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Committee hears administration bill to consolidate licensing under health commissioner
Summary
An administration-backed 'CORE Act' would move day-to-day licensure processing from specialty boards to a commissioner-run agency; Department of Health staff said boards would remain for policy appeals while administrative consultants (licensed practitioners) would handle applications.
House Bill 2,539 (referred to in committee as the CORE Act) would restructure how several health-profession licensure activities are administered by shifting authority to a commissioner-run agency. Chairman Kumar (speaker 13) described the bill as intended to "streamline and modernize" licensing operations by creating commissioner-issued licenses for multiple professions, sunsetting or rearranging several boards, and allowing the commissioner to promulgate rules when boards fail to act.
Grayson Carter (speaker 23), Assistant Commissioner of Legislative Affairs for the Department of Health, told the committee the boards themselves would still exist in an oversight capacity, but the administrative staff and licensed board consultants — who are themselves licensed clinicians — would process applications and investigations. Carter said that the consultants are typically licensed in the profession they review and that the change is designed to reduce delays caused by low board meeting frequency or quorum problems. Members expressed concerns about removing board members from day-to-day decisions and whether administrative staff could adequately handle disciplinary appeals; Carter and sponsors said appeals would remain available through administrative law judges and the board oversight process.
