NC Legislators: Include Professionals In Decision About The Future of Their Professions!

A group of NC politicians has proposed a bill (NC Bill Draft 2015-TQz-40 [v.7] 03/15) to the General Assembly based on a report ("Final Report to the Joint Legislative Program Evaluation Oversight Committee") that suggests 55 different professional occupational categories should either eliminate or radically alter the state licensing boards which regulate, govern and protect these professions and the public! They have done this after hearing only FIVE MINUTES of feedback from ONE REPRESENTATIVE in each occupational category during a public hearing on the matter on 4/5/16, and now the matter has been tabled, apparently so that the committee can do more research into the implications of the proposals being made.

We are glad the committee members are erring on the side of common sense and are willing to investigate the impact of the proposed changes further, however, we believe that the committee should only be allowed to bring this proposal back to the floor once it has received adequate feedback and detailed contributions from representatives of each one of the 55 occupational categories that are named in the report. Without this inclusion, we believe the legislators will be operating on theory, principle and ideology rather than the truth and facts. We are concerned that a decision to do away with or radically alter the professional licensure boards in NC as they currently exist could have a potentially devastating public safety and economic impact and we are not willing to allow this kind of decision to be made with this or any other bill without the professional interests of those affected being fairly represented and expressed.

*Please indicate in your comments if you are a licensed member of one of the occupational categories listed above, and describe sepcifically why you believe a seasoned representative of your occupation should be allowed to provide feedback about the proposed bill.*

We the undersigned NC residents, propose that an advisory board be developed, made up of at least one seasoned licensed professional (seasoned: having held a NC License in their field for a minimum of 10 years) from each of the following occupations, and that this advisory board be charged with the task of providing feedback to the committee about the potential implications on their respective fields, if the changes proposed in this bill are implemented. We insist that this advisory board provide the necessary feedback before ANY DECISION IS MADE ON THE PROPOSED BILL. The occupational categories include:

*Acupuncture
*Appraisal
*Architecture
*Athletic Trainers
*Auctioneers
*Barbers
*Cape Fear River Navigation and Pilotage
*Cemetery
*Certified Public Accountants
*Chiropractic
*Cosmetic Art
*Dental
*Dietetics/Nutrition
*Electrical Contractors
*Electrolysis
*Engineers and Surveyors
*Environmental Health Specialist
*Fee-Based Practicing Pastoral Counselors
*Foresters
*Funeral Service
*General Contractors
*Geologists
*Hearing Aid Dealers and Fitters
*Interpreters and Transliterators (including for the deaf)
*Irrigation Contractors
*Landscape Architects
*Landscape Contractors
*Law Examiners/State Bar (combined)
*Locksmiths
*Marriage and Family Therapy
*Massage and Bodywork Therapy
*Medical
*Midwifery
*Morehead City Navigation and Pilotage
*Nursing
*Nursing Home Administrators
*Occupational Therapy
*Onsite Wastewater Contractor Inspectors
*Opticians
*Optometry
*Pharmacy
*Physical Therapy
*Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler
*Contractors
*Podiatry
*Professional Counselors
*Psychology
*Real Estate
*Recreational Therapy
*Refrigeration
*Respiratory Care
*Social Work
*Soil Scientists
*Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists
*Substance Abuse Professionals
*Veterinary Medical