NY State Senate Bill 2015-S1118

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Higher Education Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 06, 2016	referred to higher education
Jan 08, 2015	referred to higher education

2015-S1118 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Higher Education
Law Section:: Education Law
Laws Affected:: Amd Ed L, generally
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2009-2010: S1775
2011-2012: S4883
2013-2014: S3025
2017-2018: S4123

2015-S1118 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires that consumer representatives be appointed to state boards for the professions.

2015-S1118 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                BILL NUMBER:S1118

TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the education law, in relation to requiring consumer
representatives to be appointed to state boards for the professions

PURPOSE:

This bill is designed to provide greater public accountability and
consumer protection within New York's 47 licensed professions.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill amends § 6508 of the Education Law to provide
for three consumer representatives on each professional board to be
appointed by the Governor, the Temporary President of the Senate, and
the Speaker of the Assembly.

Sections 2-10 make conforming changes for those professions that had
public members codified within their respective boards.

Section 11 provides an effective date of 180 days.

JUSTIFICATION:

Presently, the professional boards contained within Title VIII of the
Education Law have either one, two, or three "public members". This
bill will require uniform standards by requiring three consumer
representatives for each professional board. It is vitally important
that the consumers of professional services be adequately represented
and their unique perspective be considered on the professional boards.
Currently, the professional boards for the licensed professions are
entirely appointed by the NYS Board of Regents, also an appointed
board, resulting in a appointed bureaucracy appointing another
bureaucratic level of government that is in return responsible for the
protection of New York's residents. The protection of New York's
residents is far too important for New York's elected representatives
to be entirely removed from the regulatory and governing process.
Recent high profile and public examples of professional malfeasance
within the licensed professions have demonstrated the need for
government to have a watchful eye on the licensed professions in order
to protect the consuming public. This legislation with authorize the
Governor, the Temporary President of the Senate, and the Speaker of
the Assembly to appoint the three consumer representatives to the
professional boards while preserving the NYS Board of Regents
authority to appoint the professional members.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2013-14 S.3025;
2011-12 S.4883;
2009-10 S.1775;
2007-08, S.3901;
2003-04, S.6952;
2005-2006, S.2600.


FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall have become a law.

2015-S1118 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  1118

                       2015-2016 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                             January 8, 2015
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen. LAVALLE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education

AN ACT to amend the education law, in  relation  to  requiring  consumer
  representatives to be appointed to state boards for the professions

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 6508  of  the  education  law,  as
amended  by  chapter  866  of  the  laws  of 1980, is amended to read as
follows:
  1. A board for each profession shall be  appointed  by  the  board  of
regents  on  the  recommendation  of the commissioner for the purpose of
assisting the board of regents and the department on matters of  profes-
sional  licensing,  practice, and conduct. The composition of each board
shall be as prescribed in  the  article  relating  to  each  profession,
EXCEPT  AS  PROVIDED  IN SUBDIVISION ONE-A OF THIS SECTION.  Within each
board a committee on licensing may be appointed by the board chairman.
  [Except as provided in paragraph (a) of this subdivision, the  member-
ship  of  each  professional  licensing  board shall be increased by one
member, and each such board shall have at  least  one  public  represen-
tative  who  shall  be selected by the board of regents from the general
public.
  a. The membership of the professional licensing boards  created  under
sections  sixty-five  hundred  twenty-three,  sixty-eight  hundred four,
sixty-nine hundred three, and seventy-four hundred three of this chapter
shall be increased by two members, and each such  board  shall  have  at
least  two public representatives, who shall be selected by the board of
regents from the general public.
  b. For the purposes of this title, a "public representative" shall  be
a  person  who  is  a consumer of services provided by those licensed or
otherwise supervised or regulated by the boards created hereunder, and]

