03/18/1997 01:34 PM Senate L&C

        SB  91 PHYSICAL THERAPY AND OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY                      
                                                                              
 CHAIRMAN LEMAN announced  SB 91  to be up for consideration.                  
                                                                               
 MR. WELKER said it proposes two basic changes to statute.  Section            
 1 has the extension date of 2003.  Section 2 makes a minor                    
 correction change to the requirements for licensure.  Statute                 
 requires that applicants pass an oral examination, for which                  
 English must be understood, administered by a Board member. These             
 tests were being administered to Canadians who mostly speak English           
 which seemed a little excessive.  It was thought best to leave it             
 to the discretion of the Board.                                               
                                                                               
  SENATOR MACKIE  moved on page 1, line 7 to delete "2003" and insert          
 "2001."  There were no objections and it was so adopted.                      
                                                                               
  MS. MARY VEALE,  Alaska Chapter of the Physical Therapy Association,         
 supported SB 91.                                                              
                                                                               
  MS. PAULINE BENNETT-GANNON,  Occupational Therapist, testified that          
 she had drafted amendments to SB 91 and reviewed them for the                 
 Committee.  She said they didn't need the AMA information because             
 AMA no longer approves the curriculum for occupational or physical            
 therapists.  It is now done by the American Occupational Therapy              
 Association and the American Physical Therapy Association.                    
  MR. SEETHALER  said he had no problems with the changes to the bill          
 suggested by Ms. Bennett-Gannon.                                              
                                                                               
  MS. REARDON  said she also had no problems with the suggested                
 changes.                                                                      
                                                                               
  MR. WELKER  said that he was neutral.                                        
                                                                               
  SENATOR MACKIE  moved to adopt amendment #2, adding Occupational             
 Therapists and Occupational Therapy Assistants to the title                   
 amendment.  There were no objections and it was so adopted.                   
                                                                               
 SENATOR MACKIE asked if amendment #3 changed the requirement to one           
 accreditation of either the AMA or the Occupational Association.              
 He moved to adopt the amendment.  There were no objections and it             
 was so adopted.                                                               
                                                                               
  TAPE 97-12, SIDE B                                                           
 SENATOR MACKIE moved to adopt amendment #4.                                   
                                                                               
 MS. REARDON said the Department suggested, in response to the                 
 audit, that requiring the test of English, in case someone is                 
 denied  a license after an interview at which the Board just said             
 they didn't think they could effectively speak English, is better             
 than having the Board giving an oral exam.  An oral test is very              
 subjective and there may be challenges.  She noted that there are             
 very few of our occupations for which the ability to speak English            
 is required.  It's not mentioned of doctors and dentists.                     
                                                                               
 SENATOR MACKIE said if they were challenged because they denied a             
 license to someone who couldn't communicate with their patients, he           
 would welcome that.                                                           
                                                                               
 CHAIRMAN LEMAN said he thought this was something the Board could             
 deal with by regulation if it wanted to identify how it conducts              
 that interview and what procedure is used.                                    
                                                                               
 There were no objections to amendment #4 and it was so adopted.               
                                                                               
  SENATOR MACKIE  moved to adopt amendment #5.  There were no                  
 objections and it was so adopted.                                             
                                                                               
 SENATOR MACKIE moved to pass CSSB 91(L&C) from Committee with                 
 individual recommendations and the accompanying $0 fiscal note.               
 There were no objections and it was so ordered.