HB 22-1291

House Bill 22-1291 changes how new professions and occupations are reviewed in Colorado. It updates the timeline for when the Department of Regulatory Agencies must complete reviews of proposals submitted throughout the year, making sure they finish their work sooner than before. The bill also allows the department to skip a review if there aren't enough people involved (fewer than 250) or if other states already regulate that profession. Additionally, it modifies how the department decides whether regulation is necessary by adding new factors like whether practitioners use independent judgment and if public benefit would come from direct regulation. Since this bill has been signed into law, it means these changes are now official rules in Colorado.

Official Summary

Current law requires that a proposal to regulate a new professional or occupational group be submitted to the department of regulatory agencies (department) by December 1 of any year for a sunrise review by the department and requires the department to perform the review and report to the proponents and the general assembly by October 15 of the year following the submission. The act amends the timeline for the department to conduct sunrise reviews of proposals to regulate an unregulated professional or occupational group submitted on or after July 1, 2022, as follows: For proposals submitted between July 1 and December 31 of any year, the department must complete the review by June 30 of the following year; and For proposals submitted between January 1 and June 30 of any year, the department must complete the review by December 31 of that year. Current law allows the department to decline to conduct an analysis and evaluation after reviewing a proposal to regulate a professional or occupational group if the department conducted a review within the previous 36 months and finds that no new information has been submitted that would affect the department's previous determination. The act allows the department to also decline to conduct a review if: The proposed regulatory scheme appears to regulate fewer than 250 individuals; or At least 33 other states license, certify, or require registration of members of the same professional or occupational group. In determining whether a proposed regulation of a professional or occupational group is necessary, the act: Removes the requirement to consider whether, if the professional or occupational group remains unregulated, the potential for harm is easily recognizable and not remote or dependent upon tenuous argument; and Adds the requirement to consider whether the practitioners of the profession or occupation exercise independent judgment, and whether the public can reasonably be expected to benefit from the direct regulation of the profession or occupation if a practitioner's judgment or practice is limited or subject to the judgment or supervision of others.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

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