HOUSE BILL NO. 275 "An Act extending the termination date of the Board of Massage Therapists; and providing for an effective date." 1:40:47 PM CRYSTAL KOENEMAN, STAFF, REPRESENTATIVE SAM KITO, reminded the committee that the bill extended the board for four years at the recommendation of the Division of Legislative Audit. Vice-Chair Gara asked about the cost to a licensed massage therapist for the licensing fees and fingerprinting costs. Ms. Koeneman replied that in FY 2018 the non-refundable application fee was $200, the licensing fee for a biennial license was $290 and the non-refundable fingerprinting processing fee was $60. Co-Chair Seaton MOVED to ADOPT Amendment 1, 30-LS1185\D.2 (Radford, 2/6/18) (copy on file). Page 1, line 1, following "Therapists;": Insert "relating to license renewal and criminal history record checks for massage therapists;" Page 1, following line 6: Insert new bill sections to read: "* Sec. 2. AS 08.61.050 is amended to read: Sec. 08.61.050. Standards for license renewal. The board shall renew a license issued under this chapter to a licensee who (1) pays the required fee; (2) meets the continuing education requirements established by the board; (3) has not been convicted of, or pled guilty or no contest to, a crime involving moral turpitude, or has been convicted of, or pled guilty to or no contest to, a crime involving moral turpitude if the board finds that the conviction does not affect the person's ability to practice competently and safely; (4) has a current cardiopulmonary resuscitation certification; and (5) has been fingerprinted and has provided the fees required by the Department of Public Safety under AS 12.62.160 for criminal justice information and a national criminal history record check once every three renewals; the fingerprints and fees shall be forwarded to the Department of Public Safety to obtain a report of criminal justice information under AS 12.62 and a national criminal history record check under AS 12.62.400. * Sec. 3. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to read: APPLICABILITY. AS 08.61.050, as amended by sec. 2 of this Act, applies to applications for renewal of a license to practice as a massage therapist under AS 08.61 filed on or after the effective date of sec. 2 of this Act." Renumber the following bill section accordingly. Page 1, line 7: Delete "This" Insert "Section 1 of this" Page 1, following line 7: Insert a new bill section to read: "* Sec. 5. Sections 2 and 3 of this Act takes effect July 1, 2018." Representative Wilson OBJECTED for discussion. Co-Chair Seaton explained the amendment. He voiced that the amendment changed the fingerprinting and criminal history requirement to once every six years or three renewal cycles. He thought that the requirement at every renewal was a burden on the industry and the department. He noted that the massage board was the only board currently requiring repeat fingerprinting and criminal history checks. In addition to the $60 fingerprinting processing fee, another fee was charged for the actual fingerprinting, which varied from $26 to $35 depending on location in the state. Co-Chair Foster asked for the sponsor's opinion. 1:44:43 PM Ms. Koeneman shared that the sponsor was in opposition to the amendment. She relayed that currently another bill HB 110-Massage Therapy Licensing; Exemptions (CHAPTER 10 SLA 18 - 05/15/2018) that addressed the issue would be referred to the House Finance Committee in approximately one week and was currently in the House Labor and Commerce Committee. Representative Ortiz asked for explanation about the other bill. Ms. Koeneman answered the House Labor and Commerce Committee had been working on a bill to address several issues facing the massage therapy board. Representative Ortiz asked whether the opposition was due to insufficient language in the amendment. Ms. Koeneman answered the sponsor did not oppose the amendment's language but opposed adding it to a sunset bill. The sponsor favored a "clean" sunset bill and addressing substantive issues in another piece of legislation. Representative Guttenberg was under the impression that the massage board was the only one being required to retake fingerprints each licensing renewal. He asked why besides repeatedly, fingerprints were required at all. Ms. Koeneman responded that the establishing legislation required fingerprinting and background checks as a "check and balance" with every renewal and it had been a policy decision made by the legislature at the time. Representative Guttenberg asked about a check and balance on what and wondered what the point was. He wondered if there was concern about identity theft. He emphasized that very few boards required fingerprints and none repeatedly. Ms. Koeneman deferred to the board. DAVID EDWARDS-SMITH, CHAIR, BOARD OF MASSAGE THERAPY (via teleconference), replied that there was a transient population of massage therapists that worked in multiple states. He elaborated that the purpose of fingerprinting triggered a background check that provided information regarding whether a crime of "moral turpitude" was committed. The board discovered a "few" prostitution charges from background checks that resulted in license denials. 1:49:45 PM Representative Wilson asked whether the prostitution charges were discovered during the initial background check or under renewal. Mr. Edwards-Smith answered that at least one crime of moral turpitude was found under the first renewal period. Representative Wilson asked for the total number of licensees. Mr. Edwards-Smith replied that there were approximately 1,200. Representative Wilson agreed that the background check renewal requirement was not made of any other board and felt that one out of 1,200 was a very low threshold. She thought the requirement was burdensome and was unaware at the time of initial licensure that the massage board would be the only board requiring background checks at every renewal. She favored the amendment. Vice-Chair Gara stated that fingerprinting was a "roundabout way" to get a background check on a person. He noted that one set of fingerprints was already required. He asked if anyone had ever considered having the state do a background check without fingerprinting. Mr. Edwards-Smith replied that the fingerprint card triggered the federal background check which was more thorough than a state background only check. The purpose was looking to address a "significant" transient population of therapists in Alaska. Representative Wilson thought the debate was not about whether the issue was right or wrong. She would prefer to include the amendment in the current bill that had a better chance of passing than in a separate piece of legislation. Representative Wilson WITHDREW her OBJECTION. Representative Pruitt OBJECTED because the topic was in another bill. He relayed that he recently withdrew an amendment regarding the Alaska Public Offices Commission, (APOC) from consideration because he was informed the amendment's substance was included in a different bill. He felt that the process should be consistent. 1:54:22 PM Co-Chair Seaton provided closing remarks on the amendment. He was uncertain whether the other bill regarding massage therapy licensure changes would move out of the committee it currently sits. He declared that the current bill was a licensing bill and the issue strictly dealt with licensing requirements. The amendment was not adding "other substantive elements" to the licensure program. He urged member's support for the amendment. A roll call vote was taken on the motion. IN FAVOR: Guttenberg, Kawasaki, Ortiz, Thompson, Tilton, Wilson, Gara, Foster, Seaton OPPOSED: Pruitt, The MOTION PASSED (9/1). 1:56:30 PM AT EASE 1:56:38 PM RECONVENED Representative Wilson MOVED to ADOPT Amendment 2, 30- LS1185\D.3 (Radford, 2/8/18). Page 1, Line 5: Delete "2022" Insert "2024" There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered. Co-Chair Seaton MOVED to REPORT CSHB 275(FIN) out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal note. There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered. CSHB 275(FIN) was REPORTED out of committee with a "do pass" recommendation and with one new fiscal impact note from the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development. 1:58:01 PM AT EASE 1:58:28 PM RECONVENED