A legislative subcommittee is considering doing away with the licensure or certification of seven occupations, ranging from registered private probation providers to dieticians.
On Wednesday, the Business, Labor and Economic Development interim committee of the Utah Legislature will consider whether to eliminate licensing or certification requirements for private probation providers, sanitarians, mediators, endowed cemetery providers, shorthand reporters, recreational therapists and dieticians.If it agrees, the committee will forward bills to the House and Senate to kill the licensing requirements for the seven professions.
The Utah Legislature had asked the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing to review the 50 occupations it regulates.
Division director David Robinson said the review indicated that dropping the certification or licensure requirements of the seven occupations would not "jeopardize public health, safety and welfare."
Even so, Robinson said he expects resistance from representatives of the seven professions. Among some professions, licensure gives them "status, that they've achieved something and they don't want to give it up," Robinson said.
Katie McDonald, president of the Utah Dietetic Association, said yanking the certification of dieticians would be a "big step backward" professionally.
"If you think who else works in a health-care setting, is there anyone else not regulated by the state? It's not even a question," said McDonald.
"We're trying to look at this in a different light. We're trying not to take this personally. We are extensively involved in health-care reform. We feel nutrition is a vital part of preventative care and also therapeutic care. With certification, we can attempt to get reimbursement for the consumer if the need these services."
The legislative committee will hear the division's rationale for getting rid of the requirements and hear from representatives of affected professions.
For instance, the division requires endowed-care cemeteries to keep on deposit funds to maintain cemeteries. Yet, Robinson said, state law does not mandate the upkeep of the burial grounds. "There are only 14 (endowed-care cemeteries) in the state of Utah. It just seems really archaic and really isn't serving the public," Robinson said.
People who inspect solid and liquid waste for local health departments must be registered with the state as sanitarians. Yet, industrial hygenists who perform the same functions in the private sector are not required to register with the state.
Robinson said the division is open to suggestion and would consider "good arguments" why the licensure should be maintained.
"We're not trying to get into a cat and dog fight with them," Robinson said. "This isn't something in which we're bound and determined to eliminate licensure on these professions."