issue temporary three-year policies to supplement psychologist education requirements and require an OPR sunrise review for speech-language pathology assistants.

Several provisions would change how massage therapists and establishments are regulated. The bill would redefine “establishment” (broadening where practice may occur subject to registration), require registration for many establishments, authorize inspections and ownership disclosures, and add a tiered fee structure: solo practitioners would remain exempt from establishment registration, establishments with only two therapists would qualify for a reduced registration fee, and larger establishments would pay the default fee. The measure would also expand what constitutes unprofessional conduct to include sexual conduct with a client and add a safe-harbor immunity in criminal law for victims of prostitution or trafficking who report those crimes.

Committee members focused questions on what counts as deceptive procurement. Senator Way asked whether presenting a fake license or lying to obtain a license would qualify; Dublin said lying to obtain a license could qualify as deceptive procurement but that an inadvertent lapse in licensure would not necessarily meet that standard and would need to be reviewed in context.

Members also asked about fees and House amendments. Dublin said he did not see any substantial fee increases that would make gubernatorial approval unlikely; he pointed to a reorganization of existing fee language that may appear as a new fee on first read but in practice is housekeeping in statutory placement. He confirmed the academic dentist license and many broad statutory changes would take effect on passage, the new academic dentist license is intended to take effect September 1, 2026, and the massage/companion criminal immunity provisions are slated for December 1, 2026.

No committee vote was taken. The committee noted it had not yet received the official bill packet; Representative Nent was identified as the House reporter and will be invited to appear once the bill is filed. The committee adjourned without action and plans to revisit the bill when the text is available to members.

The committee also discussed a small technical floor amendment to S89 that will be carried to the floor as a technical correction; that item is on the floor schedule and not before the committee.