Meetings
Transcript: Select text below to play or share a clip
[Sen. Martine Larocque Gulick (Vice Chair)]: We've been through a lot here. Okay, so we are FAP Live H816 Conference Committee and Acts Related to Drugs and Related to Drugs and Drugs Drugs and and really want to thank you for your amazing work. I mean, thorough and good progress that you've made with our version that being sent back to you, so thank you. We looked at your suggestions. We are in agreement with the definition that you hold for Maine. We think it's great to be consistent, and so we accept that. We are in agreement with you on removing the $10,000 penalty and using the consumer protection provisions enforced by the AG's office. We do have a small issue with the AI working group or what is the exact Advisory Council. Advisory, AI Advisory Council. Although we do see the benefit of having OPR at the table, we would also like to have someone from the board of medical practice, so we would suggest having folks be a member of the AIA advisory council. And those are our thoughts. Good question. Senator Lyons, you may know, under the new mental health licensure, do your work that OPR is doing, Will your medical advisor still oversee? Psychiatrists. Psychiatrists? That's a question I'm not sure. Don't know. Has that happened? It is interesting. I met with Jennifer Collin a couple weeks ago, and yes, they're halfway through. But they can't pull it away from the board without legislation. I'm trying to understand where we are with that. That's something Katie. I can ask Jennifer at OFIR but I don't have an answer about my fingertips. In their interim, having bulging, I think it's actually advisable to have a bulging eye because one of the questions arose in H573 is the role of physician assistants in making emergency department decisions about folks with mental health issues. So that is all part and could be part of this where triage occurs through. And so I'm just I think there's more to it than just, you know, shifting over to licensure regulator. So you don't know what the future holds. That's right. So what else was that? That was it.
[Sen. Virginia "Ginny" Lyons (Chair)]: There's something I I thought I had about this. Can I finish?
[Sen. Martine Larocque Gulick (Vice Chair)]: Oh, go ahead. At the in this piece about research. You're fine with that? Yes. And you're fine with all the additions of the word clinical. Yes, fact we appreciated that. Okay, great. So it's just that one piece.
[Sen. Virginia "Ginny" Lyons (Chair)]: Yes, it's okay. So, my only concern about the direction we're going in is that the advisory council, we've asked them already to issue a report with a lot of things in it. Advice about neurotechnology, relevant definitions and terminology, you know, the list So of now we're asking the same group to do an additional report specifically about the regulation of AI and mental health professions. And that's what it says, regarding regulations of AI by mental health professionals. It doesn't talk about generative AI there, but I think that that language might be an eight fourteen. What I'm getting at is we're is this a separate report, or is this gonna be part of the same report then? Do they you see what saying? Like, they're already doing a report. It's separate.
[Sen. Martine Larocque Gulick (Vice Chair)]: Personally, think it's a separate report. I we were just talking about how this AI advisory group, our advisory council is gonna be extremely important in the coming years. They do have a lot of work to do, and it's very, very urgent. So we felt having, you know, more stakeholders, more voices at the table would be a good thing. If obviously, way reports work, if they need more time, they will ask for it if we could grant that. But we just thought that was an important piece. I I think it's safe to say that we have a lot more work to do in this issue and P-fourteen and eight sixty both reflect that, but not to get too off track to other legislation, not to be mindful of the fact. Would you feel safe going ahead and letting them make that one change to the board of medical providers?
[Sen. Virginia "Ginny" Lyons (Chair)]: I'm okay with it. And I think that I just wanted to make sure we all understood that we were giving them a lot of work and it's not what I was hearing is we can we that we will give them grace with that work and that what they get done, they can get done.
[Sen. Martine Larocque Gulick (Vice Chair)]: And This is our addition.
[Sen. Virginia "Ginny" Lyons (Chair)]: Yeah.
[Sen. Martine Larocque Gulick (Vice Chair)]: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Sorry. Good. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much.
[Legislative Counsel (name unknown)]: So I will draft up
[Tasha (Legislative Counsel)]: a Senate proposal with that change. I should have it in a couple hours. I know the editors are working quickly, but they're getting a lot of requests. So I should have something if you would like to sign later today.
[Sen. Martine Larocque Gulick (Vice Chair)]: That's great. And Representative Rebecca and life counsel and I can try to be the point people and make sure we get everyone together for a final okay. Great, Tasha, of course Tasha, thank you. Okay, wonderful, thanks everybody. Thank you.