Legislature(2009 - 2010)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)

04/08/2010 01:30 PM Senate LABOR & COMMERCE


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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
-- Please Note Time Change --
+ HB 314 WORKERS' COMPENSATION TELECONFERENCED
Moved CSHB 314(FIN) Out of Committee
+ HB 245 LICENSING FOR OPTOMETRY TELECONFERENCED
Moved HB 245 Out of Committee
+ HB 110 PSYCHOLOGISTS' LICENSING & PRACTICE TELECONFERENCED
Moved CSHB 110(HSS) Out of Committee
+ Bills Previously Heard/Scheduled TELECONFERENCED
           HB 110-PSYCHOLOGISTS' LICENSING & PRACTICE                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
2:09:08 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR PASKVAN announced  HB 110 to be up  for consideration [CSHB
110(HSS) was before the committee].                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
2:09:21 PM                                                                                                                    
LIZ CLEMENT,  staff to Representative  Bob Herron, sponsor  of HB
110, said this bill does two  things; it creates a more efficient                                                               
licensure  system without  sacrificing professional  standards or                                                               
quality and it also clarifies who is regulated by the board.                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
When current law  was written, Ms. Clement  explained, the Alaska                                                               
Board  of  Psychologists  and Psychological  Associate  Examiners                                                               
offered a qualifying  exam to be licensed by the  board every six                                                               
months. However,  they now offer  it every three  months. Statute                                                               
still states  that if  you take  and do  not pass  the qualifying                                                               
exam the  first time, you need  to wait six months  before taking                                                               
it again. The  board feels there is no reason  to force people to                                                               
wait that long if they are ready to take it again sooner.                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
MS.  CLEMENT  said  that existing  exemptions  would  remain  for                                                               
supervised  psychology students,  interns  and  residents, and  a                                                               
board approved  program of study  for qualified members  of other                                                               
professions  such as  licensed professional  counselors, clinical                                                               
social  workers and  marital and  family therapists  who do  work                                                               
that  professions train  and  qualify  them to  do  and also  for                                                               
physicians who  are engaged in  the normal practice and  scope of                                                               
work for which they are licensed.                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
Two other  groups that are  currently exempt but with  very vague                                                               
language are clarified; the first  being school psychologists who                                                               
work under  the supervision of  their employing  school districts                                                               
and U.S.  government employees who  practice psychology  while in                                                               
the discharge of  their official duties. The  only people subject                                                               
to board regulation  and the only people this  bill would affect,                                                               
therefore,  are  those who  represent  themselves  to a  trusting                                                               
public as a psychologist or a psychological associate.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
MS. CLEMENT  said passage of HB  110 would not limit  the work of                                                               
any  other mental  health  service providers  in  Alaska be  they                                                               
secular, spiritual,  professional or  voluntary. It has  two zero                                                               
fiscal notes.                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
2:12:30 PM                                                                                                                    
PHILLIP   BAKER,   Legislative    Chair,   Alaska   Psychological                                                               
Association, supported  HB 110. It  closes a loophole  created in                                                               
the original  legislation in 1964  allowing anyone to hang  out a                                                               
shingle and call themselves a psychologist.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
2:13:54 PM                                                                                                                    
DR.  JOHN   DE  RUYTER,  member,   Board  of   Psychologists  and                                                               
Psychological Associate  Examiners, said he supported  HB 110 for                                                               
the reasons stated by Ms. Clement.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
2:15:15 PM                                                                                                                    
CAM   CARLSON,  public   member,  Board   of  Psychologists   and                                                               
Psychological Associate  Examiners, supported HB 110.  It gets to                                                               
the heart of what the board is for - protecting the public.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
2:16:55 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR PASKVAN closed public testimony.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR DAVIS moved  to report CSHB 110(HSS)  from committee with                                                               
individual recommendations and attached  zero fiscal notes. There                                                               
were no objections and it was so ordered.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
2:17:35 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR PASKVAN announced an at ease from 2:17 to 2:19 p.m.                                                                       
                                                                                                                                

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