Vermont Legislature SmartTranscripts:

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Member)]: Good afternoon.

[Brian Collamore (Chair)]: Welcome into the Civic Committee on Government Operations Committee meeting of Thank you. Wednesday, 03/18/2026. We can't use the bill number yet because we don't have possession of the bill, but I believe this will show up eventually as the OPR bill. And we want I had asked him to commence and in half an hour do a a million mile overview of bills, and we'll let him do that, and then we're gonna adjourn for the

[Tim Dutland (Legislative Counsel)]: day. Thank you very much for having me, mister Collamore. My name is Tim Dutland. I'm just gonna this out for you about it. The committee has been provided with a overview and the as passed by person that came out of

[Brian Collamore (Chair)]: the house. Which one are you gonna use? The overview.

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Member)]: I'm get my idea. Sorry.

[Brian Collamore (Chair)]: And So Uber feels we're gonna

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Member)]: move from space. So it's a million miles away. Gonna move from space.

[Tim Dutland (Legislative Counsel)]: Good one. It is six pages, but, yes, I'll try to run through it rather quickly. I'll just kind of rattle off some of the contents in the film based on purpose section is now to give you a very high structure developed for delivering some amount of detail and just reserving language for another day. So this bill proposes to explicitly enable the Office of Professional Regulation or OPR to rescind licenses licenses of one, administrative error, nonpayment, and three, withdrawal from the last state of contact. It will enable OPR to enforce the patented fraudulent or accepted procurement, more reduce of license, actual fraudulent or accepted procurement of that license unless already granted. This speaks to the past. That's why it's panel size six. It will require professional regulation board members to be adults. It will correct terminology for licensing and other foreign applicants. It will create additional combinations of education experience and prerequisites for accountant licensure. Feel free, limited access, and then this sorry, limited academic, that means license. And just a quick note, though, on the $0 fee. The removal let's see. We'll remove the requirement for advanced practice registered nurses or APRS, and the license renewal, that is to include documentation of completion of the APRN practice requirement. It will enable pharmacists to prescribe an order for administered tests for COVID, influenza, say, it's trichotchol, pharyngitis, and subsequent drug treatment of those. It will enable the OPR to create temporary policies to supplement psychologist licensure educational requirements notwithstanding a contrary rule, etcetera. It will eliminate the advisory committee on midwifery that reports it will be on the officials and the commissioner of health. It will change the license renewal requirement for new lives to submit individual practice data to a discretionary decision to obtain the environment. It will modify the definition of practice of funeral services to include dispositions of human remains by cremation, alkaline hydrolysis, or natural organic reduction, and it will require NPR to report on the thought of conceptual recognition and speech pathology assistance. The pathologists themselves are already regulated, so it will pay a sunrise report of assistance, and then it will require the registration of established establishments and expand on operational requirements and related unprofessional conduct measures for those regulated professions. Also, should note here is the directive, really, the only B in the bill which has to do

[Brian Collamore (Chair)]: with the registration of the massage statutes. Is the phrase natural organic reduction the same thing as saying green burials? I believe it is, but I'm afraid

[Tim Dutland (Legislative Counsel)]: to OKR, or I could Morgan, please answer that. So, part one of the bill, and this is sections one through seven, and these are the general powers back to typical care when they regulate any of the other professions, so they're located in Title III under the executive branch, compared to Title 26, where it's where we fund a chapter for each specific regulated profession. Amendment one, sorry, section one will amend the duties of the office about pre BSA 123, and here's where we have the precision provisions here, and this will create pathways and provide due process for precision of licenses. Again, the three situations where the license would be rescinded are for an administrative error, license issued by accident, non payment of fees after it's issued, it doesn't pay up, essentially, then withdrawal from the collapse of interstate compact. That would take place if the x number of states leave a compact and still aren't confined under the conditions of the compact, or Vermont. And in the collapse of it, or Vermont, it's not just being violated with the calls, which there's always a process in every contact that we sign on to for a patrol. The let's see. Useful to note that there's different levels of process provided to the applicants depending on how long they've held their license for before it's rescinded. Have to double check, but let's just say it's before X days, it's somewhat more expedited. After X days pulling it, there's more process and review provided, although there are

