OLB UNIFORM DISCIPLINE AND INCREASE OVERSIGHT. (NEW)

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View NCGA Bill Details2017-2018 Session
House Bill 701 (Public) Filed Monday, April 10, 2017
AN ACT TO REQUIRE OCCUPATIONAL LICENSING BOARDS TO ADOPT RULES GOVERNING HEARINGS IN ORDER TO EXERCISE THE POWER TO SUMMARILY SUSPEND LICENSES AND TO INCREASE OVERSIGHT OF OCCUPATIONAL LICENSING BOARDS.
Intro. by Jordan, Stevens.

Status: Ref To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate (Senate Action) (Apr 26 2017)

SOG comments (1):

Long title change

House committee substitute to the 1st edition changed the long title. Original long title was AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE ABILITY OF OCCUPATIONAL LICENSING BOARDS TO OBTAIN INJUNCTIVE RELIEF AND TO REMOVE GENERAL AUTHORITY FOR OCCUPATIONAL LICENSING BOARDS TO SUMMARILY SUSPEND LICENSES.

H 701

Bill Summaries:

  • Summary date: Apr 24 2017 - View Summary

    House committee substitute makes the following changes to the 1st edition:

    Deletes all provisions of the 1st edition.

    Amends long title and short titles.

    Amends GS 150B-3 (Special provisions on licensing). Prohibits an occupational licensing board from summarily suspending an occupational license unless the board has first adopted rules governing the conduct of its hearings.

    Amends GS 93B-1. Amends the definition ofoccupational licensing board. Provides that occupational licensing boards include only those boards specified in this statute, and prohibits adding boards or commissions without approval by the Joint Legislative Administrative Procedure Oversight Committee (Committee) as being necessary in that the profession affects the health, safety, or welfare of the public, and that mandatory licensure is necessary to ensure minimum standards of competency to protect the public from unqualified persons or unprofessional conduct. Lists 58 occupational licensing boards. Excludes a privilege license from the definition of license.

    Amends GS 93B-2. Amends the list of entities to which each occupational licensing board must file specified information to exclude the Secretary of State and Attorney General, and to add the Department of Commerce, the State Auditor, the Office of State Budget and Management, and the State Controller. Adds five more pieces of information that occupational licensing boards must report, including a financial report. Deletes the provision currently requiring occupational licensing boards to electronically file a financial report by October 31 of each year. Requires occupational licensing boards to post the required reports on their websites. Requires occupational licensing boards to provide the Committee with the name and contact information of the individual responsible for filing required reports, and to notify the Committee within 30 days of any changes in that information. Directs the Committee to review the required reports, in addition to the currently required tasks.

    Amends GS 93B-4 to delete the provision requiring certain occupational licensing boards to provide the State Auditor with financial audits.

    Amends GS 93B-5 to raise the per diem compensation for occupational licensing board members from $100 to $200, and clarifies that this provision is given notwithstanding GS 138-5 (Per Diem and Allowances of State Boards). Requires board members to receive training in antitrust law and State action immunity within six months of appointment, and at least once within every two calendar years thereafter.

    Enacts new GS 93B-17. Directs occupational licensing boards to adopt rules for the receipt and resolution of complaints, for taking disciplinary or enforcement actions against licensees, and for taking enforcement actions against persons not licensed by the board. Prohibits summary suspension of licenses without adopting rules governing the conduct of hearings. Requires interpretations, clarifications, or other delineations of the scope of practice of an occupational licensing board to be adopted as a rule.

    Enacts new GS 93B-18. Authorizes occupational licensing boards to investigate unlicensed activity and notify unlicensed persons and entities of the possible violations of law and administrative rules, and penalties that may be imposed by a court. Provides requirements for the contents of the notification.

    Enacts new GS 93B-19, specifying the appropriate superior court for a licensing board seeking a court order for injunctive relief or to show cause for failure to comply with a subpoena.

    Enacts new GS 93B-20, authorizing an occupational licensing board to appear in its own name in superior court to restrain the violation of the provisions of a statute administered by the board or a rule or order of the board. Grants jurisdiction to the superior court to grant these injunctions or restraining orders or to take other appropriate action. Prohibits boards from issuing such orders independently of the superior court unless specifically authorized by law to do so.

    Enacts new GS 93B-21, stating that state policy prefers informal resolution of jurisdictional disputes between boards, but authorizing an administrative proceeding with the Office of Administrative Hearings by an affected board in the event informal procedures cannot resolve a jurisdictional dispute.

    Enacts new GS 93B-22, requiring occupational licensing boards to develop and implement a complaint process that meets three requirements, including electronic complaint submission via the board's website.

    Requires occupational licensing boards to implement the required complaint procedure on their websites by January 1, 2018.

    Amends GS 115C-457.2 (regarding the Civil Penalty and Forfeiture Fund), providing that occupational licensing boards shall satisfy the annual reporting obligation under that statute by including the information required in the occupational licensing board's annual report under GS 93B-2.

    Amends GS 143C-9-4 (Biennial fee report), directing the Office of State Budget and Management to obtain information required under that statute for occupational licensing boards from the boards' annual reports under GS 93B-2.

    Makes a conforming change to GS 150B-38, and provides that GS Chapter 150B, Article 3A (Other Administrative Hearings) applies to the Department of the Secretary of State, Securities Division.

    Amends GS 150B-45 (Procedure for seeking review; waiver). Provides that a petition for review of non-tax final decisions under GS Chapter 150B, Article 4 (Judicial Review), may be filed in the county where the agency has its principal place of business, in addition to the other authorized venue counties. Authorizes superior courts to order a change of venue, provided that improper venue may not be grounds for dismissal of the petition.

    Directs the Committee to continue to monitor and study the effects of NC State Bd. of Dental Examiners v. Fed. Trade Comm'n and other related issues.

    Amends GS 86A-3, regarding qualifications for a certificate as a registered barber, to further require an applicant to have received a high school diploma or its equivalent or a high school graduation equivalency certificate.

    Amends GS 86A-22 to require barber schools to require students to have received a high school diploma or its equivalency or a high school graduation equivalency certificate. Makes a technical change.

    Amends GS 143B-68 to amend the membership of the Public Librarian Certification Commission, to remove the inclusion of the chairman of the North Carolina Association of Library Trustees, and to fill that seat with an individual named by the Governor upon nomination of the North Carolina Library Association. Makes technical changes.

    Except as otherwise provided, effective when the bill becomes law, and applies to licensing board actions occurring on or after that date.


  • Summary date: Apr 10 2017 - View Summary

    Enacts GS 93B-17, providing that a licensing board can appear in its own name in superior court in actions for injunctive relief to restrain the violation of the provisions of a statute administered by the board or a rule or order of the board. Provides that the superior court has jurisdiction to grant these injunctions or restraining orders or take other appropriate action even if criminal prosecution has been or may be instituted as a result of the violations or whether the person is a licensee of the board. Prohibits a board from issuing orders independently of the superior court unless specifically authorized to do so by law. Amends GS 150B-3 (APA's special provisions on licensing) to remove the authority for occupational licensing boards to summarily suspend an occupational license. Applies to licensing board actions occurring on or after the date the act becomes law.