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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR:	Lundstrom		DATE TYPED:	3/11/03		HB	714 / aHCPAC
SHORT TITLE:		Revise Counseling & Therapy Practice Act				SB
					ANALYST:		Maloy

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained		Estimated Additional Impact		Recurring or Non-Rec	Fund Affected
FY03	FY04	FY03	FY04
		NFI	NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to: HB 614 and SB 733, which also seek to amend the Counseling and Therapy Practice Act.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Regulation and Licensing Department (RLD)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HCPAC Amendment

The House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee amended HB714 to provide that those persons applying for the newly created “professional clinical mental health counselor” license must pass the board’s exam and demonstrate 500 hours of supervised client contact experience.

Before this amendment, the bill allowed the person to pass the examination or demonstrate 500 hours.

Synopsis of Original Bill

HB 714 clarifies and updates the definitions, the scope of practice, and exemptions of the Counseling and Therapy Practice Act. The bill also clarifies that the board is administratively attached to the department and defines additional requirements for board meeting attendance.

Significant Issues

Numerous changes and additional language is contained in the bill covering the scope of practice, educational requirements, and licensing requirement for various types of therapists.

There are 3 separate bills attempting to amend the Act. The board is concerned about conflicts in the bills and is attempting to work with bill sponsors and interested parties to come to a consensus on how to make needed updates to the act. See discussion below.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

RLD notes that replacing existing statutory authority with rules would require a significant investment of staff time and effort in scheduling rule hearings, and in drafting, filing, and implementing rules.

CONFLICT, RELATIONSHIP

HB 714 relates to SB 773 and SB 614 in that all three bills propose to amend the Counseling and Therapy Practice Act. However, RLD believes that SB 614 and HB 714 take a more measured approach to revising and streamlining the Act. RLD has been meeting with bill sponsors and a substitute bill may be introduced to supercede these bills.

Based on their initial review of HB 714 and the similar SB 614, RLD highlights some of the major differences:

· SB 614 adds the definition for “case management.”

· SB 614 adds the definition for “paraprofessional” that is more expansive than HB 714

· HB 714 has a more expansive definition of “professional mental health counselor” than SB 614.

· HB 714 adds a new description of scope of practice to include “practice of licensed professional mental health counselors. SB 614 calls it “practice of licensed independent professional medical counselor.”

· SB 614 contains a section on scope of practice in declared transition to professional clinical mental health counselor from professional mental health counselor or licensed mental health counselor not contained in HB 714.

· HB 714 deletes the requirement that board members shall not hold any elected or appointed office in any professional organization of counseling, psychology or closely related field during their tenure on the board.

GG/sb/ls