[Brian Collamore (Chair)]: appeal lines in. So

[Tim Dutland (Legislative Counsel)]: we're very charged with section two, which will amend three BSA form 29. This will re title that section powers of the board or director and advisory professionals, discipline, processes. I'll show you now that I'm just looking at this. Sections one, two, and three really will affect three different statutory sections all have to do with that rescission process. And she specified that that x period of days, is actually thirty days. So there's additional process. Somebody's taught the lessons more than thirty days. Now moving on to section four, which will amend three VSA one twenty three, disciplinary action to be reported to the office. And so where we have some of the rephrasing so that the clarity, such as true, double negative. And then we have section five of the NAF three, VSA one twenty nine A, and we do a public professional conduct, the end of large. And this is where we have introduction of the attempting, like, presenting to partner with me or acceptably for care or use a license. Just current situation, if you do do this, essentially, a conversation. Section six will amend a pre BSA of one twenty nine b. Board members and your eyes are in. Senator White?

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Member)]: And if it's not the right time to ask kind of those questions, I wanna look I have your write up, but I will probably have to turn to the language. Can you give any example of someone having deceptive procurement? Would that be if you lied about something and then you got a license and then they found out, well, that was a lie?

[Tim Dutland (Legislative Counsel)]: It could include that.

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Member)]: It could include that. Would it also include, like, if you printed out a fake license? Like, you okay. And then I guess the last one would be if I thought that I was licensed, but somehow I had lapsed in my license. Like, let's say I I just truly forgot, didn't realize, would you still is that now would I be attempting to do misconduct if I just was

[Tim Dutland (Legislative Counsel)]: That's a good question. It doesn't strike me as it would qualify for a fraudulent use, but I'd have to look at the face. Don't know if it would really fall within

[Brian Collamore (Chair)]: that. Okay.

[Tim Dutland (Legislative Counsel)]: And just practicing without vice insurance in general. I know I shouldn't be that.

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Member)]: Go ahead. Yeah, that would just be one thing, but I appreciate that. It's good to know that those are what you need.

[Tim Dutland (Legislative Counsel)]: Section six will amend three VSA one twenty nine b, and so that all board members must be adults by the age of majority. Section seven will amend three VSA 137. This is uniform process for foreign credential verification, and this has to do with license announced for foreign applicants, which will incorporate by cross reference in standard license and non procedures found in three in BSA one twenty nine. Let's see. Well, then this is actually, just correction language having to do with preliminary. Correct. And, okay, there's an amendment that corrects this will corrects an outdated terminology by the preliminary or by its denials. Part two. And now we move from the general powers of OPR into the profession specific elements of the bill. So part two has to do with accountants, and sections eight and nine open read together. From another bill, h seven zero seven, which is better for today's conversation, but it will sorry. You can kinda discount that headnote. That was more for now it's government operations committee, but if you're really interested, there's

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Member)]: stuff that is called

[Tim Dutland (Legislative Counsel)]: history there. So, sections eight through nine will together just kind of replace some of the nomenclature as well as create additional combinations of education and experience that can be used for obtaining a license by examination. I'll leave that for now. Part three, we move on to dentists. Sections 11 to 12 of the build. So, in section 11, create a new section to be titled limited academic dentist license. This will create a limited academic dentist license for teaching an accredited dental program under the general supervision of a fully licensed dentist. And section 12 just clarifies that there is fee of $0

[Brian Collamore (Chair)]: related to no fees. We can remove that license. Part four, we move on