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD03076-01-5

S. 1118                             2

  1-A. CONSUMER REPRESENTATIVES. EACH BOARD SHALL  HAVE  THREE  CONSUMER
REPRESENTATIVES  APPOINTED  TO THREE-YEAR TERMS IN THE FOLLOWING MANNER:
ONE SHALL BE APPOINTED BY THE GOVERNOR, ONE SHALL BE  APPOINTED  BY  THE
TEMPORARY  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  SENATE, AND ONE SHALL BE APPOINTED BY THE
SPEAKER OF THE ASSEMBLY. NO CONSUMER REPRESENTATIVE SHALL SERVE FOR MORE
THAN  TWO  CONSECUTIVE  THREE-YEAR  TERMS.  EACH CONSUMER REPRESENTATIVE
SHALL BE A VOTING MEMBER OF THEIR RESPECTIVE BOARD. THE BOARD OF REGENTS
SHALL STAGGER THE TERMS OF CONSUMER REPRESENTATIVES. THE CONSUMER REPRE-
SENTATIVES shall not be, nor within  five  years  immediately  preceding
appointment have been:
  (i) a licensee or person otherwise subject to the supervision or regu-
lation of the board to which appointed; or
  (ii)  a  person maintaining a contractual relationship with a licensee
of such board, which would constitute more than  two  percentum  of  the
practice  or  business of any such licensee, or an officer, director, or
representative of such person or group of persons.
  S 2. Section 6733 of the education law, as added by chapter 618 of the
laws of 1980, is amended to read as follows:
  S 6733. State board for physical therapy.  A state board for  physical
therapy  shall be appointed by the board of regents on recommendation of
the commissioner for the purpose of assisting the board of  regents  and
the  department  on  matters  of professional licensing and professional
conduct in accordance with section  sixty-five  hundred  eight  of  this
title.    The  board  shall  be composed of not less than eight licensed
physical therapists [and not less than one public representative].    An
executive  secretary  to  the  board  shall be appointed by the board of
regents on recommendation of the commissioner.
  S 3. Section 6954 of the education law, as added by chapter 327 of the
laws of 1992, paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 as amended by  chapter  328
of the laws of 1992, is amended to read as follows:
  S 6954. State  board  of  midwifery.   1. The state board of midwifery
shall be appointed by the board of  regents  on  recommendation  of  the
commissioner  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  the  board of regents on
matters of professional licensing and professional conduct in accordance
with section sixty-five hundred eight of this title. The board shall  be
composed  of  [thirteen] TWELVE individuals. Initial appointments to the
board shall be such that the  terms  shall  be  staggered.  However,  no
members shall serve more than two terms.
  2.  (a)  (1)  Seven  members of the board shall be persons licensed or
exempt under this section.
  (2) One member of the board shall be an educator of midwifery.
  (b) Two members of the board shall be  individuals  who  are  licensed
physicians  who  are  also  certified as obstetrician/gynecologists by a
national certifying body.
  (c) One member of the board shall  be  an  individual  licensed  as  a
physician who practices family medicine including obstetrics.
  (d)  One  member  of  the  board  shall be an individual licensed as a
physician who practices pediatrics.
  [(e) One member of the board shall be  an  individual  not  possessing
either  licensure  or  training  in medicine, midwifery, pharmacology or
nursing and shall represent the public at large.]
  3. For purposes of this article, "board"  means  the  state  board  of
midwifery  created  under  this section unless the context clearly indi-
cates otherwise.
  S 4. Section 7703 of the education law, as amended by chapter  230  of
the laws of 2004, is amended to read as follows:

