Senate Commerce Committee Statement to Assembly, No. 4246 (1R) — State of New Jersey (January 21, 2021)

Summary

A Senate Commerce Committee statement to the First Reprint of Assembly, No. 4246, State of New Jersey, dated January 21, 2021, reporting the bill favorably with committee amendments. With the approval of the Attorney General, the bill lets a professional licensing board for a mental health profession, or the director of the Division of Consumer Affairs, expedite a temporary credential for a recent graduate with a master's degree or higher who is not yet licensed in any jurisdiction. Fees and examinations are temporarily waived, and the individual is to be supervised by someone licensed in New Jersey in the same profession. As amended, the bill is identical to Senate Bill No. 3175.

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SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY,
No. 4246

with
committee amendments

STATE
OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: JANUARY
21, 2021

The
Senate Commerce Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments
Assembly Bill No. 4246 (1R).

As
amended, this bill allows, with the approval of the Attorney General, a
professional licensing board regulating a mental health profession or, in the
case of certain mental health professions, the director of the Division of
Consumer Affairs to expedite the issuance of a temporary license, certificate
of registration or certification to practice a mental health profession to a
recent graduate in New Jersey or another state who earned a master’s degree or
higher from a program in New Jersey or another state that is intended to lead
to a career in a mental health profession and is not yet licensed, registered
or certified to practice the mental health profession in any jurisdiction. The
individual is granted a temporary credential pending the results of a criminal
history background record check. Additionally, requirements such as fees and
examinations are temporarily waived for these individuals. The temporary
license, certificate of registration or certification is to include an
expiration date posted clearly and conspicuously. Moreover, the individual with
the temporary credential is to be supervised by someone licensed in New Jersey
in the same profession that the out-of-State individual is temporarily
practicing.

Once
the Governor has lifted the state of emergency or public health emergency under
which a temporary license, certificate of registration or certification was
issued to an individual to practice a mental health profession, or when the
temporary license, certificate of registration or certification expires,
whichever is sooner, and the individual intends to remain in New Jersey and
practice the mental health profession for which the individual was a issued a
temporary license, certificate of registration or certification, the individual
is to apply for a full license, certificate of registration or certification to
the requisite professional board or, for certain mental health professions
regulated by the Division of Consumer Affairs, the director. If an individual
applies for a full license, certificate of registration or certification and
there is a requirement on the application to demonstrate experience, the
individual, at the discretion of the board or director of the Division of
Consumer Affairs, may use the experience gained in providing services during
the state of emergency or public health emergency on the application. The
Division of Consumer Affairs is authorized, under the bill, to impose program
requirements that are not inconsistent with the rest of the bill. Lastly, the
exercise of the authority in the bill to grant a temporary credential on an
expedited basis or to protect the public’s health, safety, and welfare is not
required to comply with the requirements of the “Administrative Procedures
Act.”

As amended and reported, this bill is identical to
Senate Bill No. 3175, as amended and reported by the Senate Commerce Committee
on January 21, 2021.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

The committee amended the bill to:

1) make the provisions of the bill applicable to
graduates of New Jersey;

2) grant the director of the Division of Consumer
Affairs (the “director”) the sole authority allowed to take additional action
if necessary to protect the public’s health, safety and welfare;

3) make waiving an examination required to receive a
credential as an item the director may waive temporarily to protect the
public’s health, safety and welfare;

4) give licensing boards and the director the
discretion to allow individuals temporarily credentialed under this act to
apply experience gained with the temporary credential towards an experience
requirements to attain a full credential;

5) allow the Division of Consumer Affairs to impose
other program requirements not inconsistent with the provisions of the bill;
and

6) state that the exercise of authority provided in
the bill to grant temporary credentials does not require compliance with the
“Administrative Procedures Act.”

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