Today in the Idaho House of Representatives, six bills passed easily, which will streamline and/or reduce barriers to licensing for various occupations. Most of the legislation clarified language and removed obsolete language.
All but one of the six bills passed unanimously.
The one which did not pass unanimously was House bill 6, which would change the initials currently used by “licensed social workers” (LSW) to “licensed bachelor social workers” (LBSW) in order to be uniform with other states across the nation and would increase license portability between states. Representative Heather Scott (R-Blanchard) voted “no” on the bill, making the vote 69-1-0.
All of the bills were brought by the Bureau of Occupational Licenses, which has a new Bureau Chief, former Representative Kelley Packer. You can read our short Q&A with Kelley and read more about her goals in this new role here.
Here is a brief description of each of the bills:
House bill 4
Proposed by the State Occupational Therapy Licensure Board; removes outdated language, clarifies language, eliminates detailed requirements.
Passed 70-0-0
Floor Sponsor – Lickley
House Bill 5
Proposed by the Idaho Board of Chiropractic Physicians; removes the Board’s obligation to provide a peer review process intended to review the appropriateness, quality, utilization and costs of chiropractic services. A portion of the statement of purpose reads, “The Board has determined that this process is unnecessary and wishes to eliminate this regulation.”
PASSED – 70-0-0
Floor Sponsor – Green(2)
Proposed by the Idaho Board of Social Work Examiners; changes the initials used by licensed social workers (LSW) in Idaho to licensed bachelor social worker (LBSW) to be uniform with other states across the nation.
PASSED – 69-1-0 (Nay: Scott)
Floor Sponsor – Christensen
House Bill 7
Proposed by the Idaho Board of Examiners of Nursing Home Administrators; reduces the age requirement for licensure from age 21 to age 18, specifies the timeframe of certain nursing home training programs.
PASSED – 70-0-0
Floor Sponsor – Blanksma
House Bill 8
Proposed by the State Board of Midwifery; updates the list of formulary drugs that midwives are authorized to use, clarifies requirements for reporting, removes obsolete language.
PASSED – 70-0-0
Floor Sponsor – Rubel
Five other bills passed the House
In addition to these, today the House also passed House bill 2 (70-0-0), House bill 18 (70-0-0), House bill 30 (70-0-0), House bill 36 (70-0-0) and Senate bill 1002 (63-7-0).
Related: VIDEO: Jan 28, 2019: Today on the House Floor
Holly Cook earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Economy from the College of Idaho, has been active in Idaho politics for several years, and enjoys writing political commentary and news.
