Representative Jaren Crane introduced House Bill 151 to the House Business Committee on Feb. 17, saying the bill would standardize and expand the annual performance reports licensing boards provide to the Legislature.

The bill directs agencies to report, among other items, the total number of licensees as of the last day of the fiscal year, the number of new licenses issued during the fiscal year, the number of applicants denied licensure, the number of renewals, and categories of disciplinary actions. Representative Jaren Crane said the requirement is intended to improve transparency and oversight of licensing boards.

The committee heard virtual testimony from Mr. Norris, identified in the hearing as director of labor policy at the Kne Regulatory Research Center at West Virginia University, who said licensing does not reliably improve service quality and recommended more robust reporting to help legislators identify which boards are delivering oversight and which are not. "This bill will improve oversight and the accountability of licensing boards," the witness said.

Representative Birch asked for supporting documentation of a statistic cited in testimony (the witness corrected an earlier phrasing to say 24% of workers, not professions, require a license) and asked to receive substantiating materials.

Representative Palmer moved to send House Bill 151 to the floor with a “do pass” recommendation; the committee approved the motion by voice vote.

Clarifications: the bill lists specific data points that agencies must include in annual reports (total licensees, new licenses issued, denials, renewals, nonrenewals and disciplinary counts). Committee members requested documentation supporting national statistics cited by the witness.