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KEY: stricken = removed, old language.underscored = new language to be added

scs-hhs-licensingboard--art10

A bill for an act
relating to BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
356.7ARTICLE 10
356.8HEALTH-RELATED LICENSING BOARDS

356.9    Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 13.411, subdivision 7, is amended to read:
356.10    Subd. 7. Examining and licensing boards. (a) Health licensing boards. Data
356.11held by health licensing boards are classified under sections 214.10, subdivision 8, and
356.12214.25, subdivision 1 .
356.13(b) Combined boards data. Data held by licensing boards participating in a health
356.14professional services program are classified under sections 214.34 and 214.35.
356.15(c) Criminal background checks. Criminal history record information obtained by
356.16a health-related licensing board is classified under section 214.075, subdivision 7.

356.17    Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 148B.17, subdivision 2, is amended to read:
356.18    Subd. 2. Licensure and application fees. Nonrefundable licensure and application
356.19fees charged established by the board are as follows shall not exceed the following amounts:
356.20(1) application fee for national examination is $220 $110;
356.21(2) application fee for Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) state
356.22examination is $110;
356.23(3) initial LMFT license fee is prorated, but cannot exceed $125;
356.24(4) annual renewal fee for LMFT license is $125;
356.25(5) late fee for initial Licensed Associate Marriage and Family Therapist LAMFT
356.26 LMFT license renewal is $50;
356.27(6) application fee for LMFT licensure by reciprocity is $340 $220;
356.28(7) fee for initial Licensed Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (LAMFT)
356.29license is $75;
356.30(8) annual renewal fee for LAMFT license is $75;
356.31(9) late fee for LAMFT renewal is $50 $25;
356.32(10) fee for reinstatement of license is $150; and
356.33(11) fee for emeritus status is $125.

357.1    Sec. 3. [214.075] HEALTH-RELATED LICENSING BOARDS; CRIMINAL
357.2BACKGROUND CHECKS.
357.3    Subdivision 1. Applications. (a) By January 1, 2018, each health-related licensing
357.4board, as defined in section 214.01, subdivision 2, shall require applicants for initial
357.5licensure, licensure by endorsement, or reinstatement or other relicensure after a lapse
357.6in licensure, as defined by the individual health-related licensing boards to submit to
357.7a criminal history records check of state data completed by the Bureau of Criminal
357.8Apprehension (BCA) and a national criminal history records check, including a search of
357.9the records of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
357.10(b) An applicant must complete a criminal background check if more than one year
357.11has elapsed since the applicant last submitted a background check to the board.
357.12    Subd. 2. Investigations. If a health-related licensing board has reasonable cause
357.13to believe a licensee has been charged with or convicted of a crime in this or any other
357.14jurisdiction, the health-related licensing board may require the licensee to submit to a
357.15criminal history records check of state data completed by the BCA and a national criminal
357.16history records check, including a search of the records of the FBI.
357.17    Subd. 3. Consent form; fees; and fingerprints. (a) In order to effectuate the
357.18federal and state level, fingerprint-based criminal background check, the applicant or
357.19licensee must submit a completed criminal history records check consent form and a full
357.20set of fingerprints to the respective health-related licensing board or a designee in the
357.21manner and form specified by the board.
357.22(b) The applicant or licensee is responsible for all fees associated with preparation of
357.23the fingerprints, the criminal records check consent form, and the criminal background
357.24check. The fees for the criminal records background check shall be set by the BCA and
357.25the FBI and are not refundable. The fees shall be submitted to the respective health-related
357.26licensing board by the applicant or licensee as prescribed by the respective board, and
357.27shall be deposited in the special revenue fund.
357.28    Subd. 4. Refusal to consent. (a) The health-related licensing boards shall not issue
357.29a license to any applicant who refuses to consent to a criminal background check or fails
357.30to submit fingerprints within 90 days after submission of an application for licensure. Any
357.31fees paid by the applicant to the board shall be forfeited if the applicant refuses to consent
357.32to the criminal background check or fails to submit the required fingerprints.
357.33(b) The failure of a licensee to submit to a criminal background check as provided in
357.34subdivision 3 is grounds for disciplinary action by the respective health licensing board.
357.35    Subd. 5. Submission of fingerprints to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
357.36The health-related licensing board or designee shall submit applicant or licensee
358.1fingerprints to the BCA. The BCA shall perform a check for state criminal justice
358.2information and shall forward the applicant's or licensee's fingerprints to the FBI to
358.3perform a check for national criminal justice information regarding the applicant or
358.4licensee. The BCA shall report to the board the results of the state and national criminal
358.5justice information checks.
358.6    Subd. 6. Alternatives to fingerprint-based criminal background checks. The
358.7health-related licensing board may require an alternative method of criminal history
358.8checks for an applicant or licensee who has submitted at least three sets of fingerprints in
358.9accordance with this section that have been unreadable by the BCA or the FBI.
358.10    Subd. 7. Data practices. Criminal history record information obtained by the
358.11health-related licensing board under this section is private data on individuals under
358.12section 13.02, subdivision 12.
358.13    Subd. 8. Opportunity to challenge accuracy of report. Prior to taking disciplinary
358.14action against an applicant or a licensee based on a criminal conviction, the health-related
358.15licensing board shall provide the applicant or the licensee an opportunity to complete or
358.16challenge the accuracy of the criminal history information reported to the board. The
358.17applicant or licensee shall have 30 calendar days following notice from the board of
358.18the intent to deny licensure or to take disciplinary action to request an opportunity to
358.19correct or complete the record prior to the board taking disciplinary action based on the
358.20information reported to the board. The board shall provide the applicant up to 180 days to
358.21challenge the accuracy or completeness of the report with the agency responsible for the
358.22record. This subdivision does not affect the right of the subject of the data to contest the
358.23accuracy or completeness under section 13.04, subdivision 4.
358.24    Subd. 9. Instructions to the board; plans. The health-related licensing boards, in
358.25collaboration with the commissioner of human services and the BCA, shall establish a
358.26plan for completing criminal background checks of all licensees who were licensed before
358.27the effective date requirement under subdivision 1. The plan must seek to minimize
358.28duplication of requirements for background checks of licensed health professionals. The
358.29plan for background checks of current licensees shall be developed no later than January
358.301, 2017, and may be contingent upon the implementation of a system by the BCA or FBI
358.31in which any new crimes that an applicant or licensee commits after an initial background
358.32check are flagged in the BCA's or FBI's database and reported back to the board. The plan
358.33shall include recommendations for any necessary statutory changes.

