Honorable Stephanie Klick, Chair, House Committee on Public Health
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1683 by Walle (Relating to the Occupational Therapy Licensure Compact; authorizing fees.), As Introduced
The fiscal implications of the bill cannot be determined due to uncertainty regarding the costs associated to meet the requirements to become a member of the Occupational Therapy Licensure Compact and the extent to which license fees would increase with compact membership.
The bill would amend the Occupations Code to establish the Occupational Therapy Licensure Compact. The bill would establish requirements for becoming a member state of the compact, defines a joint government agency consisting of all member states of the Occupational Therapy Compact Commission, grant authority to this compact commission, require participation in a national data system, and provide new responsibilities and enforcement requirements to member state governments. According to information released from the American Occupational Therapy Association on May 20, 2022, twenty states had at that time enacted the compact. As ten are required for the compact to come into effect, the compact is currently active in member states.
According to the Executive Council of Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy Examiners (ECPTOTE), the changes needed to the ECPTOTE database to participate in the compact are unknown at this time, and the cost of the database change cannot be estimated. Additionally, the ECPTOTE is unable to predict the investigative costs it might incur by participating in any joint investigations or investigations required by the compact legislation.
Lastly, this estimate assumes that the dues and fees charged by the Occupational Therapy Compact Commission to cover the costs of operations are not known and an estimate cannot be determined.
This bill would be effective September 1, 2023.
Local Government Impact
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.
Source Agencies:
304 Comptroller of Public Accounts, 452 Department of Licensing and Regulation, 533 Executive Council of Physical Therapy & Occupational Therapy Examiners