[Tim Dutland (Legislative Counsel)]: to funeral services. This is section 13 of the bill. This will amend 26 if you could say, 11, just definitions It to change the definition of of what constitutes the practice of funeral services to include now providing for the disposition of dead human bodies, chronic cremation, out of blood hydrolysis, and more organic natural organic reduction. Next part of the bill has to do with APRNs or Advanced Practice for Registered Nurses, Section 14 for men in 26 VSA sixteen fourteen, renewals substances and remove the requirement for advanced practice registered nurses. They do go to renew their license. Let's see. They would have had to include documentation of completing an APR practice requirement that is being removed. Let's see. Pharmacists, section 14 a. So that is 26 BSA, or 23. And let's see. This has to do with enabling pharmacists to prescribe, order, or administer the American system with the LSA protocols, test for COVID nineteen, teach one son about streptococcal pharyngitis, and subsequent drug treatment. Then we have psychologists in section 15. Since the section of session law, that will enable OPR to make a temporary policies for a three year period regarding supplementation of educational requirements for psychologist licensure. These policies will control notwithstanding any existing rule, contrary, and require OPR to update, those rules regarding that supplementation bucket at that period. Moving on to midwives in section 16. Let's see. So, it amends two different sections within a chapter 85, the title 26 and the revised 24. And first one, MD of Directors and duties where we slice six BSA forty one eighty five, which will dissolve the Midlife Advisory Committee. And then in '26 BSA forty one twenty seven, the renewals, it will remove the requirement that licensed midwives submit individual practice data, you'll make it a discretionary call to be made by the director's mother. That will be required. Moving on to speech language pathologist assistance, the Sunrise review. OPR is charged with producing for those assistants. Again, the pathologists themselves are already being regulated. Moving on to massage therapists, body workers, and touch professionals. We have sections 18 through 19 of although it's only two sections. There are amendments to the chapter itself with numerous amendments being made to statutory sections within. So you can see this is a majority of page five and then much of page six that we have an overview of the future. Again, a substantial portion of the pelvic floor. These sections together namely require registration of massage establishments. This is an existing modified definition here at a place of business. And it will expand on the operational requirements and related professional conduct. Chair Collamore, would you like me to go through these or just Sure. Put it. Okay. So section 18 will amend chapter one five twenty six. It's titled Massage Therapists, Body Workers, Tough Professionals. For our conversation today, I'm just gonna truncate that list to just massage therapist, which is not up, speaking at all. First, we have a modification of the definition of establishment. It's 26 VSA 54 on one. And so amend that definition, changing the meaning from place of business to a location where the practice is regularly engaged in. And it also removes the definition of place of business, which doesn't get redundant. Is it your

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Member)]: Is does changing that definition that shifts look to incorporate a larger scope of places? Like, I'm and what I'm wondering is, like, a place of business, I would imagine, like, going to a spa or, like, as opposed to, like, someone who provides massage therapy in their home.