358.34    Sec. 4. Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 214.12, is amended by adding a subdivision
358.35to read:
359.1    Subd. 4. Parental depression. The health-related licensing boards that regulate
359.2professions that serve caregivers at risk of depression, or their children, including
359.3behavioral health and therapy, chiropractic, marriage and family therapy, medical practice,
359.4nursing, psychology, and social work, provide educational materials to licensees on
359.5the subject of parental depression and its potential effects on children if unaddressed,
359.6including how to:
359.7(1) screen mothers for depression;
359.8(2) identify children who are affected by their mother's depression; and
359.9(3) provide treatment or referral information on needed services.

359.10    Sec. 5. Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 214.40, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
359.11    Subdivision 1. Definitions. (a) The definitions in this subdivision apply to this
359.12section.
359.13(b) "Administrative services unit" means the administrative services unit for the
359.14health-related licensing boards.
359.15(c) "Charitable organization" means a charitable organization within the meaning of
359.16section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code that has as a purpose the sponsorship or
359.17support of programs designed to improve the quality, awareness, and availability of health
359.18care services and that serves as a funding mechanism for providing those services.
359.19(d) "Health care facility or organization" means a health care facility licensed under
359.20chapter 144 or 144A, or a charitable organization.
359.21(e) "Health care provider" means a physician licensed under chapter 147, physician
359.22assistant registered licensed and practicing under chapter 147A, nurse licensed and
359.23registered to practice under chapter 148, or dentist or, dental hygienist, or dental therapist
359.24 licensed under chapter 150A; or an advanced dental therapist licensed and certified under
359.25chapter 150A.
359.26(f) "Health care services" means health promotion, health monitoring, health
359.27education, diagnosis, treatment, minor surgical procedures, the administration of local
359.28anesthesia for the stitching of wounds, and primary dental services, including preventive,
359.29diagnostic, restorative, and emergency treatment. Health care services do not include the
359.30administration of general anesthesia or surgical procedures other than minor surgical
359.31procedures.
359.32(g) "Medical professional liability insurance" means medical malpractice insurance
359.33as defined in section 62F.03.
359.34EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective the day following final enactment.

360.1    Sec. 6. INCLUSION OF OTHER HEALTH-RELATED OCCUPATIONS TO
360.2CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS.
360.3(a) If the Department of Health is not reviewed by the Sunset Advisory Commission
360.4according to the schedule in Minnesota Statutes, section 3D.21, the commissioner
360.5of health, as the regulator for occupational therapy practitioners, speech-language
360.6pathologists, audiologists, and hearing instrument dispensers, shall require applicants
360.7for licensure or renewal to submit to a criminal history records check as required under
360.8Minnesota Statutes, section 214.075, for other health-related licensed occupations
360.9regulated by the health-related licensing boards.
360.10(b) Any statutory changes necessary to include the commissioner of health to
360.11Minnesota Statutes, section 214.075, shall be included in the plan required in Minnesota
360.12Statutes, section 214.075, subdivision 9.