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.