CSHB 252(STA)- OCC LICENSING: TERMS OF BD & CONT. EDUC  The committee took up CSHB 252(STA). CHAIR SEEKINS announced that the bill sponsor provided the committee with a draft committee substitute, version Q. SENATOR THERRIAULT moved to adopt version Q as the working document before the committee. CHAIR SEEKINS announced that without objection, the motion carried. MR. HEATH HILYARD, staff to Representative Lesil McGuire, sponsor, informed members that version Q makes one substantial policy change over the previous version. He noted he would review the changes in version Q but that Mr. Sam Kito and various members of the Architects, Engineers and Land Surveyors (AELS) Board were available to answer specific questions. MR. HILYARD told members that Representative McGuire sponsored HB 252 at the request of the AELS board. Version Q does three things. First, it modifies existing statutory language with regard to board members who may serve partial terms. Currently, if a board member serves any portion of a remaining term, that service constitutes a full 4-year term. This change will allow a board member filling a partial term of less than 2 years to also serve up to two full additional terms or 8 years. The amendment offered in the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee would clarify that the change in term limits would only apply to this board. Second, version Q offers the AELS board statutory authority to adopt regulations concerning continuing education. A Legislative Budget and Audit (LBA) Committee audit, conducted in October of 2003, recommended that the AELS board be given this authority to help implement and maintain high standards. The AELS board will work closely with all relevant professional societies before developing any programs. Third, the AELS board requested that AS 39.25.120(c) be amended to include the executive secretary of the AELS as the principal executive officer of the board under partially exempt service. SENATOR FRENCH asked if the current principal executive officer of the AELS is now classified as partially exempt. MR. SAM KITO III, representing the Alaska Professional Design Council (APDC), explained that currently, the board administrator is a partially exempt position and, through an audit last summer, the board learned it did not have the statutory authority to maintain partially exempt status so the Division of Personnel is proposing to convert that position to a classified one. This effort is to maintain the partially exempt status. SENATOR FRENCH surmised that this would give the APDC the statutory authority to retain the partially exempt classification for that position; otherwise, there has been a push to change the classification to classified. MR. KITO said that is correct. He then informed members that the APDC supports version Q. MR. PAUL WHIPPLE, representing the Alaska Professional Design Council and the Alaska Professional Land Surveyors, stated support for version Q. SENATOR THERRIAULT commented that having the power to adopt continuing education standards is often quite contentious. He asked Mr. Whipple to review that issue. MR. WHIPPLE said the APLS has fought since the mid 1980s to require continuing education to maintain licensure, however some of the associated professions have been reticent to make that a requirement. He said his understanding is that the board of one of the associated memberships adopted a resolution to require continuing education. The American Institute of Architects already have a mandatory continuing education for maintaining membership so the topic is not as contentious as it used to be. CHAIR SEEKINS asked, "When you talk about the board may adopt regulations to carry out the purpose of the chapter, including regulations establishing continuing education requirements for the persons regulated, how do you come up with a consensus as to just what those continuing education requirements should be?" MR. WHIPPLE said the national organizations have been working on continuing education programs. Currently, 26 states require continuing education to maintain licensure. The process for adopting continuing education regulations is a joint effort between the AELS board and the representative societies. CHAIR SEEKINS responded that gives total power to that board. He asked if the legislation contains a cross reference to national standards or building a consensus among the different members. MR. WHIPPLE was unable to answer that question. CHAIR SEEKINS said he has no problem with requiring continuing education, but if he was a land surveyor, he would want to know what they were. He questioned whether they could be used as a tool to limit competition. MR. WHIPPLE said a national standard for the National Society of Professional Surveyors in association with the American Congress of Surveyors and Mapping developed continuing education. That national organization represents well over 20,000 licensed practitioners and worked with individual states to develop standards. The Alaska ASPLS did develop some draft continuing education requirements for surveyors that are not on record yet. It also worked with AELS and the Alaska section of ACSM to develop those standards. CHAIR SEEKINS said his only concern is how high the standard can be for the regulations this board can adopt and whether the intent is to establish professionalism or could they be used to limit competition. MR. WHIPPLE said that has been a concern of every state. He added: It's the old guild method where they're eliminating any kind of competition. Unless you're a member of the guild, you can't practice and you write up the standards so that nobody else can practice but that's just not the case. There is a real need to protect the public by ensuring that the practitioners are current in regulation and are current in modern technologies that have been developed. CHAIR SEEKINS said he was just wondering if there was an upper limit on what the board could do in terms of being able to exceed the national standard. He said he did not see the need to hold the bill in committee if the intent of the measure is basically housekeeping. SENATOR THERRIAULT asked for a chance to review the discussion in the audit before the bill leaves the committee. CHAIR SEEKINS agreed to hold the bill in committee and took more public testimony. DR. ROBERT MILLER, Chair of the AELS board, said he appreciates Chair Seekins' concern about the regulations for continuing education being an obstacle to the practice of any profession. He offered that the board, over the last 5 or 6 years, has increased other education standards in terms of professional degrees for both engineers and land surveyors. The new standards are much more burdensome than the continuing education requirements. When the board decided to pursue the matter, it was at the instigation of the two land surveying members of the board. That effort was reinforced by a legislative audit that recommended the board consider mandatory continuing education. He believes all of the conscientious practitioners support the idea; however, some would agree it should not be burdensome. The board drafted regulations and submitted them to the Attorney General's Office, but learned it did not have the statutory authority to write such regulations. The board would like to implement that authority over a long period of time. It could do so initially just for the land surveyors and, although that might sound discriminatory, the other professions regulated by the board require degrees. Many land surveyors are self-taught or learn on the job. CHAIR SEEKINS said he was not worried about the requirements being burdensome but unnecessarily burdensome. He questions where that level is in terms of a quantitative analysis. DR. MILLER then asked to speak to the issue of classification of the administrative position and said the board very much feels it is important that the executive administrator position be partially exempt. That position is not only a civil servant but also a servant to the profession and the public. A partially exempt classification would allow the board a certain amount of discretion that would be beneficial. The executive administrator is the presence of the board because no board member is on constant call. The board believes it is well served by the executive administrator. He pointed out the title is also referred to as an executive secretary and executive officer, although the board refers to the position as an executive administrator. He asked that the title be made consistent in the legislation and changed to "executive administrator." MR. HILYARD commented that the sponsor has no opinion on the title of the position. MR. KITO stated support for Dr. Miller's comments. SENATOR OGAN questioned why the board term will be changed for this board and no other. MR. HILYARD explained that his understanding is that in the past, the AELS board in particular has had difficulty filling those positions. DR. MILLER added that the purpose for the requested change is that the AELS regulates four different professions. The learning curve for board members is sharper than for some of the other boards. Some board members have felt inadequately prepared to deal with the issues after one or two years. Extending the term a person can serve will help the board capture more expertise. He noted that some states have no term limits at all, which he was not suggesting, but said that the AELS has had board vacancies for considerable periods of time. Therefore, being able to keep members for two full terms would be helpful. SENATOR OGAN asked if any board member would be directly affected by this change. DR. MILLER said perhaps, but the person would have to be reappointed by the Governor and approved by the Legislature. CHAIR SEEKINS asked that the sponsor or her representative prepare an amendment to address the executive administrator position for the committee at the next hearing. MR. HILYARD agreed to do so. CHAIR SEEKINS announced that he would hold the bill in committee and adjourned the meeting at 8:56 a.m.