Senate Commerce Committee Statement to Senate, No. 3175 — State of New Jersey (January 21, 2021)

Summary

A Senate Commerce Committee statement to the Senate on Senate Bill No. 3175, State of New Jersey, dated January 21, 2021, reporting the bill favorably with committee amendments. As amended, the bill allows a mental health professional licensing board or the director of the Division of Consumer Affairs, with the approval of the Attorney General, to expedite temporary credentials for recent graduates with a master's degree or higher who are not yet licensed in any jurisdiction. Fees and examinations are temporarily waived, holders must be supervised by a New Jersey licensee, and the credential carries a clear expiration date. When the emergency is lifted or the credential expires, whichever is sooner, individuals staying in New Jersey must apply for a full credential; the bill is identical to Assembly Bill No. 4246(1R).

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SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No.
3175

STATE
OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: JANUARY
21, 2021

The
Senate Commerce Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments
Senate Bill No. 3175.

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
Assembly Bill No. 4246(1R), 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 any 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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