West Virginia House Bill HB2308

West Virginia 2025 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/12/25
• Refer: 2/12/25

Caption

Relating to authorizing the Board of Occupational Therapy to promulgate a legislative rule relating to request for waiver of licensing fees for certain individuals

Summary

HB2308 authorizes the West Virginia Board of Occupational Therapy to promulgate a legislative rule concerning requests for waiver of licensing fees for certain individuals. The bill does not itself create a new licensing waiver program in statute; rather, it gives legislative approval to an existing or proposed administrative rule filed by the board, identified as 13 CSR 07, under the board’s rulemaking authority. In practical terms, the measure allows the Board of Occupational Therapy to move forward with a rule that sets out how certain applicants or licensees may seek relief from occupational therapy licensing fees. The bill is a narrow administrative authorization bill and is focused on the board’s regulatory authority rather than broad changes to occupational therapy practice standards or licensing requirements.

Impact

The bill amends and reenacts §64-9-1 of the West Virginia Code, which is part of the state’s process for authorizing legislative rules from boards and agencies. Its effect is to approve the Board of Occupational Therapy’s rule on fee waivers for certain individuals, thereby allowing the rule to take effect and be enforced as part of the state’s regulatory framework. The primary parties affected are occupational therapy applicants and licensees who may qualify for a fee waiver, as well as the board that administers licensing and fee policies.

Sentiment

There is no recorded committee transcript or vote history in the provided materials, so no direct debate or opposition is documented. Based on the bill’s limited scope and procedural nature, the measure appears to be a routine authorization of an agency rule rather than a controversial policy change. The available text suggests a neutral or administrative posture toward the bill.

Contention

No specific points of contention are identified in the provided record because there are no committee transcripts or votes included. If any concerns were raised, they would likely center on the scope of the board’s discretion to grant licensing fee waivers, the criteria for eligibility, or the fiscal effect of reduced fee revenue, but none of those issues are documented here.