02/07/2002 01:35 PM Senate L&C

                                                                                                                                
         SB 257-EXTEND BOARD OF PROFESSIONAL COUNSELORS                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
MS.  DEBORAH GRUNDMANN,  Staff  to Senator  Stevens,  said SB  257                                                              
extends the  Board of  Professional Counselors  to June  30, 2005.                                                              
The Legislative Budget  and Audit Committee said  their opinion is                                                              
that the  Professional  Counselors are operating  in an  efficient                                                              
and  effective  manner  and  should  continue  to  regulate  their                                                              
profession.  They also  recommended  that this  board be  combined                                                              
with the Board of Marital and Family  Therapists. This legislation                                                              
does not do that, but it extends  the sunset date to coincide with                                                              
that of the marital and family therapists.                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
MS.  GRUNDMANN explained  that the  proposed committee  substitute                                                              
addresses the education  part of the statute that  pertains to the                                                              
professional counselors  and was inserted in the  House version of                                                              
the same bill.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR DAVIS moved  to adopt the committee substitute  to SB 257,                                                              
22 LS\1336\F. There were no objections and it was so ordered.                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
MS. GRUNDMANN said  that page 2, line 11 adds  "or nationally" and                                                              
the  Department wanted  that. It  makes  that language  consistent                                                              
with "(B) regionally or nationally accredited".                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
CHAIRMAN STEVENS asked if it's a  nationally accredited institute,                                                              
isn't it redundant to say "regionally or nationally".                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
MS.  CATHERINE   REARDON,  Director,   Division  of   Occupational                                                              
Licensing,  replied  that  there  are  two  different  accrediting                                                              
bodies - some  are regional and some are national.  The reason she                                                              
was asking  for this is  the House opened  up that section  and it                                                              
seemed like an easy  way to bring it up. For  the master's degree,                                                              
the statute allowed the national  accredited agrees, but there was                                                              
a slip up in the initial legislation  and "national" got left out.                                                              
                                                                                                                                
The Department  of Law  told the  Board that it  would be  on weak                                                              
legal  ground  if  it  were to  deny  someone  because  they  were                                                              
nationally, not regionally, accredited.                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR LEMAN supported this change.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR  AUSTERMAN moved  to pass  CSSB 257  (L&C) from  committee                                                              
with individual  recommendations and  the fiscal note.  There were                                                              
no objections and it was so ordered.