House Professional Registration and Licensing Committee
Event Log
Mark Nolte — Listed in the vote roll call; name appears as Nolte.
Ray Reed — Listed in the vote roll call; name appears as Reid.
Ray Reed — Representative Ray Reed questions the bill’s licensure approach, first noting the broader issue of Missouri losing health care professionals and then asking whether the bill could be amended so immigrants who are legally authorized to practice in states like Illinois or Kansas could also practice in Missouri. He continues pressing the point that only a small statutory change—just a couple of words—could broaden access to the workforce and allow more legally working immigrants to practice in the state.
Jeff Vernetti — Listed in the vote roll call; name appears as Burnetti.
Representative McGill — Appears to be the bill sponsor presenting House Bill 1797.
Adrian Plank — Representative Dahl discussed the bill’s CPA licensure changes, comparing them to how other professions have evolved and asking why the requirements changed in the 1990s. He questioned how much supervision exists during the experience period, whether extending that period to two years would burden accounting firms, and whether the shift from 120 credit hours to a bachelor’s degree was mostly a semantic change. He then turned to firm-name and regulation issues, using his own practice as an example to ask whether firms could use CPA in their name without doing audit/attestation work, whether the board would still prevent self-regulation, and noted that he had a cleanup amendment to offer.
Adrian Plank — The chair jokingly references Representative Arruza, likely meaning Representative Ruzza, in praising the witness.
Adrian Plank — Adrian Plank refers to Representative Stinnett’s bill and then praises Stinnett for doing a fantastic job explaining the rural health transformation context, including the telehealth issue.
Lane Roberts — Representative Reef repeatedly questioned the bill’s effect on accounting education standards and public protection. He asked whether accounting errors could harm families and businesses, argued that the bill weakens clarity in educational preparation rather than strengthening it, criticized the use of board-rule language instead of firm statutory standards, and expressed concern that the proposal shifts responsibility toward self-regulation.
Jeff Parkison — Jeff Parkison introduces himself as a CPA with City Utilities of Springfield and former chair of the Missouri Society of CPAs, then explains that he led a blue-ribbon committee studying CPA licensure issues. He testifies in support of the bill because it creates an additional pathway to CPA licensure while still requiring passage of the CPA exam, reducing barriers without sacrificing public protection, trust, or ethics. He says the bill aligns Missouri’s language with national AICPA/NASBA model language, supports mobility for CPAs working across state lines, and reflects work done with the State Board of Accountancy. He notes that more than 25 states have approved or are moving toward similar language and concludes that the bill will strengthen Missouri’s CPA pipeline and help CPAs practice more easily between states.
Brandon Alexander — Brandon Alexander, Chief of Staff for State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick, testifies in support of the bill. He explains that the auditor’s office has seen a major decline in CPAs, dropping from 41 in 2015 to 19 today, with many nearing retirement. He notes that the office is statutorily required to have CPAs in order to produce audit reports under government auditing standards, and he closes by directing interested applicants to the auditor’s employment website and inviting questions.
Cameron Parker — Cameron Parker appears during the roll call as Vice Chair and is later included in the vote roll call, indicating his presence and participation in the procedural vote.
Cameron Parker — The Vice Chair is referenced as wanting to handle the cleanup language amendment.
Jeff Coleman — Jeff Coleman is recorded first in the roll call and later in the vote roll call, indicating his presence and participation in the meeting proceedings.
Bennie Cook — Bennie Cook is referenced twice in the meeting record: first as present during the opening roll call, and later as voting 'Aye' in the vote roll call.
Jeff Farnan — Jeff Farnan is mentioned as part of the roll call attendance listing, with members being called and marked present.
Wendy L. Hausman — Listed in the roll call.
Wendy L. Hausman — Listed in the roll call.
Wendy L. Hausman — Listed in the vote roll call.
John Hewkin — John Hewkin is mentioned during the roll call as present under variant spellings of his name (Hukin/Hucin), and later appears again in the vote roll call recorded as voting aye.
Tonya Rush — Tonya Rush is mentioned during the roll call as present, and later during the vote roll call as participating in the vote.
Cecelie Williams — Cecelie Williams is mentioned twice in procedural roll calls during the meeting: first as part of the initial attendance roll call, and later in the vote roll call.
Jaclyn Zimmermann — Jaclyn Zimmermann is mentioned twice in the meeting’s procedural roll calls: first as present during the initial roll call, and later in the vote roll call where her name appears as Zimmerman and is recorded as an aye vote.
Gregg Bush — Listed in the vote roll call.
Gregg Bush — The chair calls on 'Greg,' likely Representative Gregg Bush, for questions.
Carolyn Caton — Listed in the vote roll call; name appears as Caiton.
Bill Allen — Listed in the vote roll call.
Melissa Douglas — Listed in the vote roll call.
George Hruza — George Hruza (also referred to as Dr. Ruzza) appears first in the roll call, then is repeatedly called on during a continuous questioning segment about the bill. In that exchange, he asks about the bill’s education requirements and related provisions, and later characterizes one part of the proposal as more of a semantic change than a substantive one.
West Sutton — Deputy Division Director and Director of Budget and Legislation speaks in support of the bill.
Oregon and Shlame — Name appears to be a transcription error; the witness speaks on behalf of the Missouri Academy of Physician Assistance in support of the bill.
Justin Alford — Justin Alford, representing SSM Health, testifies in support of the bill, describing it as duplicative but clarifying and explaining that it confirms authority he believes already exists.
Jamie Murphy — Speaks for the Missouri Hospital Association and supports the bill, joking about the prior witness’s repeated phrase.
Joe Miller — Speaks on behalf of Borough Behavioral Health Care and Preferred Family Health Care in support of the legislation.
Sam Panetary — Speaks on behalf of United We, a Kansas City-based think tank, supporting the bill because barriers affect women in the workforce.
Jeff Knight — Addressed as Mr. Chairman during discussion.
Jeff Knight — Addressed as Mr. Chairman during closing remarks and roll call.
Jeff Knight — Addressed as Mr. Chairman in the transition to the next bill.
Jeff Knight — Addressed as Mr. Chairman by the speaker.
Jeff Knight — Was addressed during the discussion and was referenced regarding a forthcoming amendment.
Jeff Knight — Referenced as the person the speaker had not yet spoken with about a cleanup amendment.
Jeff Knight — Addressed during the questioning sequence.
Jeff Knight — Referenced as the person the amendment would be discussed with.
Jeff Knight — Referenced in connection with the planned amendment.
Jessica Petrie-Tele-Mock — Speaks on behalf of BJC Health Care in support of the bill and telehealth clarity.
Kina Eman — Speaks on behalf of the Missouri Nurses Association in support of the legislation, noting APRNs lack reciprocity due to collaborative practice laws.
Megan Harrington — Testified in support of the bill on behalf of the Missouri Athletic Trainers Association and the Missouri Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
Jeff Knight — Called the committee to order and responded to the roll call.