[Tim Dutland (Legislative Counsel)]: I think it does broaden it in some, and then choose to be an exception in other places for us. I would suffice to say, I think it broadens me the most part, but to take a closer look at information, provide more satisfactory. Yeah. 26, VSA fifty four zero three, having to do with unauthorized practice, is amended to add, let's say, to who may be found to be conducting unauthorized practice. Individuals who own or operate and register with. Okay. Then we move on to exemptions in '26, QPSA 54.4. That is exemption from who is practicing or from this register, massage therapist, and this section is intended to have massage therapists allowed to practice in a location that is not a registered establishment if the licensee and the client agree in advance that the location is acceptable. Also, a new subsection d is then to clarify that establishment registration is not required by a solo licensee or person otherwise exempt from registration. That's gonna be prefolded or otherwise registered to complete legal physical therapists, doctors, etcetera. 26 VSA 5411, having to do the duties of the director, the section can be amended to add a new subdivision five enabling the director to adopt rules limiting the applicability of this chapter as applied to establishments operating within private homes. That's rule banking. 26 VSA, section fifty four twenty three, establishments designee inspection. Section is going be amended to require establishments, registered with OPR. It's very good to them. Be of, body of, amendments. And will ensure that the establishment is being operated lawfully regardless of whether they're whether or not the owner is on-site and has personal knowledge or maybe on-site. That's not your responsibility. Provide that the it will also provide that the director has the ability to demand certain ownership information and to make inspection prior to registration. And it will also enable OKR to deny registration based on location prior unprofessional conduct. 26 BSA 54.3 fees, and this is really on the real C section of the belt. This will be invented to enable an establishment where the practice of massage or body parts, etcetera, is provided by only two massage therapists to pay a reduced fee of $50 for registration and $75 for biennial renewal. Again, just to make a quick note that solo practitioners do not have to register at all. Let's see, establishments with more than two therapists will pay default fee of $100 And sorry, didn't include the default renewal fee. 26 VSA 5426, we do display registration. This will be amended to require the display of both the establishment's registration and the registration of a practicing ASNC as well. 26 VSA, 54, 27 individual under professional conduct. And just a quick note, this is distinguished from the other section called under professional conduct in title three, which applies to their general authority across all professions. This is supplemental to that and specific just to massage therapists. This would be amended to add to what constitutes unprofessional conduct and would now include engaging with clients in sexual conduct as a final of the criminal statute 13 BSA 28.1, and this is under the that's just definition that's borrowed from sexual exploitation of children. It's what is sexual conduct. See, now we move on to section 18 of annealing, and it can be sworn then three BSA, 125, that can be used in more fee language. Clarify that the registration fee is $90 per massage therapist and it adds an reduced registration fee for practice of massage or practice of bodywork. The same way, and how these relate is one, in the the pedal 26, that is the massage specific chapter, that basically says, it points to the fees where the fees have been specified. They kind of mirror each other in the language of so they can work together to provide the regular and such a discounted fee structure we have for the registration of massage therapist and establishments. Section 19 will then 13 BSA, 20 six-thirty eight, immunity from liability. Note that this is in title 13, so this is the criminal statutes. This will add a safe harbor for victims, prostitution, and human trafficking to report those crimes without themselves being prosecuted for unamborized practice of consigned to bodywork under 10.6. Then we will wrap up with the effective dates in section 20. K. So we have sections one through 10 having to do with general powers and accountants. Sections 13 through 17, which includes funeral services, APRNs, psychologists, midwives, speech language pathologists, those will all take place upon passage. Sections eleven and twelve have to do that new academic that this lecture. That'll take effect on September. And then finally, section 18 slash therapists will and section 19, Companion to Criminal, the immunity from liability that safe harbor provision, those will take effect 12/01/2026. That is as quick as I can right now. Okay. Good job. Thanks. Alright.

[Brian Collamore (Chair)]: Did representative, Nugent report the bill to court?

[Tim Dutland (Legislative Counsel)]: She did. Alright. Pretty much.

[Brian Collamore (Chair)]: We'll have her come in at some point once we get the bill. And we also don't have the bill at Willow Gide tomorrow with the county and regional government study. It does have a number, but we don't have it yet, so we can't put it on the agenda. I'm not sure why that's a rule. It's a rule of action. Okay. Any questions for attorney

[Tim Dutland (Legislative Counsel)]: general? Better one?

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Member)]: So you filed the bill in the house. Were there any other key pieces that were talked about that were taken out? Did the floor vote? Were there any amendments? Was there anything of note that happened on the house side related to different provisions? Or did they say I I feel like I've heard it in this room more than I have ever before, so I bet they're saying it in the house too. But flags that are, well, they're gonna clean that up on the other side. Oh. So did you get any flags of that nature?

[Tim Dutland (Legislative Counsel)]: Like many almond spills, there's a lot of evolution. This one went through at least, I can say, there were six versions of it. Oh. Many other.

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Member)]: Okay. Maybe a bigger question than I should recognize.

[Brian Collamore (Chair)]: But I can take a look at

[Tim Dutland (Legislative Counsel)]: old overviews and kind of check. Okay. I've got my

[Brian Collamore (Chair)]: green tags. We should ask Stacy too.

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Member)]: Yeah. I mean, I might save that question. I had not realized it was that changed.

[Tim Dutland (Legislative Counsel)]: I'd say more was added and subtracted as different pills and a birth. And then I think some pharmacists disappeared and then came back.

[Brian Collamore (Chair)]: See, these policies have added, but we kind of, that's not the top of my head.

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Member)]: Okay. Well, I'll save that question for Kate as well.

[Brian Collamore (Chair)]: So the only fee well, there's a zero fee for the academic dentist. The only fee that was new let me ask it a different way. Were there any fees that were increased?

