02/13/2018 01:30 PM House FINANCE

HOUSE BILL NO. 280                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
     "An Act extending the termination date of the Board of                                                                     
     Marital and Family Therapy; and providing for an                                                                           
     effective date."                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
2:31:08 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MEGAN   HOLLAND,  STAFF,   REPRESENTATIVE  ANDY   JOSEPHSON,                                                                    
explained that the legislation  would extend the termination                                                                    
date of  the Board of  Marital and Family Therapy  for eight                                                                    
years.  She  provided details  about  the  board. The  board                                                                    
regulated and  licensed therapists and  approved supervisors                                                                    
throughout   the  state.   Currently,  85   therapists  were                                                                    
licensed through the board.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
Representative  Wilson  relayed  that  one  of  the  audit's                                                                    
recommendations in  the previous  2013 audit was  related to                                                                    
implementing regulations for telehealth.  She asked when the                                                                    
board would complete the regulation writing process.                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
DORTHEA  GODDARD-AGUERO,  CHAIR,  BOARD  OF  MARITAL  FAMILY                                                                    
THERAPY,  ANCHORAGE  (via  teleconference), replied  that  a                                                                    
draft of the regulations was  submitted to the Department of                                                                    
Law  (DOL)  and the  board  was  waiting for  comments.  She                                                                    
believed  it was  too early  in the  process to  determine a                                                                    
completion date.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
2:33:49 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
KRIS  CURTIS,   LEGISLATIVE  AUDITOR,  ALASKA   DIVISION  OF                                                                    
LEGISLATIVE AUDIT,  addressed the audit dated  May 2017. She                                                                    
cited  the "Report  Conclusions" section  on page  3 of  the                                                                    
audit report. She read the following:                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
     Overall,  the  audit   concludes  the  board  generally                                                                    
     serves the  public's interest by  effectively licensing                                                                    
     and  regulating  marital   and  family  therapists  and                                                                    
     approving marital  and family therapy  supervisors. The                                                                    
     board  monitors  licensees  and works  to  ensure  only                                                                    
     qualified individuals practice  in Alaska. Furthermore,                                                                    
     the board  develops and  adopts regulations  to improve                                                                    
     the marital and family therapy occupation.                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
     In accordance  with AS  08.03.010(c)(11), the  board is                                                                    
     scheduled to  terminate on June 30,  2018. We recommend                                                                    
     that  the legislature  extend  the board's  termination                                                                    
     date to June 30, 2026.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
Ms.   Curtis   offered   that   the   audit   contained   no                                                                    
recommendations. She  reported that  the schedule  of "Board                                                                    
of  Marital  and  Family Therapy  License  Activity,  FY  14                                                                    
through  January 31,  2017" was  on page  6. She  reiterated                                                                    
that  85 active  licenses  were reported.  The "Schedule  of                                                                    
License Revenues and Expenditures" were  found on page 8 and                                                                    
showed a surplus of over $68  thousand as of March 31, 2017.                                                                    
She  noted that  the board  was able  to maintain  a surplus                                                                    
despite  the  small number  of  licensees.  The schedule  of                                                                    
license fees  was found on  page 7. The  governor's response                                                                    
was on  page 19, the response  from DCCED was found  on page                                                                    
21,  and the  board's response  was  found on  page 23.  All                                                                    
entities agreed  with the  audit conclusions.  She addressed                                                                    
Representative   Wilson's  question.   She  explained   that                                                                    
Legislative  Audit  decided  to  examine how  the  4  mental                                                                    
health boards  were addressing telehealth and  felt that the                                                                    
issue  was  important.  All  the audits  for  the  4  boards                                                                    
described  each boards  progress  in developing  regulations                                                                    
required   with   the   passage   of  SB   74   -   Medicaid                                                                    
Reform;Telemedicine;Drug  Database  (CHAPTER  25  SLA  16  -                                                                    
06/21/2016). The  Marital and Family Therapy  Board had been                                                                    
interested in  drafting telehealth regulations prior  to the                                                                    
passage  of SB  74 and  the bill  provided the  incentive to                                                                    
delve  into  the  process.   The  department  was  currently                                                                    
experiencing  a  regulation  backlog   due  to  SB  74.  The                                                                    
auditors investigated  how DCCED was handling  the situation                                                                    
and  found  that  it   was  appropriately  prioritizing  the                                                                    
backlog.                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
2:36:54 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Representative Wilson cited  page 9, of the  audit and noted                                                                    
the same case confidentiality  security issues remained. Ms.                                                                    
Curtis replied in the affirmative.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
2:37:19 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
SARA  CHAMBERS, DEPUTY  DIRECTOR, DIVISION  OF CORPORATIONS,                                                                    
BUSINESS   AND   PROFESSIONAL   LICENSING,   DEPARTMENT   OF                                                                    
COMMERCE, COMMUNITY AND  ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, addressed the                                                                    
department's  fiscal note  FN1 (CED).  She related  that the                                                                    
fiscal  note for  the five  member board  amounted to  $21.4                                                                    
thousand  for board  members to  attend four  board meetings                                                                    
per year,  advertising of public  notice of  board meetings,                                                                    
training and conference fees, and  per diem. She stated that                                                                    
the  department  would absorb  the  board  functions if  the                                                                    
board sunset was not renewed.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Foster OPENED public testimony.                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Foster CLOSED public testimony.                                                                                        
MOVED  to REPORT  HB 280  out of  committee with  individual                                                                    
recommendations  and  the  accompanying fiscal  note.  There                                                                    
being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
HB  280 was  REPORTED  out  of committee  with  a "do  pass"                                                                    
recommendation  and  with  one previously  published  fiscal                                                                    
impact note: FN1 (CED).                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
2:39:03 PM                                                                                                                    
AT EASE                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
2:39:24 PM                                                                                                                    
RECONVENED