§45. Occupational Licensing Review Commission

A.(1) There is hereby created the Occupational Licensing Review Commission to be composed of the governor or his designee, the secretary of state or his designee, the commissioner of agriculture or his designee, the commissioner of insurance or his designee, and the state treasurer or his designee. The governor shall be the chairman of the commission and the secretary of state shall be the secretary. The commission shall meet as needed or as called by the chair and such meetings shall be subject to the Open Meetings Law. A majority of the members constitutes a quorum at any meeting. Any final action taken by the commission requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the members.

(2) The office of the governor shall provide such support of the commission necessary to accomplish the purposes of this Chapter, including but not limited to research and clerical assistance. Any department, division, board, bureau, commission, or agency of the state shall provide, at the request of the chair of the commission, such assistance and data as will enable the commission to carry out its duties.

B. Beginning January 1, 2019, the commission is responsible for the active supervision of state executive branch occupational licensing boards controlled by active market participants to ensure compliance with state policy in the adoption of occupational regulations promulgated by an occupational licensing board. The required active supervision described in this Chapter does not extend to individual disciplinary actions taken or imposed by an occupational licensing board as to any active market participant subject to the jurisdiction of the occupational licensing board.

C.(1) An occupational licensing board shall submit any occupational regulation it seeks to promulgate to the commission prior to the board submitting a notice of intent to the office of the state register if the occupational regulation is subject to the Administrative Procedure Act.

(2) The commission shall review each occupational regulation submitted to ensure compliance with the state policy as provided in R.S. 37:44. This review may include any Federal Trade Commission Guideline adopted by the commission.

(3) Following the review, the commission shall do either of the following:

(a) Approve the occupational regulation and authorize the occupational licensing board to initiate promulgation of the regulation in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act. This approval shall be in writing and explain the rationale for the action.

(b)(i) Disapprove the occupational regulation with any recommended amendments and require the occupational licensing board to resubmit the occupational regulation for approval prior to promulgating the regulation in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act.

(ii) Any recommended amendments shall be provided to the occupational licensing board for its further consideration within thirty days of the date the occupational licensing board provides the proposed regulation to the commission for review.

(iii) The disapproval shall be in writing and explain the rationale for the action.

(iv) In the event the commission elects to disapprove the regulation with suggested amendments, the occupational licensing board shall not go forward with promulgation of the proposed regulation until such time as the occupational regulation is approved by the commission.

D. Prior to submitting the notice of final regulation to the proper legislative oversight committees, the occupational licensing board shall submit such notice to the commission with a summary of any changes made to the proposed regulation or indicate that no changes were made to the proposed regulation. The submission shall include any comments received during the comment period or a recording or the minutes of any proceeding.

(1) If there are changes to the proposed regulation, the commission shall review the changes to the proposed regulation and take any action provided in Subsection C of this Section.

(2) If there are no changes to the proposed regulation or the commission approves the proposed regulation with submitted changes, the occupational licensing board shall submit the notice of final regulation to the proper legislative oversight committees.

E. If the proposed occupational regulation is not subject to promulgation and adoption in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, an occupational licensing board shall submit such proposed regulation to the commission for approval prior to enforcement.

F.(1) Emergency rules adopted by an occupational licensing board shall not be subject to the active supervision of the commission as provided in this Section.

(2) However, the occupational licensing board shall submit such emergency rule to the commission on the same day the rule is submitted to the office of the state register.

G. The commission shall issue resolutions necessary to effectuate the provisions of this Chapter, including the process, procedures, and timelines that will govern any submission filed in accordance with this Chapter.

H. Nothing in this Chapter shall be interpreted to subject the commission to any of the administrative procedures of the Administrative Procedure Act.

Acts 2018, No. 623, §1, eff. May 30, 2018.