[Tim Dutland (Legislative Counsel)]: There was the establishment, massage establishment. That was a new one. And then I hope

[Brian Collamore (Chair)]: But did anything go from, like, $20 to 200?

[Tim Dutland (Legislative Counsel)]: I don't believe so. I think beer was, there's a new reduced one. Oh, there are good establishments as well, and I think, I have to check with the PRN-thirty bill language to see if it was also, which is for practitioners themselves. I can't, I have to look that up. Aside from that, I don't think it was increased. Okay.

[Brian Collamore (Chair)]: I know in the past, if there was significant difference in fees, if you ran the risk of not getting the governor to sign on when the bill left whole change. So it would appear, based on what you're saying, that that would not be at risk. This seems more policy driven than anything else. And we can have debate about whether we think that is a good policy or a bad policy. But I'm glad to bottom line is in Clint, that there aren't significant fee increases or the addition of new fees because that would make passage of this even more challenging. And I should clarify the same

[Tim Dutland (Legislative Counsel)]: I just made, Massage establishments are the only new ones, and then there's a reduced rate for subunits. The massage therapists themselves are paying the same fee, it's noteworthy. Just know that there's been sort of a reorganization so that they now will appear under the application for registration rather than the application for licensure or certification because these individuals are registered, not licensed or certified. So that was just kind of some housekeeping there. But so it will appear as if it's new underlined, so it's actually struck through a page. I'll probably be reminded of in one of the amendments, and then essentially reorganized to a different section. It's not new. It may appear in some.

[Brian Collamore (Chair)]: So I don't know whether we should have you back tomorrow because it did not get referred to us today. So I I don't know when we're gonna be maybe Friday. Right now, we wanna pick Friday. Is to look at the technical corrections bill. Guess what? That doesn't have a number either. So we're just we're in a position here in the committee where we don't have anything else kind of to do except look at House bills that are coming across. Oh, Senator White.

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Member)]: Well, I just wanted to note, I don't think for this OPR bill there's anything on our wall that would be gerving to stick on it, but I truly cannot read. But I

[Brian Collamore (Chair)]: I'm not looking for anything either.

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Member)]: But I do think there is one or two that would be relevant to some bills that are coming our way that I would like to talk about. So I don't know if there's worth if if there's a time for reviving bills that are germane when you would like to have those conversations as well. Or maybe not have that conversation. Well, how about this? I'll take a personal peruse, and if there's anything that I think is humane to and nothing I think is humane to the opioid. But anything else we're getting, I won't bring it up.

[Brian Collamore (Chair)]: Okay. That's fair. I'll do my best to entertain.

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Member)]: But it's gotta be too big. Okay.

[Brian Collamore (Chair)]: Thank you, Tim. You're welcome. We'll have to let you know when we can actually talk about it. Anything else from the committee for the day?

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Member)]: We figure out s 89 and what's happening with s 89. Are we doing an amendment? We are not doing an amendment. It's all coming to the tomorrow. It is coming to the court tomorrow. It is a small amendment. And it is just we forgot. So in the beginning portion of the bill, we made very clear that we added the language in the line of duty. And in the second part of the bill, we forgot that. So we're just adding that back in. Oh, okay. I have the amendment. It doesn't seem like it would make Yeah. It's it's really a technical change. It was just an oversight.

[Brian Collamore (Chair)]: Yep.

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Member)]: Great. That got that was missed by editing until after the fact. So I have submitted the amendment. I will do the floor report and the amendment, but we're not but but then we will let the house dig into the larger questions. So there is going to be a floor amendment, but it is not, it is just a little technical change. Beautiful. Thank you for that update. Yes.

[Brian Collamore (Chair)]: Anything else? I don't know where $2.75 is right now. That's cemetery bill. It's either in finance or it's probably finance because it was a $5 fee. Don't think it's in appropriations. Do we have anything else that we had asked of that we don't I think that's a Senate Agriculture is a miscellaneous builder.

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Member)]: It's in finance. It's in finance, you're right.

[Tim Dutland (Legislative Counsel)]: Okay.

[Brian Collamore (Chair)]: Okay. Well, with that in mind, we'll adjourn for the day and see all of you tomorrow.