An act relating to professions and occupations regulated by the Office of Professional Regulation
This bill makes a broad set of changes to professions and occupations regulated by the Vermont Office of Professional Regulation (OPR). It updates OPR fee schedules, including increasing the verification-of-license fee, setting or adjusting renewal and application fees for several professions, and raising the renewal fee for peer support providers and peer recovery support specialists beginning in 2027. It also authorizes OPR to collect revenue from optional services, including data sales, and requires a report on those revenues and the categories of data sold.
The bill also revises OPR’s enforcement and administrative authority. It expands civil penalty authority for unauthorized practice, clarifies disciplinary powers, requires pre-application criminal background determinations for certain professions, and directs OPR to use a statutory review process to determine whether regulation of a profession remains necessary. In addition, it creates a new executive officer position for the regulation of mental health professions and appropriates $170,000 for that position in fiscal year 2026.
The bill amends multiple provisions in Titles 3 and 26 affecting how OPR funds its operations, sets fees, disciplines licensees, and oversees regulated professions. It changes the disposition of certain revenues, increases or establishes fees for license verification, renewals, apprenticeships, endorsements, and disciplinary surcharges, and repeals the rule that barred renewal fees for years when a license was lapsed. It also repeals the motor vehicle racing regulatory chapter and provisions related to prepaid funeral escrow agents, while updating complaint-record disclosure rules to make more disciplinary information publicly accessible.
The available record shows no committee transcript or recorded votes, so there is no documented floor or committee debate to gauge formal sentiment. Based on the bill’s structure, it appears to be an administrative and regulatory modernization measure with a mix of fee increases, consumer-protection changes, and targeted professional regulation updates. The inclusion of new reporting requirements and a new OPR position suggests an effort to strengthen oversight while also funding the office’s operations.
The most likely points of contention are the fee increases, especially for peer support providers and other licensees, and the expanded authority for OPR to collect and use revenue from optional services such as data sales. Another possible area of debate is the broader public disclosure of complaint and disciplinary records, which may raise privacy concerns for licensees and complainants. The creation of a new regulated position for mental health professions and the directive to propose regulation of massage therapy establishments could also draw differing views from affected professionals, consumer advocates, and law enforcement stakeholders.