Legislature(2023 - 2024)BARNES 124
02/23/2024 03:15 PM House LABOR & COMMERCE
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB37 | |
| HB192 | |
| SB45 | |
| HB314 | |
| SB45 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 318 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 314 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| *+ | HB 175 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 203 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 37 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 192 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 45 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 314-OCCUPATIONAL LICENSING FEES
4:50:59 PM
CHAIR SUMNER announced that the next order of business would be
HOUSE BILL NO. 314, "An Act relating to occupational licensing
fees; and providing for an effective date."
4:51:50 PM
SYLVAN ROBB, Director, Division of Corporations, Business, and
Professional Licensing, Department of Commerce, Community &
Economic Development (DCCED), began the PowerPoint on slide 1.
She began on slide 2, "What Does HB 314 Do?" which read as
follows [original punctuation provided]:
•Removes investigation, legal, and hearing costs from
the "regulatory costs" covered by professional license
fees as required under AS 08.01.065.
•Shifts funding for investigations and hearings from
professional licensing fees (1156) to corporations'
fees (1005) so the division remains self-sufficient.
4:53:37 PM
MS. ROBB continued to slide 3, "AS 08.01.065(a) & (c)
Currently," which read as follows [original punctuation
provided]:
(a) Except for business licenses, the department shall
adopt regulations that establish the amount and manner
of payment of application fees, examination fees,
license fees, registration fees, permit fees,
investigation fees, and all other fees as appropriate
for the occupations covered by this chapter.
(c) Except as provided in (f) (k) of this section,
the department shall establish fee levels under (a) of
this section so that the total amount of fees
collected for an occupation approximately equals the
actual regulatory costs for the occupation. The
department shall annually review each fee level to
determine whether the regulatory costs of each
occupation are approximately equal to fee collections
related to that occupation. If the review indicates
that an occupation's fee collections and regulatory
costs are not approximately equal, the department
shall calculate fee adjustments and adopt regulations
under (a) of this section to implement the
adjustments. In January of each year, the department
shall report on all fee levels and revisions for the
previous year under this subsection to the office of
management and budget. If a board regulates an
occupation covered by this chapter, the department
shall consider the board's recommendations concerning
the occupation's fee levels and regulatory costs
before revising fee schedules to comply with this
subsection?.
4:54:24 PM
MS. ROBB moved to slide 4, "Primary Reasons for HB 314," which
read as follows [original punctuation provided]:
•Currently volatile license fee rates would stabilize,
as investigations, legal, and hearing costs are the
most variable element of the fee setting equation.
•Licensing fees would be reduced for many programs,
helping in the effort to attract professionals to
Alaska.
•This would be fairer to Alaska's professional
licensees who comply with the laws regulating their
profession as law-abiding professionals would no
longer bear the cost of investigations of licensees
who have potentially violated licensing laws and/or on
individuals practicing without a license.
•Remove a potential disincentive to report members of
their profession.
4:56:54 PM
MS. ROBB turned to slide 5, "Example of Substantial Fee
Increases in Past Years," which read as follows [original
punctuation provided]:
•Certified Direct-Entry Midwife Certificate Fees :
•In FY2017 initial and renewal application fee
increased from $1,750 to $3,800.
•That was after an increase from $1,450 to $1,750
in 2016.
•Fees have since been reduced to $2,800.
•Midwife Apprentices in 2015:
•Initial and Biennial Renewal Certification Fees
increased from $125 to $825.
•Initial and Biennial Renewal Certification Fees
increased from $825 to $1,275.
•Fees have since been reduced to $550.
4:58:12 PM
MS. ROBB provided investigative statistics from FY 23 on slides
6-9. The top complaints received by the division involved
continuing education violations and unlicensed activity. The
Board of nursing topped the list of programs receiving
complaints with 369 complaints followed by the State Medical
Board and the Board of Pharmacy. These are the programs that
would see the largest impact on their licensing fees, assuming
their rate of investigations continued into the future.
Registered Nurses (RN) also received the largest number of
complaints by profession, followed by physicians and massage
therapists. She rationalized the rankings by pointing out that
RNs represent a huge portion of Alaska's licensees.
5:00:27 PM
REPRESENTATIVE CARRICK asked whether there would be a decrease
in investigative procedure or strictly a transfer of the
licensing fee structure.
MS. ROBB reiterated that the bill would shift the fund source
from license fees to corporation fees, not impact the
performance of investigations.
5:01:21 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER surmised that reporting was being
depressed by the current fee structure. He asked whether a
pent-up demand might increase the amount of investigative work
required by the department if the bill were to pass.
MS. ROBB acknowledged that the current fee structure may be a
disincentive; however, she said the hope is that licensed
professionals would take seriously their duty to report an unfit
colleague.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER anticipated that there would be an
increase in investigations once the fee structure shifts from
licensees.
MS. ROBB acknowledged that possibility.
5:03:05 PM
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX said he could understand that license
holders would be in favor of the bill, and asked whether the
bill would materially impact the cost of obtaining corporate
status.
MS. ROBB said the bill would not impact corporate fees.
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX opined that this cost should come from the
general fund (GF) as opposed to taxing corporations for
professional licenses.
MS. ROBB explained that the bill would allow the divisions to
continue to be self-sufficient by covering these costs that
would otherwise flow to the GF with corporate funds.
5:05:30 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER referred to page 4 and asked Ms. Robb to
define the scope of the term "evaluation."
MS. ROBB explained that the the word "investigation" is changed
to "evaluation" to avoid any potential confusion with the
investigation fees that are being changed.
5:06:47 PM
CHAIR SUMNER announced that HB 314 would be held over.