S. 1118                             3

  S  7703.  State  board  for social work. A state board for social work
shall be appointed by the board of  regents  on  recommendation  of  the
commissioner  for  the purpose of assisting the board of regents and the
department on matters of professional licensing, practice,  and  conduct
in  accordance  with section sixty-five hundred eight of this title. The
board shall be composed of not less than [twelve] TEN members, of  which
five  shall  be  licensed  clinical  social workers[,] AND five shall be
licensed master social workers [and two members of the public].  Members
of  the  first  board need not be licensed prior to their appointment to
the board. The terms of the first appointed members shall  be  staggered
so  that four are appointed for three years, four are appointed for four
years, and four are appointed for five years. An executive secretary  to
the  board  shall be appointed by the board of regents on recommendation
of the commissioner and shall be licensed pursuant to this article.
  S 5. Section 8003 of the education law, as amended by chapter  282  of
the laws of 1992, is amended to read as follows:
  S 8003. State  board  for  dietetics and nutrition.  A state board for
dietetics and nutrition shall be appointed by the board of  regents,  on
recommendation  of  the  commissioner,  for the purpose of assisting the
board of regents and the department  on  matters  of  certification  and
professional conduct in accordance with section sixty-five hundred eight
of this chapter.
  The board shall consist of not less than [thirteen] TEN members, [ten]
ALL  of  whom  shall be certified dietitians or certified nutritionists,
except that the members of the first board need not be  certified    but
shall be persons who are eligible for certification under the provisions
of  this  article  prior  to  their appointment to the board.  The first
board, with  respect  to  members  representing  the  profession,  shall
consist  of  five  members registered by a national dietetic association
having registration standards acceptable  to  the  department  and  five
members who are members of or registered by a national nutritional asso-
ciation  having  membership  and/or registration standards acceptable to
the department. Thereafter, members of the profession appointed to  such
board  shall  be  certified  pursuant  to  this article.   To the extent
reasonable, the board of regents should insure the state board is broad-
ly representative of various professional interests within the  dietetic
and  nutritional community.   [Three members shall be representatives of
the general public.] An  executive  secretary  to  the  board  shall  be
appointed  by  the board of regents on the recommendation of the commis-
sioner.
  S 6. Subdivision 1 of section 8213 of the education law, as  added  by
chapter 772 of the laws of 1990, is amended to read as follows:
  (1)  There  is  hereby established within the department a state board
for acupuncture. The board shall consist of not less than [eleven] EIGHT
members to be appointed by the board of regents on the recommendation of
the commissioner for the purpose of assisting the board of  regents  and
the  department  on  matters  of professional licensing and professional
conduct in accordance with section  sixty-five  hundred  eight  of  this
chapter,  four  of  whom shall be licensed acupuncturists[,] AND four of
whom shall be licensed physicians  certified  to  use  acupuncture  [and
three  of  whom  shall  be  public members representing the consumer and
community]. Of the acupuncturists first appointed to the board, one  may
be  a  registered  specialist's  assistant-acupuncture provided that the
term of such registered specialist's assistant-acupuncture shall not  be
more  than  four  years.  Of the members first appointed, three shall be
appointed for a one year term, three shall be appointed for a  two  year

S. 1118                             4

term  and  three shall be appointed for a three year term, and two shall
be appointed for a four year term. Thereafter all  members  shall  serve
for  five year terms. In the event that more than [eleven] EIGHT members
are  appointed,  a  majority of the additional members shall be licensed
acupuncturists. The members of the board shall select one of  themselves
as chairman to serve for a one year term.
  S 7. Section 8304 of the education law, as added by chapter 905 of the
laws of 1990, is amended to read as follows:
  S 8304. State board for interior design.  1. A state board for interi-
or  design  shall be appointed by the board of regents on recommendation
of the commissioner for the purpose of assisting the  board  of  regents
and  the department on matters of certification and professional conduct
in accordance with section sixty-five hundred eight of this  title.  The
board  shall  be composed of [nine] EIGHT members, four of whom shall be
interior designers certified  in  this  state,  two  of  whom  shall  be
licensed  architects  who  practice  primarily  interior  design in this
state, one who shall be a professional engineer in this  state  with  an
expertise  in interior design, AND one who shall be a full-time interior
design educator in this state [and one who shall be the public represen-
tative]. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the members of the  first  board
who are interior designers need not be certified prior to their appoint-
ment to the board.
  2.  Two  interior  designers  and  a  licensed architect who practices
primarily interior design shall serve initial five year terms. Two inte-
rior designers and a professional engineer with an expertise in interior
design shall serve initial four year terms. One licensed  architect  who
practices  primarily  interior  design[,] AND the interior design educa-
tor[, and the public representative] shall serve initial two year terms.
Following the establishment of the initial membership of the board,  all
succeeding appointments shall be for five year terms. Any vacancy on the
board  shall be filled by appointment for the remainder of such member's
terms in accordance with the provisions of this section.
  S 8. Section 8406 of the education law, as added by chapter 676 of the
laws of 2002, is amended to read as follows:
  S 8406. State board for mental health practitioners. A state board for
mental health practitioners shall be appointed by the board  of  regents
on  the  recommendation of the commissioner for the purpose of assisting
the board of regents and the department  on  matters  of  licensing  and
regulation.  The  board  shall  be  composed  of at least three licensed
members from each profession licensed pursuant to this article  [and  at
least  three  public  representatives  who  do not hold interests in the
organization, financing, or delivery of mental health services].   Addi-
tionally,  the board shall contain one physician who shall be a psychia-
trist. Members of the first board need not be licensed  prior  to  their
appointment to the board. The terms of the first appointed members shall
be  staggered  so that [five] FOUR are appointed for three years, [five]
FOUR are appointed for four years, and [six] FIVE are appointed for five
years. An executive secretary to the board shall  be  appointed  by  the
board of regents on recommendation of the commissioner.
  S 9. Section 8503 of the education law, as added by chapter 817 of the
laws of 1992, is amended to read as follows:
  S 8503. State  board  for  respiratory  therapy.    A  state board for
respiratory therapy shall be appointed by the board of  regents  on  the
recommendation  of  the  commissioner  for  the purpose of assisting the
board of regents and the department on matters of professional licensing
and conduct in accordance with section sixty-five hundred eight of  this

