ENROLLED
H. B. 4850
(By Delegates Beane, Ennis and Frich)
[Passed March 11, 2006; in effect from passage.]
AN ACT to amend and reenact §30-1A-2 and §30-1A-3 of the code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend said code by
adding thereto a new section, designated §30-1A-2a, all
relating to expediting the sunrise application process.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §30-1A-2 and §30-1A-3 of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said code be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §30-1A-2a,
all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 30. PROFESSIONS & OCCUPATIONS
ARTICLE 1A. PROCEDURE FOR REGULATION OF OCCUPATIONS AND
PROFESSIONS.
§30-1A-2. Required application for regulation of professional or
occupational group.
(a) Any professional or occupational group or organization,
any individual or any other interested party which proposes the regulation of any unregulated professional or occupational group
shall submit an application for regulation to the Joint Standing
Committee on Government Organization, as set out in section two-a
of this article. The Joint Standing Committee on Government
Organization may only accept an application for regulation of a
professional or occupational group when the party submitting an
application files with the committee a statement of support for
the proposed regulation which has been signed by at least ten
residents or citizens of the state of West Virginia who are
members of the professional or occupational group for which
regulation is being sought.
(b) The completed application shall contain:
(1) A description of the occupational or professional group
proposed for regulation, including a list of associations,
organizations and other groups currently representing the
practitioners in this state, and an estimate of the number of
practitioners in each group;
(2) A definition of the problem and the reasons why
regulation is deemed necessary;
(3) The reasons why certification, registration, licensure
or other type of regulation is being requested and why that
regulatory alternative was chosen;
(4) A detailed statement of the fee structure conforming
with the statutory requirements of financial autonomy as set out
in subsection (c), section six, article one, chapter thirty of this code;
(5) A detailed statement of the location and manner in which
the group plans to maintain records which are accessible to the
public as set out in section twelve, article one, chapter thirty
of this code;
(6) The benefit to the public that would result from the
proposed regulation; and
(7) The cost of the proposed regulation.
§30-1A-2a. Date applications are due and reporting date.
(a) For an application for regulation received after the
first day of December and on or before the first day of June, the
Performance Evaluation and Research Division of the Office of the
Legislative Auditor shall present a report to the Joint Committee
on Government Organization by the thirty-first day of December of
that year.
(b) For an application for regulation received after the
first day of June and on or before the first day of December, the
Performance Evaluation and Research Division of the Office of the
Legislative Auditor shall present a report to the Joint Committee
on Government Organization by the thirtieth day of June of the
next year.
§30-1A-3. Analysis and evaluation of application.
(a) The Joint Committee on Government Organization shall
refer the completed application of the professional or
occupational group to the Performance Evaluation and Research Division of the Office of the Legislative Auditor.
(b) The Performance Evaluation and Research Division of the
Office of the Legislative Auditor shall conduct an analysis and
evaluation of the application. The analysis and evaluation shall
be based upon the criteria listed in subsection (c) of this
section. The Performance Evaluation and Research Division of the
Office of the Legislative Auditor shall submit a report, and such
supporting materials as may be required, to the Joint Standing
Committee on Government Organization, as set out in section two-a
of this article.
(c) The report shall include evaluation and analysis as to:
(1) Whether the unregulated practice of the occupation or
profession clearly harms or endangers the health, safety or
welfare of the public, and whether the potential for the harm is
easily recognizable and not remote or dependent upon tenuous
argument;
(2) Whether the public needs, and can reasonably be expected
to benefit from, an assurance of initial and continuing
professional or occupational competence; and
(3) Whether the public can be adequately protected by other
means in a more cost-effective manner.