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