Occupations: individual licensing and registration; procedure for vacating disciplinary records of certain licensees or registrants; provide for. Amends sec. 539 of 2016 PA 407 (MCL 339.5539).
Summary
HB 4919 amends section 539 of Michigan’s Skilled Trades Regulation Act to change how certain disciplinary citations are handled by the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. The bill keeps the existing process in which a respondent has 30 days to either accept a citation’s conditions or contest the alleged violation, and it preserves the rule that an accepted citation is treated like a final board order and may be made public. It also preserves the option for a respondent who does not admit the violation to trigger the formal complaint process under section 515.
The main change is to create new record-removal rules for citations related to failure to complete continuing education. Beginning January 1, 2026, those citations and related materials must be automatically removed from a person’s record four years after issuance, or sooner if the person proves completion of the continuing education requirement. A person whose citation is removed may then state that no citation exists for that subject matter. The bill also retains the general five-year removal rule for other citations if no additional disciplinary action is taken, subject to the new continuing-education exceptions.
Impact
The bill would amend Michigan’s occupational licensing and skilled trades disciplinary record provisions by adding a specific expungement-style pathway for continuing-education-related citations. It affects the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs’ recordkeeping and public disclosure practices, and it gives certain licensees or registrants a way to clear citations from their records after compliance or passage of time. The bill does not eliminate the underlying authority to issue citations or impose discipline; instead, it changes how long those citations remain in departmental files and when they may be treated as no longer existing for the affected person.
Sentiment
The available voting history suggests the bill was generally supported, moving out of committee 8-0 and later passing the House 84-19 with immediate effect. That pattern indicates broad bipartisan acceptance of the bill’s approach to limiting the long-term consequences of certain disciplinary citations, especially those tied to continuing education compliance. No committee transcript is available here, so the record does not show detailed debate, but the vote margins suggest the bill was viewed favorably overall.
Contention
The main point of potential contention is the balance between public accountability and relief from long-term disciplinary records. Supporters appear to favor giving licensees a path to remove older continuing-education citations once they comply or after a set period, while opponents may be concerned that automatic removal could reduce transparency for consumers or employers reviewing licensing history. Another possible issue is that the bill treats continuing-education citations differently from other citations, which may raise questions about whether similar record-removal treatment should apply more broadly to other types of violations.
Occupations: individual licensing and registration; procedure for vacating disciplinary records of certain licensees or registrants; provide for. Amends sec. 555 of 1980 PA 299 (MCL 339.555).
Occupations: individual licensing and registration; procedure for vacating disciplinary records of certain licensees or registrants; provide for. Amends secs. 729, 2009 & 2627 of 1980 PA 299 (MCL 339.729 et seq.) & adds sec. 2504b.
Health: licensing; procedure for vacating disciplinary records of certain licensees or registrants; provide for. Amends secs. 16211, 16216 & 16238 of 1978 PA 368 (MCL 333.16211 et seq.) & adds sec. 16211a.
Health: licensing; procedure for vacating disciplinary records of certain licensees or registrants; provide for. Amends secs. 16211, 16216, 16238 & 16315 of 1978 PA 368 (MCL 333.16211 et seq.) & adds sec. 16211a.
Occupations: individual licensing and registration; licensing reciprocity under the occupational code for certain individuals who hold an out-of-state license; provide for. Amends sec. 217 of 1980 PA 299 (MCL 339.217).
Occupations: individual licensing and registration; licensure of professional guardians and conservators; require. Amends sec. 303a of 1980 PA 299 (MCL 339.303a) & adds art. 14A.
Occupations: business licensing and registration; license to sell firearms at retail; provide for. Amends 1927 PA 372 (MCL 28.421 - 28.435) by adding secs. 12c, 14b & 14c.