S. 1118                             5

title.  The  board  shall  be  composed  of  not less than five licensed
respiratory therapists, two licensed  respiratory  therapy  technicians,
and  [four]  THREE  additional  members  who  shall include at least one
licensed  physician  [and  at  least  one public member]. Members of the
first board who  are  respiratory  therapy  practitioners  need  not  be
licensed  prior to appointment on the board, provided, however, that the
first appointed respiratory therapists shall be registered by a national
certifying or accrediting board, acceptable to the  department  and  the
first  appointed respiratory therapy technicians shall be certified by a
national certifying or accrediting board, acceptable to the  department.
An  executive  secretary to the board shall be appointed by the board of
regents on recommendation of the commissioner.
  S 10. Section 8704 of the education law, as added by  chapter  495  of
the laws of 2001, is amended to read as follows:
  S  8704. State committee for medical physics. 1. A state committee for
medical physics shall be appointed by the  board  of  regents  upon  the
recommendation of the commissioner and shall assist on matters of licen-
sure  and  professional  conduct  in  accordance with section sixty-five
hundred eight of this title. Notwithstanding the provisions  of  section
sixty-five  hundred  eight of this title, the committee shall assist the
board for medicine solely in medical physics matters, which board  shall
also  function  as  the  state  board for medical physics. The licensure
requirements for professional medical physicists shall be waived for the
initial committee appointees, provided that such appointees  shall  have
received national certification in their specialty.
  2.  The  committee  shall  consist of [eight] SEVEN individuals, to be
composed of the following:
  (a) Four licensed  medical  physicists  represented  by  each  of  the
following specialties:
  (i) diagnostic radiological physics,
  (ii) therapeutic radiological or radiation oncology physics,
  (iii) medical nuclear physics, and
  (iv) medical health physics; AND
  (b)  Three  licensed  physicians  represented by each of the following
specialties:
  (i) diagnostic radiology,
  (ii) radiation therapy or radiation oncology, and
  (iii) nuclear medicine[; and
  (c) A representative of the public at large].
  S 11. This act shall take effect on  the  one  hundred  eightieth  day
after it shall have become a law.

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Senate Bill S1118

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Higher Education Committee

2015-S1118 (ACTIVE) - Details

2015-S1118 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2015-S1118 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2015-S1118 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Senate Bill S1118

Share this bill

Sponsored By

Kenneth P. LaValle

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Higher Education Committee

2015-S1118 (ACTIVE) - Details

2015-S1118 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2015-S1118 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2015-S1118 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments