00                            HOUSE BILL NO. 309                                                                          
01 "An Act relating to the practice of optometry; and relating to the delegation of routine                                
02 services of optometry."                                                                                                 
03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
04    * Section 1. AS 08.72.050 is amended to read:                                                                    
05            Sec. 08.72.050. Regulations. The board shall adopt regulations                                           
06                 (1)  necessary for the proper performance of its duties;                                                
07                 (2)  governing the applicants and applications for licensing;                                           
08                 (3)  for the licensing of optometrists;                                                                 
09                 (4)  necessary to govern the practice of optometry, including the                                       
10       prescription and use of pharmaceutical agents for the treatment of eye disease;                                   
11                 (5)  prescribing requirements that a person licensed under this chapter                                 
12       must meet to demonstrate continued professional competency;                                                       
13                 (6)  developing uniform standards for the practice of optometry;                                    
14                 (7)  authorizing an optometrist licensed under this chapter to                                      

01       delegate routine services of optometry to an agent of the optometrist; the                                    
02       regulations must                                                                                              
03                      (A)  require that an agent who is not licensed under this                                      
04            chapter may perform duties delegated under this paragraph only if the                                    
05            agent meets applicable standards established by the board;                                               
06                      (B)  prohibit an optometrist from delegating duties related                                    
07            to pain management and opioid use and addiction; and                                                     
08                      (C)  define the phrase "routine services of optometry." [.]                                    
09    * Sec. 2. AS 08.72.110 is amended to read:                                                                         
10 Sec. 08.72.110. License required. (a) Except for the practice of routine                                          
11 services of optometry delegated under AS 08.72.050(7), a [A] person may not                                         
12 practice, attempt to practice, or offer to practice optometry without first obtaining a                                 
13       license from the board.                                                                                         
14 (b)  Except for the practice of routine services of optometry delegated                                             
15 under AS 08.72.050(7), a [A] person not licensed as an optometrist may not fit, sell,                               
16 or dispose of or take, receive, or solicit an order for fitting, sale, or disposition of                                
17 spectacles, eyeglasses, or lenses for the correction or relief of an optical or visual                                  
18 defect of the human eye or sell spectacles, eyeglasses, or lenses from house to house,                                  
19 or in the streets or highways. This chapter does not apply to the sale of toy glasses,                                  
20 goggles consisting of plano-white or plano-colored lenses or ordinary colored glasses,                                  
21 or complete ready-made spectacles and eyeglasses sold only as merchandise, or the                                       
22 sale or repair of eyeglass frames, or repair or replacement of lenses without pretense of                               
23       adapting them to the eyes.                                                                                        
24    * Sec. 3. AS 08.72.280 is amended to read:                                                                         
25 Sec. 08.72.280. Prohibited acts. A person may not falsely personate a licensed                                        
26 optometrist, or buy, sell, or fraudulently obtain a license issued to another or advertise                              
27 the practice of optometry in violation of regulations of the board. Except for the                                  
28 practice of routine services of optometry delegated under AS 08.72.050(7),                                          
29 practicing [PRACTICING] or offering to practice optometry without a license is                                      
30       sufficient evidence of a violation of this chapter.