HCS HB 665 -- PROFESSIONAL REGISTRATION (Behnen)

COMMITTEE OF ORIGIN:  Professional Registration and Licensing

This substitute changes the laws regarding the Division of
Professional Registration.  The substitute:

(1)  Adds veterinarians to the list of professions which are
exempt from paying municipal taxes or licensing fees;

(2)  Requires the Department of Revenue to send a written notice
to certain licensees who are delinquent on any state taxes or
have failed to file state income tax returns for any of the three
years preceding their professional license renewal, stating that
the license will be suspended 120 days from the date of the
notice unless a tax compliance letter is received by the
appropriate licensing authority.  The license suspension will
only apply to the professional license currently up for renewal.
The department must issue a tax compliance letter when the
licensee files and pays the delinquent taxes, interest, and
additions due or enters into and complies with a payment plan.  A
licensee who continues to engage in the licensed activity while
his or her license is suspended is guilty of a class A
misdemeanor;

(3)  Removes the grandfather provisions regarding the licensing
of geologists;

(4)  Establishes the Board of Private Investigator Examiners
within the Division of Professional Registration.  No person can
provide private investigative services without first being
licensed.  The makeup and duties of the board; exemptions from
licensure; requirements for application and licensure; proof of
liability insurance; training and written examinations; fees;
background checks on applicants; denial, suspension, or
revocation of licenses; types and terms of licenses; and
reciprocity are specified.  Licensees are allowed to disclose to
the board, any law enforcement agency, a prosecutor, or the
licensee's own representative any information regarding a
criminal offense or to instruct their clients to do so if they
are victims of a criminal act.  Licensees are prohibited from
making false reports, presenting themselves as a state or federal
officer, or manufacturing false evidence.  Certain identifying
evidence must be filed with the board by licensees.  Private
investigators or investigator agencies are required to maintain
complete records of business transactions.  Records may be
confidentially examined by the authority of the board under
certain circumstances.  Licensed private investigators are
allowed to carry concealed weapons;

(5)  Requires that at least one member of the State Board of
Cosmetology be an owner of an accredited school of cosmetology as
defined in the substitute and increases from 750 to 800 the
number of hours a manicurist apprentice must complete in order to
be licensed.  Persons are allowed to make application for the
required licensing examination if they are a graduate of a
foreign cosmetology program and the board determines that the
program has educational requirements which are substantially the
same as an educational establishment licensed by the board;

(6)  Allows certain licensed barbers and cosmetologists to take
the "Class MO - manicurist" licensing examination;

(7)  Combines the State Board of Barber Examiners and the State
Board of Cosmetology to become the State Board of Cosmetology and
Barber Examiners.  The provisions of this section have an
effective date of July 1, 2006;

(8)  Establishes the Dental Hygienist Distance Learning Committee
and authorizes the Department of Economic Development to contract
with an institution of higher education to establish a distant
dental hygienist learning program for the purpose of off-site
clinical and didactic training.  The program must meet all
standards established by the Council on Dental Accreditation;

(9)  Removes conflicting provisions of law regarding the
definition of "physician assistants";

(10)  Establishes the Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy Board
of Examiners within the Division of Professional Registration.
All persons administering medical imaging and radiation therapy
procedures are required to be licensed by the board.  Physicians,
dentists, chiropractors, podiatrists, registered nurses, certain
qualified persons currently practicing medical imaging and
radiation therapy are exempt from licensure.  Certain criteria
are established to be met by applicants for a licensor as
radiographers, radiation therapists, nuclear medicine
technologists, and dental radiographers.  The board is authorized
to certify programs for medical imaging and radiation therapy in
medical facilities, dental facilities, educational institutions,
or other public or private institutions; adopt rules; give
examinations; waive examination requirements; establish
continuing education; issue temporary permits; renew, revoke, and
suspend licenses; and investigate charges and allegations brought
against licensees, issue subpoenas, hold hearings, render
judgments, and hear appeals;

(11)  Requires the State Board of Nursing to post no
documentation or take disciplinary action against a licensee
unless they are found to be in violation of Section 335.066,
RSMo;

(12)  Requires applicants for licensure as clinical social
workers to complete 3,000 hours of supervised clinical experience
under a licensed clinical social worker within a specified period
of time.  The substitute removes the requirement that licensed
clinical social workers applying for a Missouri license pass an
examination on Missouri laws and regulations governing the
practice of social work and be a member in good standing of the
Academy of Certified Social Workers.  The substitute authorizes
the State Committee for Social Workers to require a minimum of 30
hours of continuing education for license renewal, requires the
committee to establish ethical standards based on the code of
ethics of the National Association of Social Workers, and
clarifies the practice of baccalaureate social work;

(13)  Combines the State Committee for Professional Counselors
and the State Committee of Marital and Family Therapists to
become the State Board of Counselors and Therapists;

(14)  Makes it illegal for any person other than the patient or
their representative to accept a prescription being dispensed
unless that person is located on the premises of the dispensing
physician or a licensed pharmacy;

(15)  Allows the Missouri State Board for Pharmacy to establish
the Well-being Committee to aid pharmacists who suffer from
illness, substance abuse, mental illness, or physical
impairments.  The board will enter into contractual agreements
with nonprofit corporations for the purpose of creating,
supporting, and maintaining the committee.  All communications
involving the licensee and the committee are confidential and not
considered public records.  The committee may disclose
information about an impaired licensee when it is necessary to
further the intervention, treatment, or rehabilitation of the
licensee; the release is authorized by the licensee; the
committee must make a report to the board; or the information is
subject to a court order;

(16)  Authorizes the Board of Pharmacy to prepare an equitable
salary schedule for employees attributed to the inspection
licensed entities;

(17)  Requires all nursing home administrators' licenses to
expire on June 30 following the year it was issued and every
other year thereafter.  An administrator seeking a renewal must
file an application during the month of May of the year of their
renewal, accompanied by a fee as provided by rule, payable to the
Department of Health and Senior Services.  All licenses issued or
renewed during 2006 can be for either a one- or two-year term as
dictated by rule;

(18)  Redefines "student athlete" within the provisions regarding
athletic contracts;

(19)  Requires any person applying for a license or a license
renewal as a bail bond agent, a general bail bond agent, or a
surety recovery agent to provide the Director of the Department
of Insurance with evidence that they are a member of a statewide
professional association established to represent the interests
of bail bond agents, general bail bond agents, or surety recovery
agents.  The director will establish requirements that an
association must meet prior to being recognized as a statewide
professional association;

(20)  Removes the requirement that the division wait 30 days
before informing a licensee that they are in violation of their
licensing requirements prior to engaging in settlement
negotiations and shortens the time from 60 to 30 days that the
licensee has to consider the settlement offer prior to contacting
the respective board to discuss the settlement offer; and

(21)  Requires sonographers or vascular technologists which are
Missouri Medicaid Program providers to be credentialed by the
appropriated accrediting body specified in the substitute.

FISCAL NOTE:  Estimated Cost on General Revenue Fund of $258,622
to $758,622 in FY 2006, $250,000 to $750,000 in FY 2007, and
$250,000 to $750,000 in FY 2008.  Estimated Effect on Other State
Funds of a Cost of $45,031 in FY 2006, an Income of $298,942 in
FY 2007, and a Cost of $671,769 in FY 2008.

Missouri House of Representatives
93rd General Assembly, 1st Regular Session
Last Updated August 25, 2005 at 1:20 pm