02/23/2010 02:00 PM Senate LABOR & COMMERCE

          SB 248-EXTEND BD OF MARITAL & FAMILY THERAPY                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
2:09:48 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR PASKVAN announced SB 248 to be up for consideration.                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR  THOMAS   moved  to  bring   CSSB  248(L&C)   before  the                                                               
committee.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR MEYER objected for discussion purposes.                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
2:09:53 PM                                                                                                                    
TIM  BENINTENDI,  Staff to  Senator  Olson,  sponsor of  SB  248,                                                               
testified that the audit found  that revenues from licensing fees                                                               
from  the Board  of Marital  and Family  Therapy don't  cover the                                                               
cost of  regulatory changes,  an issue  from previous  years. The                                                               
audit recommended the  board be extended to 2014, but  SB 248 was                                                               
originally drafted  to sunset  in 2015.  The sponsor  agreed with                                                               
auditor's sunset recommendation  as well as the  findings, one of                                                               
which  was   to  address  some   administrative  issues   in  the                                                               
department.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR BUNDE said he has  heard frequent concerns about price of                                                               
license  versus  actual  cost, and  state  regulation  says  they                                                               
should equal each other. In this  case they do not, and he wanted                                                               
to know how far out of balance they are.                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
MR. BENINTENDI  answered that  the board  had closed  the deficit                                                               
substantially in  the last several years  and it is down  to less                                                               
than $30,000 (from around $100,000  eight or nine years ago). The                                                               
problem is  that the pool of  licensees is real small.  The board                                                               
actually  chose to  keep  working at  reducing  their deficit  as                                                               
opposed to  paying to have  regulations processed that  should be                                                               
in place. He  suspected the audit had found  that the regulations                                                               
that had  not been advanced weren't  fatal to the mission  of the                                                               
board. It hasn't jeopardized the public.                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR BUNDE  asked if the  deficit would  be cured by  the next                                                               
sunset.                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
MR. BENINTENDI said he hadn't heard that at a public discussion.                                                                
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR DAVIS said she wanted that question answered.                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
2:13:57 PM                                                                                                                    
JENNIFER STRIKLER, Operations  Manager, Division of Corporations,                                                               
Business  and  Professional  Licensing, Department  of  Commerce,                                                               
Community  and  Economic Development  (DCCED),  said  as of  this                                                               
month, the  board's deficit is  down to  $2,000 and it  should be                                                               
take care  of by the  next renewal cycle unless  an investigation                                                               
comes forward that  is usually the one item  that drives expenses                                                               
up.                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR MEYER removed his objection.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR PASKVAN closed public testimony.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR THOMAS moved to report  CSSB 248(L&C) from committee with                                                               
individual  recommendations and  attached  fiscal note(s).  There                                                               
were no objections and it was so ordered.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
2:17:10 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR  PASKVAN,  finding  no   further  business,  adjourned  the                                                               
meeting at 2:17 p.m.